Physical Vs. Logical Hard Drives
As the names suggest, a "physical drive" is a disk drive that physically exists and a "logical" drive refers to the logical allocation of space within that drive.
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Physical Drives
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Physical drives are the actual hard drives contained in a computer system. According to PC Guide, they are the building blocks of logical drives and logical arrays. They are the movable, visible parts of a computer.
Logical Drives
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A logical drive, according to PC Mag, can be any amount of space within a physical drive designated for a specific purpose and treated as an independent unit. Several logical drives can be partitioned from within one physical drive.
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Logical Volumes
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When physical drives are combined and managed as an independent unit, PC Mag says, this allocation is considered a logical volume. PC Guide says logical volumes are also referred to as "logical arrays."
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References
- Photo Credit hard drive interior image by Curtis Sorrentino from Fotolia.com
