• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

Figure 3-42 Floppy drive connected to motherboard

Hard Drive

A hard drive stores programs and data that are not currently being used by the CPU. Although RAM storage is measured in megabytes and gigabytes, a PC’s hard drive stores much more data than a typical PC’s RAM—hundreds of gigabytes to terabytes. A terabyte is 1000 gigabytes.

An average PC has one hard drive, although most PCs accept more. Special PCs that need to store large amounts of data, such as a large corporation’s main file-storage computer, can contain many hard drives—8 to 16 drives in some cases.

The two most common types of hard drives seen in today’s PCs are the older Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment (PATA) and the more modern Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA). PATA drives use a ribbon cable very similar to the one used by floppy drives, whereas SATA drives use a very narrow cable. Figure 3-43 shows a SATA drive (left) next to a PATA drive (right). Most motherboards come with connections for both types of drives.

* * *

NOTE A very few PCs use small computer system interface (SCSI) drives. SCSI drives are generally faster and more expensive, so they usually show up only in high-end PCs such as network servers or graphics workstations.

Figure 3-43 SATA and PATA drives showing data connectors

Optical media drives use the same PATA or SATA connections used with hard drives. Figure 3-44 shows a DVD drive sharing a single ribbon cable with a PATA hard drive—a common sight inside a PC.

Figure 3-44 Hard drive and DVD drive

Optical Media Drives

Optical media drives enable a computer to read one or more types of optical media discs, such as CD, DVD, or Blu-ray Disc (Figure 3-45). CDs store around 700 MB and come in three varieties: CD-ROM (read only memory: you can’t change the data on them), CD-R (recordable: you can change the data once), and CD-RW (rewriteable: you can change the data on them over and over). DVDs store much more data—the smallest capacity DVDs store around 4 GB, enough for a Hollywood movie—and come in even more varieties: DVD-ROM, DVD+R, DVD-R, DVD+RW, and DVD-RW, just to name the more famous ones. Blu-ray Discs are popular for high-definition movies, but there are also Blu-ray Discs for storing data with capacities starting at 25 GB.

Figure 3-45 Assorted optical-media discs

All of these optical-media discs require an optical-media drive that knows how to read them. If you want to do anything with a CD-RW disc, for example, you need a CD-RW drive. If you want to use a DVD+R disc, you need a DVD+R drive. Luckily, most optical-media drives support many different types of discs, and some support every common type of optical media available. Figure 3-46 shows typical optical-media drives. Note that some of them advertise what types of media they use. Others give no clue whatsoever.

* * *

NOTE Chapter 13, “Removable Media,” goes into great detail on the assorted discs and drive types.

Figure 3-46 Optical-media drives

Know Your Parts

The goal of this chapter was to get you to appreciate the names and functions of the various parts of the PC: peripherals, connectors, and components. By starting with the Big Picture view, you may now begin breaking down the individual components on a chapter-by-chapter basis and truly understand at great depth how each component works and how it interconnects with the PC system as a whole.

Chapter Review

Questions

1. What do you call the commands that tell the computer what to do?

A. Data

B. Morse code

C. Programming

D. Output

2. Which of the following is a proper name for a stick of RAM?

A. CRIMM

B. DIMM

C. BGA

D. LGA

3. Where do you connect an anti-static wrist strap? (Select the best answer.)

A. To an anti-static plate on the computer

B. To an electrical outlet

C. To a handy metal part of the case

D. To a non-static wrist strap

4. What sort of connector does a typical network card have?

A. DB-9

B. Mini-DIN

C. RJ-11