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IT Support & Hardware · Foundational

Optical Drive

A drive that reads and writes CDs, DVDs, or Blu-ray discs using a laser.

Definition

Typical capacities are CD 700 MB, single-layer DVD 4.7 GB (dual-layer 8.5 GB), and Blu-ray 25 GB per layer (50 GB dual-layer). Optical drives are now mostly external USB devices used for legacy media and archival. Disc types include ROM, R (write once), and RW (rewritable).

Example

An external USB Blu-ray drive used to read archived 25 GB BD-R backups.

Exam tip

Know capacities: CD 700 MB, DVD 4.7/8.5 GB, Blu-ray 25/50 GB.

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