The falling price of flash made these other form factors almost obsolete. While there are other form factors, by 2009, manufacturers discontinued the development of products with 1.3-inch, 1-inch and 0.85-inch form factors. The 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch measurements represent the approximate diameter of the platter within the drive enclosures. The most common form factors for HDDs in enterprise systems are 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch - also known as small form factor (SFF) and large form factor (LFF). Having an industry-standard form factor helps determine a common compatibility with different computing devices. HDD form factors follow a set of industry standards that govern their length, width and height, as well as the position and orientation of the host interface connector. The HDD form factor refers to the physical size or geometry of the data storage device. Even though the term can refer to the unit as a whole, the term hard disk is the set of stacked disks - in other words, the part of the HDD that stores and provides access to data on an electromagnetically charged surface. Hard disk drive components include the spindle, disk platter, actuator, actuator arm and read/write head. However, an HDD actually has less space than advertised, as the operating system, file system structures and some data redundancy procedures use a portion of that space. Anything over 2 TB of HDD space is suitable for users who work with high-resolution files, who need to store or house a large amount of data, or who want to use that space for backup and redundancy.Ĭurrently, the highest capacity HDD is 20 TB. Individuals with games that take up a lot of space should find 1 TB to 2 TB of HDD space suitable. Users can most likely store all their music, photos, videos and other files with this much space. Around 500 GB and above of HDD storage is typically considered decent for an average user. This range is generally considered an entry point for HDD devices such as laptops or computers. This range is among the lowest for HDD storage space and is typically found in older and smaller devices. Some of the most common storage drive capacities include the following: As the platters spin, a second motor controls the position of the read and write heads that magnetically record and read information on each platter. The motor spins the platters at up to 15,000 rotations per minute. The disks also have a thin magnetic coating on them. The chamber also includes the read/write heads that magnetically record information to and from tracks on the platters using a magnetic head. The platter spins with a motor that is connected to the spindle. Most basic hard drives consist of several disk platters - a circular disk made of either aluminum, glass or ceramic - that are positioned around a spindle inside a sealed chamber. This is why every computer needs at least one storage device to permanently hold data as long as it is needed. Without devices like HDDs that can retain data after they have been turned off, computer users would not be able to store programs or save files or documents to their computers. Storage devices like hard disks are needed to install operating systems, programs and additional storage devices, and to save documents. The HDD is also connected to a power supply unit and can keep stored data while powered down.Ī 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. They are commonly found in the drive bay and are connected to the motherboard via an Advanced Technology Attachment (ATA), Serial ATA, parallel ATA or Small Computer System Interface ( SCSI) cable, among other formats. HDDs are used either as the primary or secondary storage device in a computer. More specifically, hard disk drives control the reading and writing of the hard disk that provides data storage. They can store operating systems, software programs and other files using magnetic disks. HDDs are usually installed inside desktop computers, mobile devices, consumer electronics and enterprise storage arrays in data centers. All computers need a storage device, and HDDs are just one example of a type of storage device. Non-volatile refers to storage devices that maintain stored data when turned off. Gillis, Technical Writer and EditorĪ computer hard disk drive (HDD) is a non-volatile data storage device.
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