What is an HDD? Easily explained
One of the most important parts of a computer is an HDD. Here we explain what that is and whether it has anything to do with HD.
HDD - what is it?
HDD stands for "hard disk drive" and is the hard disk of a PC. HD is just a short form and means "hard disk".
- With an HDD, data is stored on rotating disks by magnetization. There are always several disks in a hard disk housing, which lie exactly one above the other.
- A so-called read / write head is responsible for the storage and retrieval of the desired data. You can imagine the arm of the read / write head like a tonearm on a turntable. In contrast to the turntable, the read / write arm always jumps back and forth on the disk - to the desired storage space.
- In contrast to the HDD, an SSD has no moving parts. Discs and arm are replaced by memory chips. The function is more like a storage medium such as a USB stick.
You can find out here whether this modern hard disk storage is actually so much faster in practice than a normal hard disk. You will also find more explanations from us on the subject of terms from the computer world, for example what is behind the term firmware.