harðdiska

Harðdiska, often referred to as a hard drive or HDD, is a non-volatile storage device that uses magnetic storage to store and retrieve digital data. It is a fundamental component in most modern computers, laptops, and servers, responsible for holding the operating system, applications, and user files.

The core of a harðdiska consists of one or more rapidly rotating platters coated with a magnetic material. Data is written to and read from these platters by read/write heads that float just above the surface. These heads are mounted on an actuator arm that moves them across the platters, accessing different tracks of data. The speed at which the platters spin, measured in revolutions per minute (RPM), significantly impacts the harðdiska's performance, with higher RPMs generally leading to faster data access.

Harðdiska technology has evolved considerably over the years, offering increasing storage capacities and improved reliability. However, they are susceptible to mechanical failure due to their moving parts. This has led to the widespread adoption of Solid State Drives (SSDs), which use flash memory and have no moving components, offering greater speed and durability, though typically at a higher cost per gigabyte. Despite the rise of SSDs, harðdiska remain a cost-effective solution for mass storage in many applications.