What are the hard drive components of your computer?

Answer 1

The hard drive is a device used to store data on the computer long-term. Unlike RAM, data written to the harddrive (or HDD) is non-volatile and will not typically disappear when turning the computer off.

Harddrives work by using a spinning magnetically reactive platter (or multiple platters), and read and write information using an incredibly tiny, extremely sensitive magnetic needle called a 'head'. This head does not typically come into physical contact with the platter, as doing so will often break the head, causing what is known as a 'crash'. This causes irreversible and permanent damage to the head.

The platters spin at high speeds to deliver data quicker, typically 4200 and 5400 RPM for laptops, and 5400, 7200, and 10,000 RPM in desktops. Servers can also have SCSI 15,000 RPM hard drives.

Hard drives store data most users commonly interact with- Your operating system (example: Windows), music, movies, games, applications and programs, documents, and more.

Hard drives can also be used as temporary RAM in the event of a RAM shortage, however at an incredibly reduced capability.

Most modern harddrives average 80 MB/s read and 60 MB/s write, though may vary from model to model and situation to situation. Modern RAM is much faster. Typical DDR2 and DDR3 memory operates at 8000 MB/s or faster. You can see why the HDD is not preferable as use for memory, and thus why a RAM upgrade is the quickest way to speed up a computer IF it is ram deficient. The use of a hard drive as temporary memory is called 'Swapping' 'Paging' or 'Virtual Memory', and is referred to as 'Swapfile', 'Pagefile' and 'Virtual Memory Allocation'.

Hard drives are a direct descendant of other magnetic storage media such as Floppy Disk Drives, Drum Drives, and Tape Drives. It provides superior storage capacity, better reliability, and speed to Drum Drives and Floppy Disk Drives. Tape Drives can hold higher capacity (as much as 14.5 TB per tape in top models), but since Tape Drives are sequential (must read front to back, like a VHS or Casette, and must be 'rewound') and harddrives are random access (goes directly to the data), tape drives have been replaced by HDDs for performance purposes.

Hard Drives used to be sensitive to magnetic interference, much like floppies and tape drives, but newer drives are shielded from most magnetic interference, unlike floppies and tape drives.

Answer 2

The four MAJOR components of a hard drive are USB Slot, The USB Cord, The Battery, And the other stuff sorry i only know 3

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Above is incorrect;

The five major parts of a hard-drive are:

Platter

• The platter is the flat disk part of the hard drive. The platter is made up of a hard material--usually aluminum, but it varies--which is coated by material with a magnetic charge. According to "The Complete Guide to A+ Certification" by Michael Graves, the magnetic material is the part of the platter which stores the data. The magnetic charges record zeros and 1s which can be interpreted as data by the computer. Each set of magnetic particles is organized in a collection in a unit called a bit. New hard-drive technology uses thin-film metals and glass platters to increase efficiency and drive storage capacity.

Heads

• The heads read and write the information to and from the drive platter. Heads are also called read-write heads. The heads write bits of magnetic information onto the platter. The closer the head is to the platter, the more efficiently it is able to read information, but a close-mounted head is more likely to have contact with a platter, potentially damaging the information. Each platter requires one head for each surface of the hard drive that needs to be read simultaneously by the head. So, if you have a two-side platter in your hard drive, you need two heads to read the sides of the platter.

Actuator Arms

• The actuator arm moves the read-write head to the proper area of the platter. The head of a hard drive is mounted on the actuator arm, which moves it in order to correctly read and write the information. The actuator arm also helps keep the head an optimal distance from the hard drive platter to preserve the drive's speed and efficiency and protect the disk.

Actuator Mechanism

• The actuator mechanism moves the actuator arm into the right place to read and write data to the hard drive platter. A controller directs the actuator to the track which is slotted for the relevant information. Most hard drive manufacturers use either a motor or a magnetic coil to move the actuator arm into place.

Head Parking

• Head parking is a vital part of the construction of a hard drive. Head parking maintains the small space between the head and platter, protecting the platter from suffering damage from the head. According to Graves, the head parking acts as a landing zone for the spinning platter for when the computer is powered off. Head parking can also protect the hard drive when the computer is lightly struck or jarred, but it cannot stop the hard drive from breaking when a severe blow is dealt to the hard drive, like a car accident or an angry kick to the computer.

Answer 3

The Read/Write head

The patterns

The spindle motor

The drive enclosure

The Drive controller

The Drive interfaces

The Power supply

(there may be more)

Answer 4

They are the Drive heads, Spindle, Platter, and Electronic Circuitry.