What is a Hard Disk Drive?
A Hard Disk Drive (HDD) is a device used by modern computers to permanently store information. The Hard Disk Drive is arguable the most essential part of a computer system in that all the information that is permanently stored is contained within its enclosure, including your computers Operating System (OS). Thanks to Hard Disk Drives, long gone are the days when you would have had to keep all your programs and documents stored on removable media such as Floppy Disks or CD-ROMs.
Originally invented in the mid 1950s and made commercially available in 1956 by International Business Machines (IBM). Called RAMAC (Random Access Method of Accounting and Control), the first Hard Disk Drives contained as much as 50 platters which were 24 inches in diameter and were computers in their own right albeit with a single purpose to store data. The entire unit which housed the hard drive was the approximate size of two large refrigerators placed side by side. In the 50 or so years since their invention, Hard Disk Drives have steadily and aggressively far out paced Moores law. Which stipulates that memory in computers will increase by 100%...