What Is a Hard Disk Drive?

Tim Fisher
Updated July 01, 2019
242

The hard disk drive is the main, and usually largest, data storage hardware device in a
computer. The operating system, software titles, and most other files are stored in the
hard disk drive.

The hard drive is sometimes referred to as the "C drive" due to the fact that Microsoft
Windows, by default, designates the "C" drive letter to the primary partition on the
primary hard drive in a computer.

While this is not a technically correct term to use, it is still common. For example, some
computers have multiple drive letters (e.g,. C, D, and E) representing areas across one
or more hard drives. The hard disk drive also goes by the name HDD (its
abbreviation), hard drive, hard disk, fixed drive, fixed disk, and fixed disk drive.
Regardless of what it's called, the primary hard drive typically contains the root folder of
the operating system used.

Popular Hard Disk Drive Manufacturers

A few of the most popular hard drive manufacturers include Seagate, Western
Digital, Hitachi, and Toshiba.

You can usually buy these brands of hard drives, and ones from other manufacturers, in
stores and online, like through the company's own sites as well as sites like Amazon.

Hard Disk Drive Physical Description

A hard drive is usually the size of a paperback book, but much heavier.

The sides of the hard drive have pre-drilled, threaded holes for easy mounting in the
3.5-inch drive bay in the computer case. Mounting is also possible in a larger 5.25-inch
drive bay with an adapter. The hard drive is mounted so the end with the connections
faces inside the computer.
The back end of the hard drive contains a port for a cable that connects to
the motherboard. The type of cable used (SATA or PATA) depends on the type of drive
but is almost always included with a hard drive purchase. Also here is a connection for
power from the power supply.

Most hard drives also have jumper settings on the back end that define how the
motherboard is to recognize the drive when more than one is present. These settings
vary from drive to drive, so check with your hard drive manufacturer for details.

How a Hard Drive Works

Unlike volatile storage like RAM, a hard drive keeps a hold of its data even when
powered off. This is why you can restart a computer, which powers down the HDD, but
still have access to all the data when it's back on.

Inside the hard drive are sectors located on tracks, which are stored on rotating platters.
These platters have magnetic heads that move with an actuator arm to read and write
data to the drive.

Kinds of Hard Drives

The computer hard drive isn't the only kind of hard drive, and SATA and PATA aren't
the only ways they can connect to a computer. What's more is that there are many
different sizes of hard drives, some very small and others rather large.

For example, the common flash drive has a hard drive, too, but it doesn't spin like a
traditional hard drive. Flash drives have solid-state drives built-in and connect to the
computer through USB.

Another USB hard drive is the external hard drive, which is basically a regular hard drive
that's been put into its own case so that it's safe to exist outside the computer case.
They usually interface with the computer over USB but some use FireWire or eSATA.

An external enclosure is a housing for an internal hard drive. You can use one if you
want to "convert" an internal hard drive into an external one to make your own external
hard drive. They, too, use USB, FireWire, and so forth.
Storage Capacity

The hard disk drive capacity is a huge factor in determining whether someone will buy a
particular device like a laptop or phone. If the storage capacity is rather small, it means
it will fill up with files faster, whereas a drive that has lots and lots of storage can handle
much more data.

Choosing a hard drive based on how much storage it can retain is really up to opinion
and circumstance. If you need a tablet, for example, that can hold lots of videos, you'll
want to be sure to get the 64 GB one instead of the 8 GB one.

The same is true for computer hard drives. Are you one to store lots of HD videos or
pictures, or are most of your files backed up online? An offline, at-home storage
preference might drive you to buy an internal or external hard drive that supports 4 TB
versus a 500 GB one. See Terabytes, Gigabytes, & Petabytes: How Big Are They?if
you're not sure how these units of measurement compare.

Common Hard Disk Drive Tasks

One simple task that you can do with a hard drive is change the drive letter. Doing this
lets you refer to the drive using a different letter. For example, while the main hard drive
is normally called the "C" drive and can't be changed, you might want to change an
external hard drive's letter from "P" to "L" (or any other acceptable letter).

Something else that's really easy to do with a hard drive is check how much free space
is left on it. This is especially important if you're getting low disk space messages but is
equally critical for maintaining a smooth system. You can uninstall programs you don't
want or ones that are too large, and delete files, or copy them elsewhere, if you're
running low on hard drive space.

You need to format the drive or partition the drive into sections before you can install an
operating system or store files. Upon installing the OS for the first time is usually when a
new hard drive is formatted and given a file system. Otherwise, a disk partition tool is a
common way to manipulate the drive in this way.
When you're dealing with a fragmented hard drive, free defrag tools are available that
can help reduce the fragmentation. Defragging a hard drive can sometimes make your
computer run faster.

