removable drive - technical definition

(1) A device that spins, reads and writes an optical disc, hard magnetic disk or floppy (magnetic) disk, which is inserted into the unit by means of a drive tray or cartridge slot. Examples of removable drive media are CDs, DVDs, REV disks and Zip disks. See removable disk.

(2) A magnetic tape drive. All magnetic tape drives use removable cartridges or cassettes. See magnetic tape.