Even though computers along with internet have become part of life, a vast majority of people fail to discern the difference between a hard drive and a hard disk yet. Though this is not desirable, it’s a painful reality. What is a hard disk then? How is it different from a hard drive? Let’s find out these.

Well, a hard disk happens to be a physical disk that can be used in order to store or simply accumulate a large amount of information making use of magnetic patterns and this very process is quite similar to audio cassettes or video tapes. But there is also another major difference. A hard disk is a lot smaller to some extent but has the inherent competence to store an unbelievable amount of information. In actual fact, hard disks have a tendency to become a collection of more than a few disks all stacked done above the other akin to a multi storey car park.

On the other hand, a hard drive is the entire unit in which a hard disk is only one division. Keep in mind that the hard disk, or the diverse layers or platters which constitute a hard disk, needs turning. This indicates that there is a small motor built into the hard drive unit.

A very small head wants to read the magnetic patterns on the disk, just like the stylus from an old record player. Nevertheless the difference, with the exception of being in terms of scale, is that the head which reads a hard disk never in reality touches the surface, but hovers a fraction of a millimeter on top of it.