Since a hard drive is where all the data in a computer is actually stored, it's a common
task to want to securely erase the data from the drive, like before selling the hardware
or reinstalling a new operating system. This is usually accomplished with a data
destruction program.

Hard Disk Drive Troubleshooting

The hard drive in your computer is used over and over, each time you're doing
something that involves reading or writing data to the disk. It's normal, then, to
eventually run into a problem with the device.

One of the most common issues is a hard drive that's making noise, and the best first
step in troubleshooting a hard drive malfunction of any kind is to run a hard drive test.

Windows includes a built-in tool called chkdsk that helps identify and maybe even
correct various hard drive errors. You can run the graphical version of this tool in
most versions of Windows.

Lots of free programs can test a hard drive for issues that might ultimately lead to you
needing to replace the drive. Some of them can also measure performance like
the seek time.

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Hard drive
Updated: 05/04/2019 by Computer Hope

A hard disk drive (sometimes abbreviated

as hard drive, HD, or HDD) is a non-volatile
memory hardware device that permanently
stores and retrieves data on a computer. A hard
drive is a secondary storage device that consists
of one or more platters to which data is written
using a magnetic head, all inside of an air-sealed
casing. Internal hard disks reside in a drive bay,
connect to the motherboardusing an ATA, SCSI,
or SATA cable, and are powered by a connection
to the PSU (power supply unit).

All computers have a hard drive installed in

them, which is used to store files for
the operating system, software programs,
and a user's personal files. A computer
cannot function without a hard drive
installed, as it requires one to function
properly.

Tip

New users often confuse RAM (memory) with disk drive space. See
our memory definition for a comparison between memory and storage. Unlike RAM a
hard drive keeps all stored information even with the power is turned off.

 Hard drive components

 How is a hard drive connected to a computer?

 Where is the hard drive found in a computer?

 What is stored on a hard drive?

 What are the sizes of hard drives?

 How is data read and stored on a hard drive?

 External and Internal hard drives

 HDD being replaced by SSD

 History of the hard drive

 Should I say "hard disk drive" or "hard drive"?

 What is the history of the hard disk drive?

 Related hard drive pages

 Hard drive help and support

Hard drive components

As can be seen in the picture above, the

desktop hard drive consists of the following
components: the head actuator, read/write
actuator arm, read/write head, spindle,
and platter. On the back of a hard drive is a
circuit board called the disk controller or
interface board and is what allows the hard
drive to communicate with the computer.

Note

The above picture is an example of a traditional hard drive and not an SSD.
How is a hard drive connected to a computer?
An internal hard drive is connected to the
computer using a data cable (IDE, SATA,
or SCSI) that connects to
the motherboard and a power cable that
connects to the power supply.

 How to install a hard drive or SSD.

Where is the hard drive found in a computer?

All primary computer hard drives are found
inside a computer case and are attached to
the computer motherboard using an ATA,
SCSI, or SATA cable. Hard drives are
powered by a connection to the PSU (power
supply unit).

Note

Some portable and desktop computers may have newer flash drives that connect directly
to the PCIe interface or another interface and not use a cable.

 What does the inside of a computer look like?

 How to list files in a directory or folder on the computer.

What is stored on a hard drive?

A hard drive can be used to store any data,
including pictures, music, videos, text
documents, and any files created
or downloaded. Also, hard drives store files
for the operating system and software
programs that run on the computer.

What are the sizes of hard drives?

The hard drive is often 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 MB (megabytes) to
several GB (gigabytes). Newer hard drives
have a storage size of several hundred
gigabytes to several TB (terabytes). Each
year, new and improved technology allows
for increasing hard drive storage sizes.

 How to find how much hard drive space is available.

 How much is 1 byte, kilobyte, megabyte, gigabyte, etc.?

Note

If you are trying to find the physical dimensions of a hard drive, their physical sizes are
either 3.5" for desktop computers or 2.5" for laptops. SSDs range from 1.8" to 5.25".

How is data read and stored on a hard drive?

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
the components in the drive. When the
operating system needs to read or write
information, it examines the hard drive's FAT
(File Allocation Table) to determine file
location and available write areas. Once they
have been determined, the disk controller
instructs the actuator to move the read/write
arm and align the read/write head. Because
files are often scattered throughout the
platter, the head needs to move to different
locations to access all information.

All information stored on a traditional hard

drive, like the above example, is
done magnetically. After completing the
above steps, if the computer needs to read
information from the hard drive, it would
read the magnetic polarities on the platter.
One side of the magnetic polarity is 0, and
the other is 1. Reading this as binary data,
the computer can understand what the data
is on the platter. For the computer to write
information to the platter, the read/write
head aligns the magnetic polarities, writing
0's and 1's that can be read later.

