- What is stored on a hard drive?
- Where is the hard drive on a computer?
- What are the sizes of hard drives?
- How is data read and stored on a hard drive?
- External and internal hard drives
- History of the hard drive
- References
The hard drive serves as a non-volatile memory hardware device that permanently stores data on a computer. A hard drive consists of one or more platters on which data is written with a magnetic head, all within a sealed casing.
Internal hard drives reside in a drive bay, and are connected to the motherboard using an ATA, SCSI, or SATA cable, powered by a connection to the source. The desktop hard drive consists of the following components: the main actuator, the read / write actuator arm, the read / write head, the spindle, and the platter.
At the back of a hard drive there is a circuit board called a disk controller or interface card and it is what allows the hard drive to communicate with the computer.
An internal hard drive is connected to the computer using a data cable (IDE or SATA) that connects to the motherboard and a power cable that connects to the power supply.
What is stored on a hard drive?
A hard drive can be used to store any data, including images, music, videos, text documents, and any files created or downloaded.
Additionally, hard drives store files for the operating system and software programs that run on the computer.
Where is the hard drive on a computer?
All primary computer hard drives are located inside the computer case and are connected to the computer motherboard using an ATA, SCSI, or SATA cable, which are powered through a connection to the power supply.
What are the sizes of hard drives?
The hard drive is usually capable of storing more data than any other drive, but its size can vary depending on the type of drive and its age.
Older hard drives had a storage size of several hundred megabytes (MB) to several gigabytes (GB).
Newer hard drives have a storage size of several hundred gigabytes to several terabytes (TB). Every year, new and improved technology allows you to increase the storage size of your hard drive.
How is data read and stored on a hard drive?
The data sent to and read from the hard drive is interpreted by the disk controller, which tells the hard drive what to do and how to move components in the drive.
When the operating system needs to read or write information, it examines the file allocation table (FAT) of the hard disk to determine the location of the file and the available writing areas.
Once they have been determined, the disk controller commands the actuator to move the read / write arm and align the read / write head. Because files are often scattered across the platter, the head needs to move to different locations to access all the information.
All the information stored on a traditional hard drive is carried out magnetically. After completing the steps above, the computer reads the magnetic polarities on the platter. One side of the magnetic polarity is 0, and the other is 1.
By reading this as binary data, the computer can understand what the data is. For the computer to write information to the platter, the read / write head aligns the magnetic polarities, writing the 0's and 1's that can be read later.
External and internal hard drives
Although most hard drives are internal, there are also independent devices called external hard drives, which can back up data to computers and expand the available space.
External drives are typically stored in an enclosure that helps protect the drive and allows it to interact with the computer, usually via USB or eSATA.
External hard drives come in many shapes and sizes. Some are large, the size of a book, while others are the size of a cell phone. External hard drives can be very useful as they generally offer more space than a fixed drive and are portable.
The user can install a portable hard disk of any storage capacity in the enclosure and connect it via a USB port to the computer.
History of the hard drive
The first hard drive was introduced to the market by IBM on September 13, 1956. The hard drive was first used in the RAMAC 305 system, with a storage capacity of 5 MB and a cost of about $ 50,000 ($ 10,000 per megabyte). The hard drive was built into the computer and was not removable.
In 1963, IBM developed the first removable hard disk, with a storage capacity of 2.6 MB.
The first hard drive to have a storage capacity of one gigabyte was also developed by IBM in 1980. It cost $ 40,000.
The year 1983 marked the introduction of the first 3.5-inch hard drive, developed by Rodime. It had a storage capacity of 10 MB.
Seagate was the first company to introduce a 7200 RPM hard drive in 1992. Seagate also introduced the first 10,000 RPM hard drive in 1996 and the first 15,000 RPM hard drive in 2000.
The first Solid State Drive (SSD), as we know it today, was developed by SanDisk Corporation in 1991, with a storage capacity of 20 MB. These drives do not require a battery to maintain data stored on the memory chips, making them a non-volatile storage medium.
References
- Everything you wanted to know about hard drives. (sf). seagate.com.
- Margaret Rouse. hard disk drive (HDD). (sf). searchstorage.techtarget.com.
- Hard Drive Definition. (sf). techterms.com.