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 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  Western Digital predicts that it will not have production back to pre-flood levels until the third quarter of  This has caused the price of computers to increase and decrease sales all over the technology industry.

Works Cited  3/how_to_buy_a_hard_drive.html 3/how_to_buy_a_hard_drive.html      are/2002/InsideHardDrive.asp are/2002/InsideHardDrive.asp   drives-idUSTRE79R drives-idUSTRE79R  drive-shortages-continue-bite-tech-industry drive-shortages-continue-bite-tech-industry