Abstract The turbulent flow of air caused by the spinning of a single disk inside a typical hard disk drive casing is calculated using large eddy simulation (LES). The pressure acting on the disk is recorded as a function of time and is used to compute the vibrations of the spinning disk using a self-developed hybrid-spectral finite-difference code. This unidirectional fluid–structure interaction problem is computed for two commonly occurring cases: a disk actuated on one side only (Case 1) and a disk actuated on both sides (Case 2). The pressure loading on the disk is characterized in terms of its mean, root-mean-square (r.m.s.) and its spectral content. The mean pressure acting on the disk is asymmetrical in the case where the disk is actuated on one side only, leading to a mean deformation of the disk to one side. The r.m.s. vibrations of Case 2 are higher than those for Case 1 and their spectral distributions are almost identical. Large pressure fluctuations of the flow are found in the wake of the actuator arm and near the region where the shroud expands to accomodate the actuator. The spectral content of the excitation force due to the pressure is mainly in the low kHz frequency range, while higher frequencies are seen at the disk edge. This typically results in the excitation of the first 3–4 modes of the disk; however, (asymmetric) Case 1 displays the excitation of higher modes compared with (symmetric) Case 2.