HARD DRIVE DISKS (HDD)

By: Akram Ali

What Are Hard Drive Disks?

Hard Drives are the main storage device for all the data on your computer

It is where you store all your files, documents and even your Operating System

They are often abbreviated as HDD or called Hard Drives

The Hard Drive is a storage device since it is used to store data.

History Of Hard Drives

Were invented in 1950 Often called “fixed disks” which was a

codename for the IBM product They were very large measuring up to

twenty inches in diameter Later they were given the name “Hard

Drive” to differentiate them from Floppy Disks

Early Hard Drives

Diagram Of The Hard Drive

Parts of The Hard Drive

Spindle- The shaft that rotates in the middle of the hard drive. Is attached to the platter.

Platter- A round magnetic plate inside the hard drive. There are many platters in a hard drive.

Actuator & Actuator Arm- Is the part of the hard drive where the read/write head attaches.

Parts of The Hard Drive Cont.

Read/Write Head- Is a instrument that read or writes data on to a magnetic plate

Logic Board- A circuit board that controls the Hard Drive and its functions

SATA Power Connecter- Provides electricity to hard drive so that it may operate

Parts of The Hard Drive Cont.

SATA Data Connector- Allows the hard drive to communicate with other parts of the computer and transfer data

SATA: Serial Advanced Technology Attachment. It is bus interface that allows the connecting of mass storage devices.

A Hard Drive In Operation

Specifications

Capacity: Is how much data the hard drive can store (ex. 500 GB)

Rotational Speed: Measured in rotations per minute(RPM). It is how fast the spindle inside the hard drive can rotate per minute (ex. 7200 RPM)

Seek Speed: Measured in milliseconds, it is the amount of time it takes for a hard drive to find a specific piece of data

Specifications

Interface: Is the connector that is used for the hard drive to interface with the computer. (ex. PATA,SATA,USB)

Buffer: Is buffer memory that loads information that the processor is likely to ask for. This will keep the data flowing smoothly.

Future Trends Hybrid Hard Drives: Is a hard drive that

holds all the components in a traditional hard drive. However, now a small Solid State Drive has been integrated into it. Seagate, the manufacturer of the hard drive, claims that the Hybrid Hard Drive can be up to three times faster than a traditional hard drive.

Additional Information

2011 Thailand Flooding

Hard Drive Manufacturers have risen the prices by 20 to 40 percent, due to flooding.

In Thailand, which is the second highest exporter of hard drives in the world was flooded damaging many of the factories and killed 377 people since July 2011.

Western Digital predicts that it will not have production back to pre-flood levels until the third quarter of 2012.

This has caused the price of computers to increase and decrease sales all over the technology industry.

Works Cited

http://www.pcworld.com/article/125778-3/how_to_buy_a_hard_drive.html

http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/A/actuator.html

http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/H/head.html

http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/P/platter.html

http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/S/spindle.html

http://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Hardware_Software/2002/InsideHardDrive.asp

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2397008,00.asp

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/28/us-thai-floods-drives-idUSTRE79R66220111028

http://www.infoworld.com/d/the-industry-standard/hard-drive-shortages-continue-bite-tech-industry-184973