Platters - The aluminum alloy disks upon which data is stored in a hard drive. Platters , also called disks, are the part of the hard drive where data is stored. They are rigid magnetic disks made of an aluminum alloy covered with a thin layer of iron oxide. When a computer is on, these platters constantly spin on a spindle , which is driven by a motor. They are attached to the head actuator , which precisely moves the read-write heads across the platters.
Hard drives operate much like a record player spinning a vinyl record.
Instead of grooves etched into the record's vinyl surface, magnetic sectors formed by formatting the disk are placed in concentric patterns on the platter. Data is translated into a series of bits. This process involves converting the data to positive and negative magnetic fields on the platter s surface. The heads recognize the data stored as magnetic fields and send it to the computer's monitor within a few millionths of a second. These hard drive divisions are like a map that lets a computer determine exactly where it stores data.