What is a hard drive? Easily explained
Related Videos: SSDs vs Hard Drives as Fast As Possible (April 2024).
You need a hard drive in every computer. Nothing works without this component. In this article, we explain what exactly a hard drive is and how it works.
What is a hard drive and how does it work?
A hard drive is the storage medium in your computer. All your documents, pictures or programs are saved there.
- The hard drive is often referred to as an HDD. This means "Hard Disk Drive" in detail and denotes a normal hard drive. A special kind is the SSD, another hard drive, which we explain to you in the second paragraph.
- The HDD hard drive uses a magnetic storage system, just like a floppy disk or audio and video tape.
- Rotating disks are used for hard disks, on the surface of which the data is stored.
- When writing information, the magnetic surface of the disks is magnetized permanently and without contact.
- When reading the data, a sensor scans this magnetization of the disk without contact and converts the values back into readable data.
- The information stored in hard disks is summarized in blocks, each of which has a fixed size. The blocks are usually 512 or 4096 bytes in size. The storage capacity of a hard disk then results from the size of a block multiplied by the number of blocks.
- The further apart these individual blocks are, the longer a read process can take. You should therefore defragment your hard drive regularly.
- Typical sizes for hard drives are 3.5 and 2.5 inches. The larger hard drives are the standard in desktop computers, while the smaller models are mainly used for SSDs and notebooks.
- You can also differentiate between internal and external hard drives: Internal HDDs are in your PC, while external hard drives can be connected to any device via USB.
- You can find the currently best hard drives in our HDD leaderboard.
What is an SSD hard drive?
In addition to normal HDD hard drives, there are also SSDs that are based on flash memory.
- SSD stands for "Solid State Drive" or "Solid State Disk" and is the most widespread alternative alongside the HDD hard disk.
- In contrast to the HDD hard disk, there are no rotating disks or other moving parts. SSDs therefore do not belong to the category of "drives".
- An SSD is not based on a magnetic storage system like the HDD, but is an electronic storage medium.
- SSDs are more robust than HDDs and less prone to mechanical errors. This also makes you less sensitive to vibrations. For this reason, you will often find SSDs in notebooks.
- The biggest advantage of SSDs is the significantly shorter access time. SSDs also generally have up to five times the read and write speed. For computers, it is therefore advisable to install the operating system on an SSD hard drive, while rarely needed data can be stored on an HDD hard drive.
- Since there are no moving parts in an SSD, an SSD also works much quieter than an HDD.
- A disadvantage of SSD hard drives is the significantly higher price. While a 1 TB HDD only costs around 50 euros, you pay around 360 euros for an SSD with 1 TB.
- We have tested the currently fastest models in our SSD leaderboard.
External hard drives in the test
1
Toshiba Canvio Advance 2TB (HDTC920ER3AA)
final grade
1.0
Very good
Review
- Read Performance (1.0)
- Performance writing (1.0)
- Mobility (1.2)
price
from € 72.90
price estimate
Very cheap (1.3)
price comparison
price comparison
TO THE SHOP
(Amazon)
TO THE SHOP
(Amazon)
2
Toshiba Canvio Premium 2TB (HDTW220EB3AA)
final grade
1.0
Very good
Review
- Read Performance (1.0)
- Performance writing (1, 1)
- Mobility (1.2)
price
from € 78.44
price estimate
Inexpensive (1.6)
price comparison
price comparison
TO THE SHOP
(Compuland)
TO THE SHOP
(Compuland)
3
Toshiba Canvio Basics 2TB (HDTB420EK3AA)
final grade
1.1
Very good
Review
- Read Performance (1, 1)
- Performance writing (1, 1)
- Mobility (1.2)
price
from € 61.46
price estimate
Very cheap (1.0)
price comparison
price comparison
TO THE SHOP
(Bueroshop24)
TO THE SHOP
(Bueroshop24)
4
Toshiba Canvio Basics 4TB (HDTB440EK3CA)
final grade
1.1
Very good
Review
- Read Performance (1, 1)
- Performance writing (1.0)
- Mobility (1.7)
price
from € 95.69
price estimate
Very cheap (1.4)
price comparison
price comparison
$config[ads_text5] not foundTO THE SHOP
(Mind Factory)
TO THE SHOP
(Mind Factory)
5
Toshiba Canvio Advance 4TB (HDTC940EL3CA)
final grade
1.1
Very good
Review
- Read Performance (1, 1)
- Performance writing (1.1)
- Mobility (1.7)
price
from € 105.47
price estimate
Inexpensive (1.8)
price comparison
price comparison
TO THE SHOP
(Computer Universe)
TO THE SHOP
(Computer Universe)
To the complete leaderboard
If you want to switch from an HDD hard drive to an SSD or otherwise want to get rid of an old hard drive, you should delete and destroy it beforehand. You will find three ways to destroy hard disks in another practical tip. We also show you all hard drive must-haves.