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Thanks to the continuing advancement of technology, the world has witnessed the birth of new gadgets and gizmos that make life and communication a little easier for everyone. But with the increase in indispensable gizmos comes the responsibility of learning the jargon and other terms pertaining to them. It’s not really a requisite to learn the little nuances.

Consider it more of an advantage if you can understand what these seemingly complicated and out-of-this-world terms mean because you are spending good money when you purchase your equipment in stores. Some are a little bit self-explanatory like the external hard disk. Though if the term hard disk confuses you, then read on to learn more about external hard disks and how you can build an external hard drive from scratch.

Simply put, a hard disk drive is a device that can store your digital data. It is encased within a metal case and has one or more rigid platters that rotate on a motorized spindle. On top of the platters are read/write heads that magnetically encode your data. Capacity of a hard disk drive varies depending on the number of heads, tracks and sectors. An external hard disk is a particular type of hard disk drive that you can connect to your computer via USB cable among other means.

A brief history lesson on the external hard disk is also needed in order to understand this device further. The first incarnations of the external hard disk were originally bulky in size. They were literally external hard disks because they couldn’t be stored inside the unit due to their large size. Pretty soon, compact hard disks that could be easily stored into the computer’s bays will be available to the market. Apple Macintosh was a proponent of this early innovation. When USB and Firewire interfaces became a staple in the design of PCs, the external hard drive gained further popularity in the market.