HDD
Technology & Computing abbreviation · Computer Hardware
| Stands for | Hard disk drive |
|---|---|
| Categories | Technology & Computing |
HDD stands for Hard disk drive, a computer hardware abbreviation.
Storage device that records data magnetically on spinning metal or glass platters read by heads on a moving arm. HDDs offer the lowest cost per terabyte and capacities above 30 TB, but are much slower and more fragile than SSDs.
Example: I keep my photo archive on a 12 TB HDD and the operating system on an SSD.
Usage notes
IBM's 350 RAMAC of 1956, the first commercial hard drive, stored about 3.75 MB on fifty 24-inch platters. Desktop drives are 3.5 inches wide and laptop drives 2.5 inches; common speeds are 5,400 and 7,200 RPM. HDDs dominate bulk cloud and backup storage but have disappeared from most new laptops. Dropping a running drive can crash the heads onto the platters.
Related abbreviations
More computer hardware abbreviations
- GPGPU – General-purpose computing on graphics processing units
- GPU – Graphics processing unit
- HAMR – Heat-assisted magnetic recording
- HBA – Host bus adapter
- HBM – High Bandwidth Memory
- HD – Hard disk
- HDMI – High-Definition Multimedia Interface
- HID – Human interface device
- HT – Hyper-Threading
- HTPC – Home theater PC
- HW – Hardware
- IDE – Integrated Drive Electronics