How would you contrast the working of a fixed hard drive and optical backing

storage devices?

Optical backing storage devices

Optical storage is the storage of data on an optically readable medium. Data is recorded by
making marks in a pattern that can be read back with the aid of light, usually a beam
of laser light precisely focused on a spinning disc. An older example, that does not require the
use of computers, is microform. There are other means of optically storing data and new methods
are in development. Optical storage differs from other data storage techniques that make use of
other technologies such as magnetism or semiconductors.
Optical storage can range from a single drive reading a single CD-ROM to multiple drives
reading multiple discs such as an optical jukebox. Single CDs (compact discs) can hold around
700MB (megabytes) and optical jukeboxes can hold much more.

Working
These devices fall into the optical storage category because they store data on a reflective surface
so that it can be read by a beam of laser light. A laser uses concentrated, narrow beam of light,
focused and directed with lenses, prisms and mirrors. The tight focus of the laser beam is
possible because all the light is of the same wavelength.
Optical devices spin at approx. 300 revolutions per minute.

Fixed hard drive

A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive or fixed disk] is a data storage device used for
storing and retrieving digital information using one or more rigid ("hard") rapidly rotating disks
(platters) coated with magnetic material. The platters are paired with magnetic heads arranged on
a moving actuator arm, which read and write data to the platter surfaces. Data is accessed in a
random-access manner, meaning that individual blocks of data can be stored or retrieved in any
order rather than sequentially. HDDs retain stored data even when powered off.

Working
Hard disks include one or more metal platters mounted on a central spindle, like a stack of rigid

diskettes. Each platter is covered with a metal coating and the entire unit is contained
in a sealed chamber. The hard disk and drive are a single unit which includes the hard
disk, the motor that spins the platters and a set of read/write heads. Because you
cannot remove the disk from the drive the terms hard disk and hard drive are used
interchangeably.
Hard disk spin between 3600 rpm and 7200 rpm compared to a diskette 300 rpm. The
speed at which the disk spins is a major factor in overall performance. The rigidity of
the disk and the high-speed rotation allows more data to be recorded on the surface. The longest
it can take to position a point on the disks under the read/write heads is the amount of time for
one revolution 0.2 second.

Contrast Table
SR.NO

Optical backing storage devices

Fixed hard drive

1
2
3
4
5

Single Disc
Readable through Lasers
Relatively Small Storage
Sequential Reading
Doesnt contain system files
mostly
Data access through rotation

Multiple Discs
Readable through Magnetic Medium
Relatively larger storage
Random access
Contain system files

Data access through actuator arm

What are sectors, platters, lands, tracks and pits?

Sectors
In computer disk storage, a sector is a subdivision of a track on a magnetic disk or optical disc.
Each sector stores a fixed amount of user-accessible data, traditionally 512 bytes for hard disk
drives (HDDs) and 2048 bytes for CD-ROMs and DVD-ROMs.

Platters
A hard disk drive platter (or disk) is the circular disk on which magnetic data is stored in a hard
disk drive.

Pits

CD data is represented as tiny indentations known as "pits", encoded in a spiral track moulded
into the top of the polycarbonate layer.

Lands
Binary value of 1 or on, due to a reflection when read in optical discs as well as hard disk drives.

Tracks
A track is a physical division of data in a disk drive, as used in the Cylinder-Head-Record
(CCHHRR) addressing mode of a CKD disk.

References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_disc
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_disc#Physical_details
http://www.explainthatstuff.com/harddrive.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_disk_drive
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_storage
http://searchstorage.techtarget.com/definition/optical-storage
www.maths.tcd.ie/~nora/DT315-1/Storage%20Devices.pd