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Hard Drives
As you
evaluate the hard disk drive that is
included with your computer, the main things
you are looking at are its speed and its
storage size. Those attributes are typically
referred to as:
Storage Size (in Gigabytes)
Data Transfer Rate (in Milliseconds)
Disk RPM (Rotations Per Minute)
The data transfer rate on the hard disk
drive, also referred to as "seek time", is
one of the important factors in the overall
performance of a computer.
For storage size, RPM and data transfer
rates expressed in terms of MB (Megabytes)
per second, higher numbers represent larger
storage space and faster speeds. However, on
data transfer / seek time expressed in
Milliseconds, you want lower numbers (i.e.,
a 10ms seek time is faster than a 14ms seek
time).
Recommendations: 40 Gigabyte (GB) or
higher, 7 to 9 Millisecond (ms) seek time /
data transfer rate, and 7200 RPM.
As far as hard disk drive brands, you should
stick to leading names, such as Seagate,
Maxtor and Western Digital. Most pre-built
computers use one of these brands.
Main Types Of Hard Drives
With hard disk drives, there are basically
five different types to choose from. Some
are internal, meaning they go inside your
computer case, and others are external,
meaning they stand on their own and plug
into your computer from the outside.
EIDE - Internal, Lower cost - There
are 3 different types of EIDE hard drives:
regular EIDE, Ultra DMA and Ultra ATA. The
difference is that Ultra DMA and Ultra ATA
have higher speeds in both RPM and data
transfer rate.
SCSI - Internal, Higher cost - SCSI
hard drives are faster and more reliable
than EIDE, but they are also more expensive.
Serial ATA - Internal, Higher cost -
Serial ATA drives are the newest type of
hard drive and promise transfer rates of 150
MB/sec or more. They will more than likely
replace SCSI drives as the high-end choice
for storage space.
USB - External, Lower cost - USB hard
drives can be plugged into the standard USB
serial port on the back of your computer
without shutting the computer down and
without having to open your computer.
Firewire - External, Higher cost - To
use a Firewire hard drive, you need to have
an OHCI-compliant FireWire connection or a
FireWire adapter card. On average, Firewire
external hard drives are around 30 times
faster than USB hard drives.
Note:
For SCSI, Firewire, and Serial ATA drives,
you may need to add a separate interface
card, but they are all generally faster than
the more common EIDE or USB drives. |
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