Which storage device is typically a spinning magnetic disk inside a computer?

• A. Solid State Drive
• B. Hard Disk Drive
• C. Flash Drive
• D. Optical Drive

Answer: (B)

Spinning magnetic disks with read/write heads is the hallmark of a hard disk drive. Data is stored on magnetic platters that spin at high speeds, while an arm with read/write heads moves across the surface to access different areas. This mechanical design gives HDDs their characteristic balance of large capacity and lower cost per gigabyte, but slower random access compared to solid-state options.

The other choices don’t fit because they rely on different storage technologies. A solid-state drive uses flash memory with no moving parts, offering faster access times. A flash drive (thumb drive) is portable flash memory. An optical drive reads data from discs (CDs/DVDs/Blu-ray) using lasers, not magnetic storage.