A storage disk is a hardware device used to store data persistently, typically in the form of HDDs or SSDs. It provides the physical medium for saving files, databases, and system images. HDDs use spinning platters and magnetic heads, while SSDs use flash memory with no moving parts. SSDs offer faster read and write speeds, making them ideal for performance sensitive workloads. Storage disks are the foundation of file systems and block storage layers in computers and servers. Modern cloud infrastructure uses virtual disks to abstract physical hardware away from users.
how it works
The operating system communicates with disks through drivers that translate logical read and write requests into physical operations. SSDs organize data into blocks and pages, using controllers to manage wear leveling. HDDs rely on mechanical movement to locate data on spinning disks. Disk performance influences boot times, application responsiveness, and database throughput. Monitoring disk I/O helps identify bottlenecks or failing hardware. Disks are often combined into redundant arrays for improved reliability.