From the course: Programming Foundations: Inside Computing Hardware

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Hard disk drive (HDD) and solid-state drive (SSD)

Hard disk drive (HDD) and solid-state drive (SSD)

From the course: Programming Foundations: Inside Computing Hardware

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Hard disk drive (HDD) and solid-state drive (SSD)

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- [Zara] Hard disk drives look like small metal boxes with a circular disk inside. HDDs operate on the principle of magnetism. Data is stored on rotating platters. These platters are coated with a magnetic material. They work somewhat like a record player. There is a spinning disk and a mechanical arm that moves to read or write data. The platter speed when rotating or spinning, is measured by RPM. RPM stands for revolutions per minute. It measures how many revolutions a computer hard drive platter makes in a single minute. The higher the RPM, the faster the data will be accessed. The common RPM rates are between 5400 and 7200 RPM. HDDs come in two sizes, 2.5 inch and 3.5 inch, also known as the form factor. These information are usually mentioned in the computer specifications. This laptop, for example, has an HDD storage with 500 gigabyte capacity and also showing the RPM speed. And this desktop computer, for example,…

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