Hard disk definition and function

Definition of hard disk

A hard disk is also known as a hard drive or fixed disk. It is said to be rigid magnetic disc that
stores data. It is located within a drive unit. Hard disk is a non-volatile storage device that
contains platters and magnetic disks rotating at high speeds. Non-volatile means the data retains
when the computer shuts down.
It is installed internally in our computer systems. Hard disk is located within a drive unit on the
computer's motherboard and comprises one or more platters packed in an air-sealed casing.

Its main components include a read/write actuator arm, head actuator, read/write head, spindle,
and platter. A circuit board (also called as the interface board or disk controller) is present on the
back of a hard drive. It lets the hard drive to communicate with the computer

Function of Hard disk

The hard disk is a secondary storage device, which is designed to store data permanently. The
secondary storage devices include a large storage capacity as compared to the primary storage
devices. The data stored in a hard disk is retained when our computer system shuts down. The
data stored in the hard disk can be of many types such as the operating system, installed
software, documents, and other files of computer.
Hard disk was introduced in the year 1956 by IBM. The first personal computer contains a hard
drive of less than 1 megabyte, while modern computers contain a hard drive of 1 terabyte.
Every computer contains atleast one hard drive to store data and software. In Windows operating
system, the hard drive is known to be the C drive, and in MAC, it is simply called as the hard
drive. The desktop computers which have external hard drives are used for backup purposes or
additional storage.
The size of hard drives is measured in gigabytes and terabytes. Usually, 500GB hard disks are
common in modern computers. As an instance, a song of length four-minute is approx. 4MB in
size, and in 1 gigabyte, there are 1,000 megabytes, it means that a 500GB hard drive can store
approx. 250,000 songs.

Advantages of the hard disk

The advantages of a Hard Disk Drive are given as follows:

o One of the significant advantages of a Hard Disk drive is that its cost is low.

o Another advantage of a Hard Disk is that it is readily available in the market.

o Hard Disk is faster than optical disks.

o The capacity for storing the data in HDDs is large.

Disadvantages of the hard disk

The disadvantages or limitations of Hard Disk Drive are given as follows:

o The speed of reading and writing in HDD is slower than the RAM.

o HDDs are noisy.

o Another disadvantage of HDD is energy inefficiency.

o HDDs consume more power.

o The form factor of HDDs is heavier than the SSDs.

The hard disks are robust and can be used for a long time. But hard disks can be crashed, and the
main reason is head crash. If the hard drive is crashed, we may lose all our documents, photos,
etc., stored in it.
Storage
 Home

 Primary storage devices

DEFINITION

hard disk drive (HDD)

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 Alexander S. Gillis, Technical Writer and Editor
 Sarah Wilson, Associate Site Editor
What is a hard disk drive?
A computer hard disk drive (HDD) is a non-volatile data storage device. Non-volatile refers to
storage devices that maintain stored data when turned off. All computers need a storage device, and
HDDs are just one example of a type of storage device.

HDDs are usually installed inside desktop computers, mobile devices, consumer electronics and
enterprise storage arrays in data centers. They can store operating systems, software programs and
other files using magnetic disks.

More specifically, hard disk drives control the reading and writing of the hard disk that provides data
storage. HDDs are used either as the primary or secondary storage device in a computer. They are
commonly found in the drive bay and are connected to the motherboard via an Advanced Technology
Attachment (ATA), Serial ATA, parallel ATA or Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) cable,
among other formats. The HDD is also connected to a power supply unit and can keep stored data
while powered down.

A hard disk drive -- often shortened to hard drive -- and hard disk are not the same things, but they
are packaged as a unit and either term can refer to the whole unit.

Why do computers need hard disks?

Storage devices like hard disks are needed to install operating systems, programs and additional
storage devices, and to save documents. Without devices like HDDs that can retain data after they
have been turned off, computer users would not be able to store programs or save files or documents
to their computers. This is why every computer needs at least one storage device to permanently hold
data as long as it is needed.

How do hard disk drives work?

Most basic hard drives consist of several disk platters -- a circular disk made of either aluminum,
glass or ceramic -- that are positioned around a spindle inside a sealed chamber. The platter spins
with a motor that is connected to the spindle. The chamber also includes the read/write heads that
magnetically record information to and from tracks on the platters using a magnetic head. The disks
also have a thin magnetic coating on them.
The motor spins the platters at up to 15,000 rotations per minute. As the platters spin, a second motor
controls the position of the read and write heads that magnetically record and read information on
each platter.

Hard disk drive storage capacity

Some of the most common storage drive capacities include the following:

 16 GB, 32 GB and 64 GB. This range is among the lowest for HDD storage space and is
typically found in older and smaller devices.
 120 GB and 256 GB. This range is generally considered an entry point for HDD devices
such as laptops or computers.
 500 GB, 1 TB and 2 TB. Around 500 GB and above of HDD storage is typically
considered decent for an average user. Users can most likely store all their music, photos,
videos and other files with this much space. Individuals with games that take up a lot of
space should find 1 TB to 2 TB of HDD space suitable.
 More than 2 TB. Anything over 2 TB of HDD space is suitable for users who work with
high-resolution files, who need to store or house a large amount of data, or who want to
use that space for backup and redundancy.

Currently, the highest capacity HDD is 20 TB. However, an HDD actually has less space than
advertised, as the operating system, file system structures and some data redundancy procedures use
a portion of that space.