How does an external hard drive work?

While working with computers, everyone needs to back up his/her data time to time. Now, whenever it comes to back up the entire data of a computer, most of the people prefer to go for an external hard drive. It is so because transferring the files and folders from your computer to such a drive is just like an easy going game. The only thing that you need to do is, just drag and drop the data into the drive and then the rest depends upon it. However, there is a very thorough procedure behind this copying game which you must consider if you really wish to make most out of your investment.

The components of an external hard drive: Before considering the functioning of an external hard drive, it is crucial to get familiar with components which are same for all sorts of external drives. Basically, such a hard drive possesses an aluminum coating similar to that of an internal hard disk. If this layer or coating is damaged, then your hard drive turns into a useless metal square. Inside this coating a chip that consists of several small circuits is located which helps in storing the data. Apart from this, a motor is also fitted inside this layer which acts as a cooling fan for the hard drive. Finally a head is attached over the surface of the disk that works like a record.

Now, when you have come to know what are the components of a typical external hard drive, it’s time to consider its working mechanism. Basically, all the information from a computer to an external disk is transferred through a USB port. However, in some advanced computers it may be Firewire. Both of these ports make external hard drive an addition to the storage capacity of the computer. In order to make this drive communicate with your computer, you need to install a driver which is usually provided with it. But, in moist of the cases you don’t need this driver as the operating system itself recognizes your external hard drive as a mass storage device.

Once the drive is identified by the computer, you can easily drag and drop the files into it. Most of the external hard disks are integrated with both the ROM and RAM storage mechanics, which enables them not only to store the information but also retrieve it for further use. Here, it is also noteworthy that all the data is stored over a mirrored disk on which head runs in order to access the required information. Remaining components of the drive perform the tasks such as establishing and maintaining the connection between computer and disk, operating the drive etc. Here the cooling fan reduces the temperature of external hard drive so that it may not get burnt.

After the connection is established, the transfer of information occurs in both the ways, from external hard drive to computer and vice versa. The USB cord is used to carry the current while the drive is connected to the computer. That’s why you must eject the drive from computer and then physically remove it. Because pulling out the drive directly from the USB hub may harm either the computer or external hard drive or both.