Computer Components
Hard Drives & Optical Drives
A hard drive is a disk drive where all your files and folders are located.
- A typical hard drive can hold over 100GB of data and is only slightly larger than your hand.
- The data is stored on a small stack of disks inside the case. These disks spin very fast so that the information can easily be accessed from anywhere on the drive.
An optical drive have lasers, which can see and read data on the optical disc.
- These usually include CDs and DVDs, which are made from lots of little bumps and dips.
- They have lasers that read these bumps as ones and zeros, so the computer can easily understand.
- Some optical disks are: CD-ROM, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, DVD-RW and Blue-ray drives.