| Hard Drives: An Overview |
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| Written by CraigStephenson | |
| Saturday, 29 August 2009 | |
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Information in personal computers is primarily stored on one or more hard drives. These devices are capable of storing huge amounts of data very quickly. The inside of a drive resembles a turntable with a number of magnetic records. When in use, an access arm moves across the drive to read and write data.
Information in personal computers is primarily stored on one or more hard drives. These devices are capable of storing huge amounts of data very quickly. The inside of a drive resembles a turntable with a number of magnetic records. When in use, an access arm moves across the drive to read and write data. Originally invented in 1956, early hard drives required a large amount of rack or floor space. It wasn't until the 1980's that they were shrunk down to about five inches and available in personal computers. At the time, personal hard drives held about 5 megabytes or the equivalent of one song. The amount of information that can be stored has jumped by leaps and bounds since then. Average home hard drives are now 500 gigabytes or 100,000 song files. Even the largest hard drives available don't offer enough storage space for some power users and most businesses. Because of this, a technology known as RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) was created to combine multiple drives into one large storage space. This tool also allows for the instant creation of data backups. Two similar drives can be set up so that one is a mirror of the other. If one of them were to stop working, the other drive would continue to work as an exact copy of all the data. Hard drives are showing up in devices other than personal computers. MP3 players, laptops and smart phones all contain drives now. These portable devices require large amounts of storage especially when it comes to saving photos and music files. Because traditional hard drives are easily damaged by being dropped, portable hard drives are now manufactured with shock-protection and fewer moving parts. The green movement has led many consumers and businesses to purchases computers that use less power. Hard drives use less power when the internal parts have to move less to read and write data. To maximize this effect, manufacturers have continued to make the drives smaller and more efficient at reading information. They have also worked to make the drives run cooler because large companies have traditionally had to invest a lot of power into cooling their large number of computers. Most computers now have built-in tools for detecting when a hard drive might be damaged. Known as Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology, or S.M.A.R.T., this software is capable of noticing sudden changes in things such as temperature and load times. Based on those trends, it is possible to alert the user to an increased likelihood of drive failure or data loss. When moving large amounts of data from one computer to another, it is often useful to employ an external hard drive. These devices are identical to drives that appear inside of personal computers except that they are enclosed in a protective shell. This enclosure is designed to protect the device from falling damage, spilled liquids and static electricity. External hard drives can also be used to backup data by creating a copy that can be safely tucked away in a cool, dry place. About the Author: Craig Stephenson is an expert in hard drives. With in depth technical knowledge he is a trusted voice within the digital industry. For further information regarding hard drives please visit http://www.ebuyer.com From the Webmaster: "Having the opportunity to share my hobbies and interests with so many people around the world gives me great satisfaction. As a bonus, I blog and produce websites about topics that interest me and receive ad revenue from the websites and Blogs."
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