Internal Hard Drives

The internal hard drive is located inside a computer system and is the primary data storage component for the device. An internal hard drive will usually include pre-installed software applications, the computer's operating system and multiple other files. A normal desktop computer will contain one internal hard drive, but it has the room for several other ones to optimise data storage. However, laptops only have the space available to accommodate one internal hard drive. There are two main connection ports to which the internal hard drive attach to, the data port and the power port. The data port will either have an Advanced Technology Attachment (ATA) interface or a Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) interface. These will connect to the computer's internal hard drive, enabling the hard drive to communicate to the computer's motherboard. The power port connects an electrical cable, taking electricity from the computer's main power supply, powering the hard drive. If the internal hard drive is damaged, the device can be replaced. However, personal data stored on the device may not be able to be recovered. Therefore, as a precaution, it is advised to regularly back up data to an external hard drive or cloud service.