A hard disk is divided into tracks, which are further subdivided into:
2013
A hard disk is divided into tracks, which are further subdivided into:
Answer: B. Sectors — Concept — the fixed geometry of a magnetic disk. Each platter surface of a hard disk is coated with magnetic material and is given a permanent physical layout…
- A.
Clusters
- B.
Sectors
- C.
Vectors
- D.
Heads
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
Concept — the fixed geometry of a magnetic disk. Each platter surface of a hard disk is coated with magnetic material and is given a permanent physical layout when the drive is manufactured. The surface is organised into concentric rings, and every ring is then divided by low-level formatting into equal arc-shaped pieces of identical capacity. That arc is the smallest piece of the surface the disk controller can read or write in a single operation, so it is the unit in which every physical disk address is expressed.
Applying it here. The stem asks for the level that sits directly below a track in that physical layout. Low-level formatting cuts each track into sectors, so a track is further subdivided into sectors. A sector classically holds 512 bytes of user data; drives using the Advanced Format standard hold 4096 bytes per sector.
The physical hierarchy, largest to smallest:
Platter — a rigid magnetic disc mounted on the spindle. A drive stacks several platters, each with two usable surfaces.
Track — one concentric ring on a single surface. The tracks at the same radius on every surface together form a cylinder.
Sector — one arc-shaped segment of a track, and the smallest addressable unit on the disk. A physical location is named by the CHS triple: cylinder, head, sector.
Cross-check against the other three terms:
Term | What it is | Which layer |
|---|---|---|
Sector | Arc-shaped segment of a track; smallest addressable block | Physical disk geometry |
Cluster | Group of sectors treated as one allocation unit for a file | File system, set at high-level formatting |
Vector | Quantity with magnitude and direction; also vector graphics and the interrupt vector table | Mathematics and software, not disk layout |
Head | Read/write transducer on the actuator arm, one per surface | Drive hardware that accesses a track |
Result: a hard disk is divided into tracks, and each track is further subdivided into sectors.