Fundamental issues and general procedures of modeling the head disk interface (HDI) in order to provide design criteria for future ultra-low flying sliders are given. Intermittent contact and gaseous rarefaction effects are discussed using nonconventional kinetic theory. To illustrate the simulation results, we modeled IBM 3370 taper flat sliders and positive/negative "bow tie" sliders. Several alternative HDI concepts for future disk drives - viscoelastic bearings, a hybrid system, and contact recording - are also briefly discussed.