

SSDs are a form of flash-based or Flash memory storage and will each have a capacity, given in MB, GB or TB.

When you ask the computer to update or retrieve data an I/O controller tells the actuator where on the spinning platters the data is located, it then goes to the correct address in that sector to read or write the data. These components include storage platters, a motor to spin them, and a mechanical actuator arm with a read-write head on it for each platter. These hard drives have been around for a long while and consist of several mechanical components. You can learn more in our complete hard drives guide. They can be internal hard drives where they are physically built-in to the PC, desktop or laptop and mounted onto computer PCBs (printed circuit board), or they can be external hard drives where they are used outside the main unit itself and are portable.

Hard drives or hard disk drives are a method of data storage for devices.
