Magnetic storage

Magnetic storage encodes data as patterns of magnetization in a material and retrieves it by sensing those patterns. It is used in devices such as hard disk drives and magnetic tape.

Magnetic recording: The process of writing and reading information as magnetization patterns on a medium. It is the recording process that turns data into magnetic patterns.
Hard disk drive: A data-storage device that reads and writes magnetic patterns on rotating rigid platters. It is the principal magnetic medium for high-capacity computer storage.
Flash memory: A nonvolatile semiconductor memory that stores data as electrical charge in transistors. It offers fast electronic access without moving magnetic media.
IBM 305 RAMAC: An early commercial computer system introduced in 1956 that used a magnetic hard disk for data storage. Its disk drive made directly accessible stored data practical for business computing.
Magnetic head: A component that writes magnetic patterns to a medium or senses them during playback. The head creates or detects the patterns that carry stored data.
Magnetic tape data storage: A method of storing digital data on magnetically coated tape, usually accessed sequentially. Tape trades slower access for low-cost, high-capacity archival storage.
Optical disc: A storage medium read or written using optical marks and laser light. Optical recording encodes data with light-sensitive marks rather than magnetization.
Disk operating system: An operating system designed to organize files and programs on disk storage. Magnetic disks enabled persistent files and software libraries in everyday computing.
Magnetic domain: A region in a magnetic material whose atomic magnetic moments are aligned. Aligned regions provide the physical magnetic states used in recording.
Floppy disk: A removable magnetic disk used for portable computer data storage. It illustrates magnetic storage on removable flexible media.

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