Replacing the Hard Drive on your Computer
A hard disk drive or HDD, such as an HP Ultra320 SCSI 146 GB hard drive, is an important part of a modern computer system. It is quite normal to have to replace your server or PC's hard drive every few years.
What is a hard drive?
The hard disk drive like an HP Ultra320 SCSI with a 146 GB storage capacity is usually the main and also largest storage device in your computer system. It stores the operating system, programs, and all your other files and data like spreadsheets, music, photos, and videos. It is a non-volatile device, so it does not lose any data when it loses power. It connects to the computer's motherboard via an ATA, SAS, SATA, or SCSI cable. The hard drive is usually mounted in the computer or server case in a 3.5-inch drive bay or 5.25-inch drive bay with an adapter.
What do I look for when selecting a new SCSI hard drive?
If you want to find a drive that uses the SCSI command protocol to suit your requirements, you need to consider the following:
- Storage Capacity. SCSI hard drives come in various sizes up to 16 TB. This ceiling is only due to physical limitations. Select the storage capacity that would suit your needs. The Ultra320 SCSI drive from HP, for instance, has a storage capacity of 146 GB.
- Transfer Speed. The performance of a hard drive is determined by many factors, of which revolutions per minute, or RPM, is an important one. The higher the RPM, the faster is the transfer of data to and from the Ultra hard drive. The SATA value is not that important. Internal hard drives might be listed as 320 MBps and 10,000 RPM. The first figure is the SATA value, which describes the theoretical maximum speed of a SATA connection. However, a 10,000 RPM HDD will always be faster than a 5,400 RPM drive.
- Cache Space. When an HDD needs to transfer data from one section of the disk to another, it uses a special area of embedded memory called the cache or buffer. The larger the cache, the faster the data transfer can take place because more information can be stored at one time. Modern hard drives typically have cache sizes ranging from 8 MB to 256 MB.