Glossary for Geospatial Science

hard disk or hard drive:  A mechanical, magnetic storage device for computer data and program files.  Internal hard disks (sometimes called fixed disk) are mounted inside the computer chassis and so are not removable.  An external hard disk is an enclosed unit that is linked to a computer by appropriate connecting cables.  Hard disks are much faster and hold much more than a removable floppy disk, but are slower than RAM disks.  (See also: floppy disk, RAM disk.)