removable hard disk


removable hard disk

(storage)A type of magnetic disk, or possiblymagneto-optical disk which is not permanently attached tothe disk drive (not a fixed disk) but which can be takenout and replaced, allowing many disks to be used in the samedrive.

The term "removable disk" would seem to be applicable tofloppy disks but is generally reserved for hard disks insuitable cartridges such as those made by Syquest, Iomegaand others.

Removable disk packs were common on minicomputers such asthe PDP-11 in use in the 1970s except that the drives werethe size of washing machines and the disk packs as big ascar wheels. Removable disks became popular onmicrocomputers in the 1990s as a cheap way of expanding diskspace, transporting large amounts of data between computersand storing backups. Large, cheap fixed hard disks and USB memory sticks have made removable disks less attractive.