To study how the data is written to any storage media; we first need to understand how the structure of that storage media works and what all it comprises of. Since the ROM and the RAM memory in a computer cannot hold all the programs that we might want to run and all the data that we might want to analyze, a computer system needs some other form of the data storage to which it can hold the massive amounts of the data. The storage device should be obviously non volatile in nature. Hence the data storage or the backup is possible in it. Then it can be updated and the will have a relatively low cost per bit.

The most common devices that are used for the mass data storage are the magnetic tape, the floppy disk drive and the hard disk drive and also the optical media like the CD and the DVD etc. The magnetic tapes are basically used for the storage of only the backup of a data as the access time to get the data that is stored in the middle of the tape is usually too long to be acceptable. The floppy disk, hard disk drive and the optical disk drives are acceptable for the daily usage with the computer systems, since their access time is much faster than that of the magnetic media.

Let us take a closer look at how the simple floppy disk’s functioning takes place and how the data is written over it. A floppy disk itself is made of the mylar and is coated with a magnetic material. The mylar disk is only a few thousands of an inch thick. Hence the name floppy is in usage.

A floppy disk is usually enclosed in a plastic protective envelope that is also called as the jacket. The structure of the floppy disk drive includes the following: - Write protected notch – The write protected notch is always available on the floppy disk. The main purpose of this notch is to avoid accidental erasing of the data by the user or to protect important data that is stored in the floppy disk. If the write protected notch is covered then it is not possible to erase the data or to write the data onto the disk. Clamping hole – It is also the drive spindle hole. When the floppy is inserted into the floppy drive, the clamping hub of the device will hold the floppy firmly and accurately from both the sides. Index hole – The index hole is in the inner most side of the floppy before the clamping hole. The main purpose of the index hole is to indicate the ending of a sector and the start of a new sector. Head slot – The head slot is the open window on both the sides of the floppy through which the floppy drive can read or write the data onto the disk.

The writing operation in any disk starts from the centre of the disk and goes on to proceed till the circumference of the disk. Almost all the disks that are used in the computer storage devices are all circular in nature. The circular nature is so designed so as to make it easy for the write head to move on in a uniform path. There always exist a write head that is responsible for writing the data over the disk. The write head is writes the data over the platter of the disk in the case of a hard disk. The hard disk usually consists of the platters that are mounted one over the other. The optical drive has a lens that reflects the light over the optical disk to write the data over it.

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