where do hard drives start tracking?

**rage10** · 08-05-11, 04:13 PM

hey guys,
i was installing windows earlyer and was wondering. which way do hard drives track? from the inside out or the outside in.
anyone jnow? google was not helpfull at all.
thanks.

EciDemon · 08-05-11, 04:52 PM

A HDD is logically structured with tracks and sectors, where the first track named 0 is on the outer edge of the platter or "disk".

the red highlight (a) is the track. the subdivided parts of the track (c) is the sector each sector generally being 512 byte.
your information is split up into small parts to fillout these sectors and together form clusters (d), when the clusters of a file isn't in sequence after one another, your harddrive is fragmented.

**rage10** · 08-07-11, 11:37 PM

right... but does it start from the outside of the disk or the inside. IE:if I make the windows partition on the inside of the disk i would get better latency for random red and writes and if I made the data partition on the out side I would get better read and write speeds.

**mullet** · 08-08-11, 12:03 AM

Well think about it what part of the disk moves the fastest.

**Roadhog** · 08-08-11, 12:54 AM

They start from the outer edge of the platters and write inwards. That is why people often short stroke hard drives so they are forced to only write on that outer edge.

Bman212121 · 08-08-11, 08:18 AM

Just buy an SSD and you'll never have to worry about this again.

+1 for Roadhog's response.

**rage10** · 08-09-11, 09:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bman212121

Just buy an SSD and you'll never have to worry about this again.

can I have moniez for this please?

08-05-11, 04:13 PM	#1
rage10 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: In the clouds!:) Posts: 1,252	where do hard drives start tracking? hey guys, i was installing windows earlyer and was wondering. which way do hard drives track? from the inside out or the outside in. anyone jnow? google was not helpfull at all. thanks.

08-05-11, 04:52 PM	#2
EciDemon Registered User Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Sweden Posts: 1,423	Re: where do hard drives start tracking? A HDD is logically structured with tracks and sectors, where the first track named 0 is on the outer edge of the platter or "disk". the red highlight (a) is the track. the subdivided parts of the track (c) is the sector each sector generally being 512 byte. your information is split up into small parts to fillout these sectors and together form clusters (d), when the clusters of a file isn't in sequence after one another, your harddrive is fragmented.

08-07-11, 11:37 PM	#3
rage10 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: In the clouds!:) Posts: 1,252	Re: where do hard drives start tracking? right... but does it start from the outside of the disk or the inside. IE:if I make the windows partition on the inside of the disk i would get better latency for random red and writes and if I made the data partition on the out side I would get better read and write speeds.

08-08-11, 12:03 AM	#4
mullet Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 7,998	Re: where do hard drives start tracking? Well think about it what part of the disk moves the fastest. __________________ • LIAN-LI PC-A70B • ASUS MAXIMUS V FORMULA (0701) • i7-3770k + NOCTUA\|NH-D14 • Intel 520 240GB SSD • G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB DDR3 1600 • • EVGA GeForce GTX 680 • PCP&C 750 Quad • ASUS 12x BD-ROM • DELL U2412M E-IPS • Windows 7 Pro x64 SP1 • Logitech Z5500 5.1 •

08-08-11, 12:54 AM	#5
Roadhog Resident Alien Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 6,776	Re: where do hard drives start tracking? They start from the outer edge of the platters and write inwards. That is why people often short stroke hard drives so they are forced to only write on that outer edge.

08-08-11, 08:18 AM	#6
Bman212121 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 6,726	Re: where do hard drives start tracking? Just buy an SSD and you'll never have to worry about this again. +1 for Roadhog's response.