External and internal hard drives

Although most hard drives are internal, there
are also stand-alone devices called external
hard drives, which can backup data on
computers and expand the available disk
space. External drives are often stored in
an enclosure that helps protect the drive and
allows it to interface with the computer,
usually over USB or eSATA. An excellent
example of an external backup device that
supports multiple hard drives is the Drobo.
External hard drives come in many shapes
and sizes. Some are large, about the size of
a book, while others are about the size of a
large smartphone. External hard drives can
be very useful since they usually offer more
space than a jump drive and are still
portable. The picture to the right is an
example of a laptop hard disk
drive enclosure from Adaptec. The user may
install a laptop hard drive of any storage
capacity into the enclosure and connect it via
USB port to the computer.

 How to connect an external hard drive to a computer.

HDD being replaced by SSD

SSDs (solid-state drives) have started to
replace HDDs (hard disk drives) because of
the distinct performance advantages they
have over HDD, including faster access times
and lower latency. While SSDs is becoming
more and more popular, HDDs continue to be
used in many desktop computers largely due
to the value per dollar that HDDs offer over
SSDs. However, more and more laptops are
beginning to utilize SSD over HDD, helping to
improve the reliability and stability of
laptops.

 Advantages of SSD over HDD.

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-in to the
computer and was not removable.

In 1963, IBM developed the first removable

hard drive, having a 2.6 MB storage capacity.

The first hard drive to have a storage

capacity of one gigabyte was also developed
by IBM in 1980. It weighed 550-pounds and
cost $40,000.

1983 marked the introduction of the first

3.5-inch size 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 1996and the first 15,000 RPM hard drive
in 2000.

The first SSD (solid-state drive) as we know

them today was developed
by SanDisk Corporation in 1991, with a
storage capacity of 20 MB. However, this was
not a flash-based SSD, which were
introduced later in 1995 by M-Systems.
These drives did not require a battery to
keep data stored on the memory chips,
making them a non-volatile storage medium.

 Computer hard drive history

Should I say "hard disk drive" or "hard drive"?

Both "hard disk drive" and "hard drive" are
correct and mean the same thing. However,
SSDs (solid-state drives) have no disks or
platters, which is why we use and
recommend using the term "hard drive" in
your writing or when describing a hard drive.

Related hard drive pages

 How to erase a hard disk drive and reinstall the operating system.

 How to make sure all data is erased on a computer hard drive.

 How to format a hard drive, SSD, or USB flash drive.

 How to delete a partition in Windows.

 A listing of computer hard drive manufacturers.

 Computer hard drive help and support.

 Computer data storage history.

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hard disk drive (HDD)

A computer hard disk drive (HDD) is a non-volatile memory hardware device

that controls the positioning, reading and writing of the hard disk, which
furnishes data storage. Hard disk drives are commonly used as the main
storage device in a computer. HDDs often store operating system, software
programs and other files, and can be found in desktop computers, mobile
devices, consumer electronics and enterprise storage arrays in data centers.

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.

In a computer, an HDD is commonly found in the drive bay and is connected

to the motherboard via an ATA, SATA or SCSI cable. The HDD is also
connected to a power supply unit and can keep stored data while powered
down.

Seagate Technology engineer

Joanne Larson demonstrates how
a hard disk drive works.

Hard disk drive components and how it works

Most basic hard drives consist of a number of disk platters that are positioned around
a spindle inside a sealed chamber. The chamber also includes read-and-write heads
and motors.

The motor is used to spin the platters, which hold the data, at up to 15,000 rotations
per minute (a higher rpm number results in faster performance). As the platters spin, a
second motor controls the position of the read-and-write heads that magnetically
record information to, and read information from, tracks on each platter.
External HDDs

Most HDDs are found internally in a computer and work as stated above. However,
individuals can also purchase external hard drives. External hard drives can be used to
expand the storage capacity, or act as a portable place to back data up to. An external
hard drive can connect to a computer or device through a USB 2.0 interface or with
eSATA. External hard drives may also have slower data transfer rates compared to
internal HDDs.

History of hard disk drives

The hard disk was created in 1953 by engineers at IBM who wanted to find a way to
provide random access to high capacities of data at a low cost. The disk drives
developed were the size of refrigerators, could store 3.75 megabytes of data and began
shipping in 1956. Memorex, Seagate and Western Digital were other early vendors of
hard disk drive technology.

Hard disk drive form-factor size has continued to decrease as the technology evolves.
By the mid-1980s, 3.5-inch and 2.5-inch form factors were introduced, and it was at
this time they first became a standard in personal computers (PCs).

Hard disk drive density has increased since the technology was first developed. The
first hard disk drives were able to store megabytes of data, while today they are in the
terabyte (TB) range. Hitachi released the first 1 TB hard drives in 2007. In 2015,
HGST announced the first 10 TB hard drive.

