To many people, a hard disk is a "black box" of sorts--it is thought of as just a small device that "somehow" stores data. There is nothing wrong with this approach of course, as long as all you care about is that it stores data. If you use your hard disk as more than just a place to "keep stuff", then you want to know more about your hard disk. It is hard to really understand the factors that affect performance, reliability and interfacing without knowing how the drive works internally. Fortunately, most hard disks are basically the same on the inside. While the technology evolves, many of the basics are unchanged from the first PC hard disks in the early 1980s.Photograph of a modern SCSI hard disk, with major components annotated. The logic board is underneath the unit and not visible from this angle. Original image © Western Digital Corporation. Image used with permission.
