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Some serious help with READ/WRITE Clarification

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Last response: in Storage
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Hey there guys,

I need some serious clearing up of the meaning of reading and writing when it comes to hard disk storage. I feel like an idiot even posting this but yes, I've searched Google as well as these boards and I'll let you know why i can't find the exact answer to my question.

Every time I've looked up something like "What is the difference between READ / WRITE" someone either just posts a link to the Wikipedia page on Optical drives (which I obviously know read/write as well) but in that page they don't clear up the perspective on READ/WRITE. Every time they talk about a description of Hard Drives, Flash Drives, Optical Drives they're already whipping out the term READ/WRITE even though my perspective on those is all buggered.

That's exactly what my issue is here. my PERSPECTIVE is all warped... I'm not sure which is which? For my example here I'm dealing with my INTERNAL SSD, and an EXTERNAL enclosure.. they are gonig to by simply called Internal, and External.

When I transfer data from the EXTERNAL to the INTERNAL who is doing the reading here? is my external WRITING the data and my Internal READING it? and when I copy data from my INTERNAL to my EXTERNAL my thought is that my external is now READING and my INTERNAL is WRITING. Do I need to think of reading and writing from the perspective of the external where data is either being written or read FROM the external?. I know this must seem like a dumb question but if someone can take the time to explain and clear things up, unless I have it clear already then just let me know.

Thanks for your time.

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Your External is reading the files to send to your Internal which then gets the data and writes it.

When a HDD/SSD reads data the data is already on that HDD/SSD. an example of reading data would be starting up a program. the HDD/SSD reads the .exe of program and the OS compiles and runs the program.(this is simplified there's a lot more going on in the background)

Writeing data is the process of putting data onto a HDD/SDD. an example you start installing a game from your DVD drive to your HDD/SDD. The data read from the DVD by your DVD drive is sent to your HDD/SDD to be written to. So after the process is complete the data from the DVD is now on your HDD/SDD and can use ran (a reading process) to play the game.

I hope that isn't too confusing.

With perspective on the external Disk correct? so when i copy from the external disk and paste to the internal I'm reading from the external disk correct?.. then when I paste TO the external I'm writing to the external disk and reading from the internal?
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proxy711 said:
Your External is reading the files to send to your Internal which then gets the data and writes it.


This part sort of confused me. When you say my external is reading the files to send to your internal.. at what point in the process is it doing this? You're saying the internal gets the data and writes it.. sooo when you copy paste from the external to internal isn't the Internal READING data from the external, how is the external reading there? isn't the external WRITING if I'm throwing data FROM it TO the SSD?

Copying data from a external to paste to a internal: The external reads and internal writes.

Copying data from a internal to paste to a external: The internal reads and external writes.

proxy711 said:
Copying data from a external to paste to a internal: The external reads and internal writes.

Copying data from a internal to paste to a external: The internal reads and external writes.


Ahh, a breath of fresh air. Your previous message I quoted is now completely cleared up. Thanks alot!
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yawnny said:
When I transfer data from the EXTERNAL to the INTERNAL who is doing the reading here?


You are reading from your External and writing to your Internal.

and when I copy data from my INTERNAL to my EXTERNAL my thought is that my external is now READING and my INTERNAL is WRITING. said:
and when I copy data from my INTERNAL to my EXTERNAL my thought is that my external is now READING and my INTERNAL is WRITING.


No, in this case you're reading from your Internal and writing to your External.

Do I need to think of reading and writing from the perspective of the external where data is either being written or read FROM the external? said:
Do I need to think of reading and writing from the perspective of the external where data is either being written or read FROM the external?


You need to think in terms of Source and Target.
Your Source is where the original information that you are reading and copying resides.
Your Target is the destination of where you want to write the information that you just read and copied.

I know this must seem like a dumb question but if someone can take the time to explain and clear things up, unless I have it clear already then just let me know. said:
I know this must seem like a dumb question but if someone can take the time to explain and clear things up, unless I have it clear already then just let me know.


Not a dumb question, can be a little confusing. Just don't overthink it and you'll get the concept.

Should be noted I've been simplifying the whole process to try to help you get the understanding of what a HDD does in a reading and writing operation. I haven't mentioned the work the OS and real / visual memory do in the background. If i did it would get more complex then needed for you to understand the difference between reading and writing. Not to mention way harder to describe =P.

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