Earlier, I had posted an idea for a hard disk with transparent cover. This one is something along the same lines.

Take an old, huge, junked hard disk. Remove the stuff that drags on the platters - the heads, you are not going to use them. Mount red and blue LEDs on the end of that arm carrying the heads.

Connect this dummy drive as a parallel one to the one inside the computer which actually stores the data - tap into the electronics so that the arms and platters move similiarly. Leave the cover off, and you will have an idea of what happens inside that drive as you use the computer.

Could be used as a teaching aid, or just for the coolness factor.
-- neelandan, Jun 07 2006

About the LEDs, are they for different functions (i.e. red indicating writes, and blue indicating reads)? Also, if you created the HD with a transparent case, use one of those so it can run with a cover on it (dust will still mess up the arms even though the head is removed.)

Have to admit though, it is a good idea. BUN!
-- wolstech, Jun 08 2006


Cool, and like you said, has a potential for a teaching tool. Too many people don't bother to learn the basic mechanics of a computer as it is.
-- Agamemnon, Feb 15 2007


//Too many people don't bother to learn the basic mechanics of a computer as it is.//
br>That would be because most people don't need to, and it wouldn't be any help even if they did. It's not as though you can mend a dead hard drive on the kitchen table. How extensive is your knowledge of how your TV and VCR work?
-- angel, Feb 16 2007


With all the intense rapid movement of fast drives controlled by complex operating systems, all you would see is a violet blur.
-- Aq_Bi, Feb 16 2007


Very cool.
-- kevinthenerd, Feb 22 2012



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