A disk drive uses a motor to spin flat, circular platters and moves a read/write head across their surfaces to access data. The term covers both magnetic hard drives and optical drives. Because they rely on moving mechanical parts, they are slower and more vulnerable to physical shock than solid-state storage.
Heard on the job
The disk drive is making a clicking noise, which usually means the read head is failing.
Do not mix it up with
- SSD: An SSD stores data in flash memory chips with no moving parts, while a disk drive uses spinning platters.