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Optical Disk
Last Updated: July 22, 2015
Definition - What does Optical Disk mean?
An optical disk is any computer disk that uses optical storage techniques and technology to read and write data. It is a computer storage disk that stores data digitally and uses laser beams (transmitted from a laser head mounted on an optical disk drive) to read and write data.
Techopedia explains Optical Disk
An optical disk is primarily used as a portable and secondary storage device. It can store more data than the previous generation of magnetic storage media, and has a relatively longer lifespan. Compact disks (CD), digital versatile/video disks (DVD) and Blu-ray disks are currently the most commonly used forms of optical disks. These disks are generally used to:
- Distribute software to customers
- Store large amounts of data such as music, images and videos
- Transfer data to different computers or devices
- Back up data from a local machine
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