Hard DrivesHard drives have been around longer than you might think. In 1956, IBM had invented a disk storage unit that was very large but didn't store much data. It was twenty-four inches in diameter and could only hold five megabytes, which is equivalent to three and a half floppy disks. Originally called “hard drives,” they later became known as “hard drives” as opposed to floppy disks. In 1973, IBM released a hard drive that could hold seventeen and a half megabytes. In 1980, Seagate released the first five-and-a-quarter-inch hard drive. In the late 1980s, three-and-a-half-inch (PCIN) hard drives were invented. Although smaller hard drives exist, up to two inches in diameter, three and a half inch hard drives have become standard and are used more often today. The capacity of hard drives was thousands of times greater, from five megabytes to one hundred and sixty gigabytes (160,000 megabytes), which is equivalent to one hundred and eleven thousand one hundred and eleven floppy disks. The hard drive or hard drive is one of the most critical components in the functioning of a computer. It is also one of the only moving parts of the computer. Unfortunately, many people don't know the important role it plays in storing their data or how it works. When you think of your hard drive, think of it as your computer's electronic filing cabinet. Everything you upload, download, or save is stored on your hard drive. In fact, 10% of your hard drive is already used when you buy the computer because it needs some system operating files needed to run basic functions. Anything you add later like word processors, antivirus software, email software, games, and Internet software are extras, soon leading to an overfilled filing cabinet (Matthew Ferrara Seminars). However, many people ask, “What is the hard drive physically?” The hard drive can commonly be referred to as “a box”. Here's what it looks like, a three and a half inch metal box. It is located inside the mainframe or tower. It is located in what is called the drive bay. Here it is fixed with screws. At the bottom of the hard drive is a chipboard that represents the really technical and complicated pieces of the hard drive.