How a Computer Works - Part 3 - What is a Hard Drive?
Some folks may argue that after showing the basics of how computer brains or computer processing units or CPUs work it would be natural to move our discussion towards the closest related components such as Mother boards of Video cards. Unfortunately we have not done with the computerized brains yet.
Unlike humans, computer processing units doesn't have memory to store. Everyone of us has a "built-in" bank of memory, where we store all important moments of our lives. That's why I prefer to associate hard drives with our subconscious mind.
Everything we see or experience in our lives is stored in subconscious level of our mind. We can't remember everything at once because there are too much information, but we can "access" our subliminal memory "archives" and remember concrete information we need at any given time. Some information is so deep in our mind that we even cannot remember without hypnosis or other. Anyway this is very similar to how your computer hard drives work.
Imagine a modern computer without a device where it can save, store and access all the information required. Who will need such an information-less computer? Luckily for us computers have hard drives - a t true subliminal memory banks.
A computer does not know every file it has on its hard drive or hard drives, but when needed it can find the right file and read it. It also reminds a huge library of files, structured by attributes, extensions and folders, so that a number of specialized software programs or "librarians" can easily find and access any required file very fast. As you may guess by now, hard drives are permanent data storage devices. It means that, even when you turn your computer off, all the data is saved on your drive until you move or delete the files yourself.
Technologically a Hard Drive is a magnetized disk or several disks where all your data, photos, videos, every file you have on your computer, including all the programs and an operation system you use to browse the files and work with are stored. As you may guess by now, hard drives are permanent data storage devices. It means that, even when you turn your computer off, all the data is saved on your drive until you move or delete files yourself.
Whenever you turn on your computer, it starts reading and loading the files of your Windows or Mac operational system from your hard drive, whenever you open a photo, video or starting an Internet browser, your computer locates these files on your hard drive first and loads them for you to show or use. Of course if you view a picture of flash movie in your browser while surfing the net, your computer does not load it from your hard drive, but from the hard drive of the computer the site of which you are now at. In any case any file you want to see should be first loaded from somewhere, before it will appear on your monitor. It may be your hard drive or a remote computer hard drive.
Can you guess what made the Internet so powerful and addictive?
Its the ability for anyone to connect and access hard drives of millions of other computers around the globe. That's why Internet became so popular. Using your own computer you have now gained an ability to access subconscious minds of all the connected computers, access and share information, collaborate and benefit from programs on somewhere else's hard drives. Internet is a true Global Subliminal Memory Archive. Imagine if you have a chance to get an access to the open information of minds of all people, who live in our world. Its impossible for now, but you can access all the open information stored on all inter-connected computers in the world.
Use your hard drive as your unique informational island in our computerized world and store as much data as your Hard Drive is capable of storing, but remember as any leaving creature, hard drive has its own life cycle. Did I say "leaving"?
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