STORAGE SPACE
In most computers, the primary storage places are disks - flat, circular wafers that resemble undersized phonograph records.
Like phonograph records or compact disks, they store information that can be "played" by devices specifically designed for that purpose. The device that "plays" computer disks is known as a disk drive. It is in several respects the equivalent of a turntable or CD player. Like turntables or CD players, disk drives have components designed to access the information on a specific area of the disk. These parts are called read/write heads and are equivalent to the phonograph needle on a turntable or laser in a CD player. Like turntables, disk drives turn around, thereby spinning the disk so that different parts of the surface pass.
Unlike record or CD players, disk drives can record new information on disks as well as play existing information. In computer terms, the process of playing a disk is called reading and the process of recording onto a disk is called writing.
.......................................................................................
