A hard disk consists mainly of the following components:
- a rotating spindle with pivoted data slices li>
- an electric motor that spins the discs li>
- one or more read and write heads li>
- an actuator that drives the write and read heads li>
- the control and signal processing electronics and an interface li>
- a housing li>
Click on the names of the components in the graph to arrive at a description of them.