Anatomy Of A Hard Drive

1 Platter An aluminium or glass disc – the hard-drive equivalent of a vinyl record – that contains all your data.

2 Spindle This runs the platter and determines how fast it spins (measured in revolutions per minute, or rpm).

3 Head Like the needle on a vinyl record, this reads the data from the platter. When it’s knocked off balance, your drive stops working.

4 Arm This holds the head in place, and moves it around the platter when seeking data.

5 Actuator Axis This holds the arm in place.

6 Ports The side of the hard drive has ports for power and to connect the drive to the motherboard.

7 Actuator Moves the arm to different positions to read from the disk.