Hard Disk: a peek inside

Most of us know that a Hard Disk Drive (HDD) is used for storage of data including programs, documents, softwares, etc. that you would like to be present every time you turn-on your computer. But, what's actually inside the approximately 1 cm thick HDD box? Is it similar to a CD/DVD?

The answer is the recordable disk looks more or less similar to a DVD, even though the recording procedure, recording method and the components of the two drives are quite different.
HDD uses a magnetic metallic disc, that rotates on a spindle at extreme speeds, and an electro-magnetic read/write head communicates with the disk. The head is a small metallic wire-frame mounted at the and of a strong arm, called the actuator arm.

The HDD is also jargonized as magnetic disk and internal permanent storage device.

The disk is fixed inside the drive, and the head uses electro-magnetic signals to read/write. Whereas, a DVD can be ejected from the drive, and the DVD read/write head uses optical laser to read/write.
Caution: experimentation is good, but HDD become useless if they are tampered or de-assembled.

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