An Introduction to Hard Disk Drives

An Introduction to Hard Disk Drives
What you need to know about hard disk drives ? The hard disk drive is the component where all your
data and programs are stored. It is the most important long term storage media in your computer. It is
the place where your programs and data are kept when your computer is turned off. It also plays a very
essential role in the general performance of your computer. For instance the speed at which your
computer boots up and your programs load is directly associated to the speed of your hard disk. It also
plays a vital role during multitasking. The same can be said when running large amounts of data such as
graphics, editing sound and video, or working with data bases
The Construction :
Having a dependable hard disk drive is important to your computer. If it fails it usually means that you
also lose your data. You can usually buy a new hard disk drive but you cannot always retrieve your data


Reading and Writing
The platters are spun at very high speeds. Moving the slider radially from the centre to the outer edge of
the platter and back while the platter is spinning, gives the slider entry to the whole surface area of the
disk. The platters are covered with a layer of magnetizing material. The slider is fitted with a read/write
device. This is generally a little induction coil. This read/write device is used either to magnetize a small
part of the disk or to detect the magnetic orientation of a small portion of a disk. By magnetizing a small
portion of the magnetizing material on the disk with the read/write device the magnetic alignment of a
small part of the magnetizing material on the disk is changed. This is done in the form of a code
sequence. This is how information or data is written to the disk and saved on the disk. By uncovering the
magnetic positioning of the magnetizing material on the disk with the read/write device this code can be
read. This is how information or data is read from the disk

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