The magnetic and optical disks are the storage devices that provide a way to store data for a long duration. Both are categorized under the category of secondary storage devices.
Magnetic disk:
A magnetic disk is a storage device that uses a magnetization process to read, write, rewrite and access data. The Magnetic disk is made of a set of circular platters. It is covered with a magnetic coating and stores data in the form of tracks, spots, and sectors. Hard disks, zip disks, and floppy disks are common examples of magnetic disks. The number of bits stored on each track does not change by using the simplest constant angular velocity.
Optical disk:
An optical disk is any computer disk that uses optical storage techniques and technology to read and write data. It is a storage device for optical (light) energy. It is a computer storage disk that stores data digitally and uses laser beams to read and write data. It uses optical technology in which laser light is centered to the spinning disks.
Difference Between Magnetic Disk and Optical Disk:
| S. No. | MAGNETIC DISK | OPTICAL DISK |
|---|
| 1 | Media type used is Multiple fixed disk | The media type used is a Single removable disk |
| 2 | Intermediate signal to noise ratio | Excellent signal to noise ratio |
| 3 | Sample rate is Low | Sample rate is High |
| 4 | Implemented where data is randomly accessed. | Implemented in streaming files. |
| 5 | Only one disk can be used at a time | Mass replication is possible |
| 6 | Tracks in the magnetic disk are generally circular | In optical disk the tracks are constructed spirally. |
| 7 | The data in the magnetic disk is randomly accessed. | In the optical disk, the data is sequentially accessed. |
| 8 | In the magnetic disk, only one disk is accessed at a time. | An optical disk allows mass replication. |
| 9 | The copying of data takes more time in magnetic disk compared to optical disk. | The storing and accessing of data take place at a much faster rate using laser beams than a magnetic disk. |
| 10 | The storage capacity is high in magnetic disk i.e. up to several Gigabytes, Terabytes. | The storage capacity of optical disk is comparatively low i.e. up to 27GB in the case of Blue-ray. |
| 11 | Magnetic disks are a crucial part of computers. | Optical disk is optional component in computers. |
| 12 | Magnetic disks are mainly used to hold data, instructions, software applications, | Optical disks are portable and generally used to store music, videos, movies. |
| 13 | Examples include- | Examples include- |