The present invention comprises an implementation of a variable data TPI hard drive system. In one embodiment, the system is implemented by configuring a group of servo tracks in a radial direction for a hard drive media. The group is comprised of an integral number of servo tracks that is constant throughout the drive device. The number of data tracks in a group is also an integer but will vary for each surface according to the head used for R/W operations for each media surface. Group boundaries coincide with media surface R/W zone boundaries. The groups are accessed in hard drives having multiple surfaces in a serpentine manner. Data tracks per group are reduced from what is achievable to produce desired target capacities.