Solid state drives are gradually replacing laser and magnetic disks from everyday life. Nevertheless, finally this will not happen soon. The article describes the types of computer disks.
What is a disk?
Disks have long and firmly entered our lives. But most of us are confronted with CDs, and they don’t even have a clue that there are other types of them. So what are they, and how do they differ from each other? Let's start our small “educational program” and finally we will understand what a disk is and what it can be. We recall discs from the nineties (CD), and from the two thousandth (DVD), and many others.
Compact discs (cd)
CDs were invented by Philips back in 1979. The volume of the CD was such that it contained exactly 74 minutes of sound. Reading and writing information to the CD-ROM is performed using a directional optical laser beam. CDs have long been outdated in the world of computers. Now they are used only by record companies, since the volume of the medium is enough to record high-quality sound.
But at one time, CDs were quite popular among computer users. Previously, when Windows distributions “weighed” a little over 600 MB, CDs were widely used. But with the advent of the Seven, DVDs have become relevant. They are divided into several categories: CD-R (read only) - with the ability to write once and CD-RW (readable / writeable) - with the option of multiple recording. Of course, CD-RW has always been a better option.
DVD and BlueRay discs
Replacing CD-came DVD-ROM drive with a capacity of 4.7 GB. It was already more serious. It was possible to record a bunch of films in avi format on such a storage medium . And the newfangled Windows 7 OS easily fit on them. DVDs are widely used in the film industry to sell films.
With the advent of BlueRay discs, a new stage has begun in the development of audio-video media. With the gigantic volume of BlueRay, it has become possible to record movies in Full HD quality. What is a regular CD compared to BlueRay? A grain of sand in the sea. But this is not the end.
The final chord was the release of a two-layer "bluray". This is really a monster among the "discs." Information is placed on it twice as much as on a standard BlueRay, thanks to the ability to record on two layers at once.
Hard disk (Winchester, HDD)
There are also devices that are used in computers to store data. They are called hard drives (HDD). So what is an HDD?
HDD (Hard Disk Drive) was first invented in 1973. And its memory capacity was only 16 Kb. At that time these were huge numbers. It consisted of 30 magnetic tracks and 30 cylinders. It was because of these numbers that he was nicknamed the "Winchester." A hard disk consists of several plates on one vertical axis and a read head with its own drive. Modern HDDs can accommodate 2 TB of information. And this is far from the limit.
HDD for laptops are slightly different from those "hard drives" that are usually installed on a PC. A laptop hard drive is much smaller in size than its “big brother”. It goes without saying that with such sizes the maximum memory size suffers. If the “full-sized” HDD can accommodate 5 TB of information, and more, then the bar for HDD laptops is much lower. Maximum 2 Tb.
Sometimes there are situations in which you have to change the HDD. It’s not that the purchase will make a dent in the budget, but the replacement cost will be far from a penny. How much does an HDD worth the volume you need, it is better to find out in specialized stores, without relying on the Internet. For BlueRay carriers, the average price is about 100 rubles, for DVD-RW - 30-35 rubles, and CDs are usually sold at a price not exceeding 20 rubles.
external HDs
There is also such a thing as an external hard drive. This is a storage medium comparable in size to an HDD , used where there is little internal HDD capacity. Typically, such drives are used for laptops, since it is quite problematic to increase the hard disk space in them.
External HDDs are connected to the laptop via a USB input and have a maximum capacity of 2 TB. A pretty good plus for a laptop user. External hard drives come in different sizes: 2.5 and 3.5 inches. If the maximum disk capacity is 250-500 GB, then the volume of the 3.5-inch HDD can reach 2 TB. Naturally, 3.5-inch HDDs are larger and smaller than their “smaller brothers” and usually require a 220 V network connection. If you need mobility, you will have to sacrifice volume.
An important factor when choosing an external drive is the presence of a USB 3.0 interface. Thanks to its presence, the read / write speed will be much higher than using standard USB 2.0. In addition, it is worth paying attention to the presence in the HDD case of its own cooler. Devices with high rpm heat up quite noticeably, and to avoid overheating, it is useful to have a cooler.
As a rule, an external hard drive costs much more than a regular HDD of the same size, since its production uses a completely different technology. But if you really need more space, it makes sense to spend money.
Boot disk
A boot disk is used for many tasks. But basically, such a disk is called a storage medium from which it is possible to install an operating system for a computer. For example, Windows, Linux, or MacOS.
You can even create a bootable disk from a regular USB drive. Using UltraISO, you can create a bootable USB or DVD. Boot disks can be used not only for system installation. With their help, you can make a disk to check systems for viruses before loading the OS.
Reanimator Disc
There is another subspecies of media - Reanimator. What is a Reanimator Disk? This is a boot disk for system recovery. It includes programs for working with a hard disk, RAM, and other computer hardware. If you have one, then, perhaps, you can do without reinstalling the entire system.
Resuscitators were in high gear in the era of Windows 2000 and Windows XP. Now they are not so popular for the simple reason that new systems have their own recovery capabilities. However, in some cases, without the "Resuscitator" simply can not do.
"Resuscitators" could "raise" a completely dead system. But it took a lot of time. Especially if the "Resuscitator" was recorded on a regular CD. The speed of work was just a turtle. With the possibility of creating a bootable USB-drive, the situation began to improve. Now the “Reanimator” needs much less time to “fix” the system. Even in our time, you need to have a “Resuscitate” disk in your piggy bank. You never know what. It is not always possible to put the system from scratch. Sometimes you can just restore it.
Conclusion
So, in this article we looked at what a disk is and what it can be. We reviewed compact discs (CDs), DVDs, BlueRay, hard drives (HDD) for PC and laptop, external hard drives and boot options. Of course, all of them are outlined in general terms. To describe all the nuances and types of discs, one article is not enough. But still, in general terms, this information should help to figure out which one is intended for what.