In Windows operating system, the hard drive is known to be the C drive, and in MAC, it is simply called as the hard drive. The first personal computer contains a hard drive of less than 1 megabyte, while modern computers contain a hard drive of 1 terabyte.Įvery computer contains atleast one hard drive to store data and software. Hard disk was introduced in the year 1956 by IBM. The data stored in the hard disk can be of many types such as the operating system, installed software, documents, and other files of computer. The data stored in a hard disk is retained when our computer system shuts down. The secondary storage devices include a large storage capacity as compared to the primary storage devices. The hard disk is a secondary storage device, which is designed to store data permanently. It lets the hard drive to communicate with the computer. A circuit board (also called as the interface board or disk controller) is present on the back of a hard drive. Its main components include a read/write actuator arm, head actuator, read/write head, spindle, and platter. Hard disk is located within a drive unit on the computer's motherboard and comprises one or more platters packed in an air-sealed casing. It is installed internally in our computer systems.
Non-volatile means the data retains when the computer shuts down. Hard disk is a non-volatile storage device that contains platters and magnetic disks rotating at high speeds. It is said to be rigid magnetic disc that stores data. Next → ← prev Hard disk definition and function Definition of hard diskĪ hard disk is also known as a hard drive or fixed disk.