HDD technology developments

In 2013, Seagate announced hard disk drives that use shingled magnetic recording
(SMR) technology. SMR increases storage density in hard disk drives by layering
the magnetic tracks on each disk, rather than placing them parallel to each other. It is
referred to as shingled because the tracks overlap similar to shingles on a roof.
HGST announced the first helium-filled hard disk drive in 2012. Helium is less dense,
cooler and lighter than air, and can, therefore, consume less power, increase drive
density and improve performance compared with traditional hard disk drives. In 2016,
Seagate announced its own 10 TB helium hard drive.

HDD vs. SSD

The main alternative to hard disk drives in PCs and the enterprise are solid-state
drives (SSDs). HDDs are now starting to be replaced by SSDs.

Unlike hard disks, SSDs contain no moving parts. SSDs also have
lower latency than HDDs, and therefore are often favored to store critical data
that needs to be accessed quickly and for applications with a
high input/output demand. SSDs are configured to deliver high read and write
performance for sequential and random data requests. Additionally, SSDs
don't store data magnetically, so the read performance remains steady,
regardless of where the data is stored on the drive.
However, SSDs are more expensive than HDDs from a price-per-
gigabyte standpoint. Many enterprise storage arrays ship with a mix of HDDs
and SSDs to reduce costs while providing better performance. SSDs also
have a set life expectancy, having a finite number of write cycles before
performance slows. This detrition happens faster than how long it takes for an
HDD to fail over time.
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Hard Disk Drive (HDD)

Definition - What does Hard Disk Drive (HDD) mean?
A hard disk drive (HDD) is a non-volatile computer storage device containing magnetic
disks or platters rotating at high speeds. It is a secondary storage device used to store
data permanently, random access memory (RAM) being the primary memory device.
Non-volatile means data is retained when the computer is turned off.
A hard disk drive is also known as a hard drive.

echopedia explains Hard Disk Drive (HDD)

A hard drive fits inside a computer case and is firmly attached with the use of braces
and screws to prevent it from being jarred as it spins. Typically it spins at 5,400 to
15,000 RPM. The disk moves at an accelerated rate, allowing data to be accessed
immediately. Most hard drives operate on high speed interfaces using serial ATA
(SATA) or serial attached technology. When the platters rotate, an arm with a read/write
head extends across the platters. The arm writes new data to the platters and reads
new data from them. Most hard drives use enhanced integrated drive electronics (EIDE)
including cables and connectors to the motherboard. All data is stored magnetically,
allowing information to be saved when power is shut off.
Hard drives need a read only memory (ROM) controller board to instruct the read/write
heads how, when and where to move across the platters. Hard drives have disks
stacked together and spin in unison. The read/write heads are controlled by an actuator,
which magnetically reads from and writes to the platters. The read/write heads float on a
film of air above the platters. Both sides of the platters are used to store data. Each side
or surface of one disk is called a head, with each one divided into sectors and tracks. All
tracks are the same distance from the center of the disk. Collectively they comprise one
cylinder. Data is written to a disk starting at the furthest track. The read/write heads
move inward to the next cylinder once the first cylinder is filled.
A hard drive is divided into one of more partitions, which can be further divided into logical
drives or volumes. Usually a master boot record (MBR) is found at the beginning of the hard
drive and contains a table of partition information. Each logical drive contains a boot record, a
file allocation table (FAT) and a root directory for the FAT file system.
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What is HDD and Why it's

Important
The hard disk drive, or the HDD as it is commonly called, is typically the largest storage of data
inside a computer. Every file that is put on the computer such as the operating system, all software,
and files you download are kept here. Today we are going to talk about the hard disk drive and why
it important to your computer.

What is a hard disk drive?

A hard disk drive is about the size of a paperback book that is installed into your computer when you
buy it, or you can purchase new a new hard drive to add more memory to your computer. The sides
of the HDD have holes drilled into them so you can add it to any existing computer. You can also
mount the hard drive to your computer with an adaptor. The back of the hard drive has a port on it so
you can plug it into the computers mother board. It also comes with a connection for power, and
many come with jumper settings, which allows the motherboard to recognize that a new hard disk
drive has been installed. Inside all hard drives there are small round disks called platters, which are
coated with a special coating that allows the hard drive to store data magnetically.

Why is a hard disk drive important?

The hard disk drive is probably the most important component to your computer. Without it your
computer would never be able to save any files, you would not be able to boot up your operating
system, and could never play a game or download a file. Computers now a days comes with a hard
drive with three times more space than in previous computers but it is amazing how fast the
computer cashed will be depleted. It is very important to know the size of your hard drive as well,
because if you do not know and you run out of space, your computer will not work and you will not
be able to download anything until you add another hard disk drive.
As you can see the hard disk drive is a very important part of the computer. Without it your computer
would not operate at all. Please find out how much memory your hard disk drive can hold and also
keep track of how much data has been saved, so you will not run out.

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