 How a Hard Drive Works
A simple guide to the inner workings of
a hard drive.
Your hard drive is a precise piece of electronic equipment. The
discs (known as platters) spin as fast as 15,000RPMs
and the heads used to read the disks “fly” above
them at fractions of a millimeter. But, the principle behind a hard
drive is relatively simple.
One or more platters are mounted
on a spindle inside the hard drive case. Both side
of the platters are covered with a magnetic material. The spindle
is mounted to a motor that spins the platters.
 Mounted to the end of an arm are
the heads. The arm moves back-and-forth across the
platters to position the head, much like a record player.
The heads read and write the data to the platters
by detecting or changing the characteristics of the magnetic material.
Similar to a CD, the data is laid out in tracks (also
called cylinders) on the platters.
To protect the magnetic material, the heads do not touch
the platters when they are spinning. They “float” fractions
of a millimeter above them on a cushion of air.
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