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A hard drive is the component of a computer that stores information. There are two main types: internal hard drive and external hard drive. Internal hard driv is pre-installed into the computer during the manufacturing process and becomes a permanent part of the computer while an external drive is an independent gadget that is connected to the computer whenever a need arises. In most cases this is done by the use of a Universal Serial Bus cable.
They are made up of two main parts, the rigid platters, which rotate and spindles that are driven by a motor. Both the rigid platters and the spindles work hand in hand to enable storage and retrieval of data to and from the hard drie respectively. Regardless of the type, hard drives exhibit similar characteristics in that, data is stored and accessed from them in a magnetic means, they perform the basic function of storing and retrieving data, they are non-volatile in the sense that they can store data even when they are disconnected from the source of power and are random access in nature meaning that any piece of data stored in them stands an equal chance of being accessed at any point in time.
As already stated above, external hard drves are not a permanent feature of a computer as compared to internal hard drives. For that reason, they have to be occasionally connected to the computer by means of a Universal Serious Bus cable. They are indeed the best friends of a Desktop Computer in the sense that they enable computer users to accomplish the following functions that are almost impossible to achieve by use of internal hard drives:
Recovering data which may be lost due to various reasons such as the storage device may get lost, damaged or infected with a virus, transferring the contents of a storage device to another storage device is possible with hard drives. This will help ensure that the integrity as well as safety of the information and data is maintained, to create and test prototypes and other virtual programs that may be used later to run a real life machine, to edit video footages and for shooting and recording video footage in remote locations where a computer cannot be physically transported due to their sheer bulk.
In light of recent technological developments in the world of computers, the best desktop PC’s should ideally have hard drives that employ carbon Nano-tubes and the magnet tunnel effects. These drives are currently being developed and will be available in the market soon. Since the year 2006 also, flash disks which are another type of external drives that use solid-state technology have been in existence. They are superior to their traditional counterparts and have very high performance.
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Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?External-Hard-Drives—Your-Desktops-Best-Friend&id=5999146