What is the “actuator”?
The actuator is the device, operated magnetically by the magnetic field created by the voice coil, which positions the head arms to the various tracks on the platters surface The actuator is the mastermind moving device, which enables the head to read the data of the hard disk. Oscillating from track to track, is an active movement; changing sectors entails waiting for the required sector number to spin so that it is positioned under the head. Reading data, entails the head to move to a position on a specific track above the platter. This is especially so because physical motion is so slow compared to anything electronic typically a factor of 1,000 times slower or more.
