Definition: spindle

The rotating shaft in a disk drive. In a regular "fixed disk drive," the recording platters are attached to the spindle. In a removable disk cartridge, the spindle remains within the drive. Laptops use spindle designations to indicate the number of built-in drives. For example, a two-spindle machine contains a hard drive and a second bay for an optical drive. Sometimes the term is used merely as a synonym for disk drive; for example, "adding more spindles will alleviate the congestion."