The main type of storage for personal computers is hard drives. These devices are used for efficiently storing huge amounts of data. Inside, drives resemble a record player with a number of magnetic records, known as platters. When saving, an access arm moves across the platters to write data.
Early hard drives, invented in 1956, were very large and often needed to be stored on the floor or in dedicated equipment racks. Starting in the early 1980's, drives were shrunk down to a portable size. The first of this type was about five inches across and held about 5 megabytes; the equivalent of one song. In the intervening thirty years, hard drives have continued to shrink in size while storing more information. The average home hard drive is now three inches across while holding the equivalent of 100,000 song files.
Because of the need for larger storage devices, hard drives can be joined together in a "redundant array of inexpensive disks" or RAID. In this way, multiple drives can be linked together and be made to appear as one larger drive to the computer. RAID also allows for some data protection. Two same-sized drives can be hooked together in such a way that the information is stored on both. If one of those devices were to fail, the other one still has a perfect copy of 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.
There is a growing trend to make devices that use less power to make computers more environmentally friendly. Hard drives have naturally changed to use less power as they have become smaller; the parts inside simply do not have to move as much. Manufacturers have also created smarter methods for reading and writing information to minimize the amount of movement. Companies with a large number of hard drives also tend to invest a lot of power into cooling the computers. Newer components, including hard drives, have been designed to produce less heat.
The average expected life span for hard drives is about three years. This will vary based on use and environment, but most hard drives now contain built-in tools for detecting when a hard drive might be damaged. S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology) tools will alert the user when the drive is starting to fail or lose data. This allows for a chance to make a copy of the data before complete failure occurs.
External hard drives operate just like those inside of personal computers but often come with their own enclosure to make them portable. This type of drive is typically used for transferring large amounts of data from one computer to another where a network is not available. External drives can also be used for backups of important data. - 22787
Early hard drives, invented in 1956, were very large and often needed to be stored on the floor or in dedicated equipment racks. Starting in the early 1980's, drives were shrunk down to a portable size. The first of this type was about five inches across and held about 5 megabytes; the equivalent of one song. In the intervening thirty years, hard drives have continued to shrink in size while storing more information. The average home hard drive is now three inches across while holding the equivalent of 100,000 song files.
Because of the need for larger storage devices, hard drives can be joined together in a "redundant array of inexpensive disks" or RAID. In this way, multiple drives can be linked together and be made to appear as one larger drive to the computer. RAID also allows for some data protection. Two same-sized drives can be hooked together in such a way that the information is stored on both. If one of those devices were to fail, the other one still has a perfect copy of 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.
There is a growing trend to make devices that use less power to make computers more environmentally friendly. Hard drives have naturally changed to use less power as they have become smaller; the parts inside simply do not have to move as much. Manufacturers have also created smarter methods for reading and writing information to minimize the amount of movement. Companies with a large number of hard drives also tend to invest a lot of power into cooling the computers. Newer components, including hard drives, have been designed to produce less heat.
The average expected life span for hard drives is about three years. This will vary based on use and environment, but most hard drives now contain built-in tools for detecting when a hard drive might be damaged. S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology) tools will alert the user when the drive is starting to fail or lose data. This allows for a chance to make a copy of the data before complete failure occurs.
External hard drives operate just like those inside of personal computers but often come with their own enclosure to make them portable. This type of drive is typically used for transferring large amounts of data from one computer to another where a network is not available. External drives can also be used for backups of important data. - 22787
About the Author:
Craig Stephenson is an expert in hard drives. With in depth technical expertise he is a respected voice in the digital industry. For more information regarding hard drives please visit http://www.ebuyer.com
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