Magnetic discs What are they, how do they work and what are they used for?

Until a few decades ago, it was illogical to think that an entire library could be stored in one small, efficient device. This is now possible thanks to the existence of increasingly sophisticated magnetic disks that we find in common .

With the advent of storage by computerized means, not only have we started to take into account the environmental impact , but also an improvement of problems of security has been obtained by report to stored data and to increase user comfort.

So that you know a little more about what a magnetic disk is, in this article we will show you how such a device works, what are its main characteristics, the difference that exists compared to optical discs and many other things.

What is a magnetic disk and what is it for in computers?

A magnetic disk is a device located inside or outside a computer that is used to store computer data through physics . Use in particular the dipolar principles of magnetism.

Data is stored in bytes in any location or sector of circular tracks on the disc to be able to link them in the future to a criterion of attraction by magnetism of the particles which compose it. When the user needs to obtain this data, he will have to request it via le processor of the PC to instruct the disk head to generate the magnetic fields.

How does a magnetic disk work to store digital information? Key Features

In this set of peripherals are external hard drives, internal drives of computers and old floppy disks and DAT tapes . In order to obtain the saved data or information, the discs work thanks to magnetic dipoles, which are generated on the surface of the disc by manipulating magnetic particles created by a head .

This arm (or head) works as a data reader and also as a writing element . It has an electromagnet and its work is relatively simple, because when it is close magnetic particles of the disk it checks if the attraction is possible , by magnetism, to attract or repel in a dipole field. In this way, it is possible to know if the field has a positive or negative pole and if this is what the user needs or not according to his need.

It is characterized by the fact that it has no restriction on the amount of information that can be saved, because it allows large quantities as well as small volumes of bytes . Another characteristic that can be emphasized of a magnetic disk is that it has a "Non-volatile memory" . This means that you don't lose the information it contains if you don't have access to electricity. This is a well-defined point with regard to RAM memories because they have the ability to save data, but they lose it when not receiving power.

You must be careful when handling them . This is because discs can be damaged if they are not treated with care. In addition, it is best to avoid being in hot or humid areas and also near sources of dust. When the device is working, it is recommended not to move it as this may damage the head or other components such as the inverter or pulse motor . This is because the disc is constantly spinning when turned on.

What types of magnetic discs are there?

Next, we'll show you the different types of magnetic discs that exist until now, although not all of them are in use today:

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These magnetic disks, called "floppy disks" , are not used today due to their obsolescence. Although they have similar characteristics with hard drives as they are round, spin at high speed, and are used to store data in a magnetizable manner, the big barrier they present today is their storage capacity, which is very limited, barely 200 megabytes. .

It is called flexible because of the square or rectangular plastic cover that covers the plate. They are removable, so they can be taken anywhere and can be read on a special device, which will change depending on the size of the floppy disk. The most well-known formats are the formats 8 inches, 5¼ ”and, most modern, 3½ inches .

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Hard drives, like floppy disks, also spin at high speeds, but their operation is more complex than floppy disks. In its structure, it has a flat tray made of alloy material to which a plate with electronic circuits, or computer bus, is added . Then they connect a head (with electromagnet) which is used to read and write information, a motor necessary in the training of axis de the plaque . It also has a motor for operate the head and a controller board .

Its structure, or arrangement of information, of the magnetic disk is divided into tracks, cylinder, sector or track divisions, geometric sectors and cluster . These differ depending on the location of the information on the plate. As we have already explained before, the operation of the rigid magnetic disk is carried out by bipolar physical processes. The head, thanks to the electromagnet which attracts or repels magnetizable molecules to obtain the necessary information.

You have to have specify that a hard drive can contain one or more magnetic plates , which will work as a set to obtain more storage capacity.

What are the main advantages of using magnetic discs?

So far, we have talked about what a magnetic disk is and how it works, but we did not discuss the benefits of using such a device. We will now explain to you what are the most important advantages of using a magnetic disk to store computer data on it.

Let's know in more detail:

• The limit of bytes you can write to the magnetic platter is not a restriction on its use. . Indeed, the user has the possibility to quickly save large files, as well as to access them directly. The same thing happens when you want to host a small amount of data.
• Recorded information can be erased and thus re-use the disc as many times as the user needs. Besides, thanks to special software, you can recover deleted information.
• With non-volatile memory, data is not lost in the event of a power failure . In this way, users ensure that they will always have the recorded information available.
• It has the great advantage of be compatible with all kinds of files . This happens because the files are saved in bytes, so the format is not a restriction on the use of the data. This way we can say that there are no limits.
• It is possible to transport the magnetic disk to another computer and be able to read the information it has on the other device. Therefore, a hard drive is compatible with a wide variety of desktop computers. This makes it easier to use and accepted by users.

Magnetic discs and optical discs How are they different and which is better for storing data?

Magnetic disks work through his head. This arm has an electromagnet which magnetically changes the area where the information is housed and may or may not attract the data. On the other hand, an optical disc that also records files, does so through laser beams , according to different types of digital formats. It uses this type of beam to read and write data that exists on the surface of the disk. The big difference between these two classes of technology is the better storage capacity at lower cost than optical discs .

In addition, they are less sensitive to external factors such as humidity, dust and shock . This is because the magnetic chuck is constructed with 2 types of materials. One, which is found inside, usually made of aluminum or its alloys, and in the most modern, this component is made of glass. The other material that covers the first is a combination of cobalt. Moving optical discs is much easier because you do not need to open the internal components of the computer to remove the storage drive.

Strangely enough, we can say that on a magnetic disk you cannot see the area which is recorded with information. This does not happen in an optical disc , because in this type of device, a darker area can be seen with the naked eye , which indicates where the information was stored. As examples of magnetic disks, we can name the CD, DVD and Blu-Ray.

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