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PC Architecture. A book by Michael B. Karbo

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Figure 213. An SATA-hard disk (here 160 giga<strong>by</strong>tes). This is a standard product, which you can buy<br />

anywhere.<br />

The physical disk<br />

Hard disks consist of one or more magnetic plates mounted in a metal box. The standard size (as in Fig.<br />

213) is about 10 x 14.5 x 2.5 cm, and such a device can contain hundreds of giga<strong>by</strong>tes of data. Inside the<br />

box, a number of glass or metal plates whir around at, for example, 5400 or 7200 revolutions per minute ­–<br />

these being the two most common speeds.<br />

The read/write heads hover over the magnetic plates, and can transfer data at a tremendous speed:

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