Mass Storage Technologies
Chapter 8
CompTIA A+ (220-110x)
Mike Meyers and Steve Nicholson
Episode: Introduction to Mass Storage
Core 1: 3.3 Given a scenario, select and install storage
devices.
Objective(s): Core 1: 3.4 Given a scenario, install and configure
motherboards, central processing units (CPUs), and add-on
cards.
CompTIA A+ (220-110x)
Mike Meyers and Steve Nicholson
Episode Description
Mass storage (disk drives and solid-state
drives) store the operating system and
applications. Despite the different
technologies, systems talk to these many
devices in similar ways.
CompTIA A+ (220-110x)
Mike Meyers and Steve Nicholson
Key Terms
• 0:33 - Objective term - Optical media
• 0:33 - Objective term - Hard drive
• 0:38 - Objective term - Solid-state drive (SDD)
• 3:41 - Capacity
• 9:41 - 5.25” form factor
• 10:02 - Objective term - 3.5” form factor
• 10:37 - Objective term - 2.5” form factor
• 10:58 - 1.8” mass storage
• 10:57 - Objective term - M.2 form factor
CompTIA A+ (220-110x)
Mike Meyers and Steve Nicholson
Decimal vs. Binary Values
Decimal Values IEC Values
1,000 = kilo = 103 210 = kibi = 1,024
1,000,000 = mega = 104 220 = mebi = 1,048,576
1,000,000,000 = giga = 105 230 = gibi = 1,073,741,824
1,000,000,000,000 = tera = 106 240 = tebi = 1,099,511,627,776
1,000,000,000,000,000 = peta = 107 250 = pebi = 1,125,899,906,842,624
1,000,000,000,000,000,000 = exa = 108 260 = exbi = 1,152,921,504,606,846,976
CompTIA A+ (220-110x)
Mike Meyers and Steve Nicholson
Quick Review
• There are many types of mass storage
used today, including hard drives, solid-
state drives (SSDs), and optical media
• Regardless of the media your operating
system sees, mass storage is a string of
logical block addresses
• There is a difference between decimal
values and binary (IEC) values
CompTIA A+ (220-110x)
Mike Meyers and Steve Nicholson
Episode: Magnetic Disk Drives
Core 1: 3.1 Explain basic cable types and their connectors,
features, and purposes.
Objective(s): Core 1: 3.3 Given a scenario, select and install storage devices.
Core 1: 3.4 Given a scenario, install and configure motherboards,
central processing units (CPUs), and add-on cards.
CompTIA A+ (220-110x)
Mike Meyers and Steve Nicholson
Episode Description
Hard disk drives (HDDs), which store data
on rotating magnetic disks, have been the
go-to mass storage media for decades. A
good tech understands how this venerable
media works and understands magnetic
media’s unique needs.
CompTIA A+ (220-110x)
Mike Meyers and Steve Nicholson
Key Terms
• 1:16 - Objective term - Hard disk drive (HDD)
• 1:44 - Objective term - 3.5” and 2.5” drives
• 2:27 - Advanced Technology Attachment (ATA)
• 2:39 - Objective term - Parallel ATA (PATA)
(aka: Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE)
• 2:53 - Objective term - Serial ATA (SATA)
• 3:42 - SATA connector
• 5:24 - Objective term - eSATA
• 5:27 - eSATA connector
CompTIA A+ (220-110x)
Mike Meyers and Steve Nicholson
Key Terms
• 9:10 - Objective term - Hard drive speeds
are measured in rotations per minute
(RPM)
• 9:10 - Objective term - Speeds include
5,400 RPM, 7,200 RPM, 10,000 RPM,
15,000 RPM
CompTIA A+ (220-110x)
Mike Meyers and Steve Nicholson
Quick Review
• Magnetic disk drives use spinning platters
to store data via magnetism
• Data is accessed through read/write heads
• The most popular hard disk drive (HDD)
form factors are 3.5” and 2.5”
• We use the Advanced Technology
Attachment (ATA) protocol to
communicate with hard disk drives
• The dominant ATA is called Serial ATA
(SATA)
CompTIA A+ (220-110x)
Mike Meyers and Steve Nicholson
Episode: Solid-State Drives (SSDs)
Core 1: 3.3 Given a scenario, select and install storage
devices.
Objective(s): Core 1: 3.4 Given a scenario, install and configure
motherboards, central processing units (CPUs), and add-on
cards.
CompTIA A+ (220-110x)
Mike Meyers and Steve Nicholson
Episode Description
Solid-state drives (SSDs) are quickly
replacing HDDs for mass storage needs on
almost all computers. SSDs are faster and
more robust than HDDs and come with their
own maintenance needs.
CompTIA A+ (220-110x)
Mike Meyers and Steve Nicholson
Key Terms
• 0:10 - Objective term - Solid-state drives (SSDs)
• 1:32 - Objective term - 2.5" form factor
• 1:37 - Objective term - M.2 SSD form factor
• 2:04 - Objective term - Some SSDs still use
SATA connectors for power and data
• 2:35 - SSDs are much faster than HDDs
• 2:59 - Objective term - Non-Volatile Memory
Express (NVMe)
• 5:14 - Objective term - M.2 connector
CompTIA A+ (220-110x)
Mike Meyers and Steve Nicholson
Quick Review
• Solid-state drives (SSDs) store data using
chips; there are no moving parts
• Data is stored in blocks and pages
• SSDs come in traditional 3.5" and 2.5" sizes,
but also come in M.2 format
• Some SSDs use the very
fast NVMe protocol instead of ATA for
increased performance
CompTIA A+ (220-110x)
Mike Meyers and Steve Nicholson
Episode: SCSI
Core 1: 3.1 Explain basic cable types and their
Objective(s):
connectors, features, and purposes.
CompTIA A+ (220-110x)
Mike Meyers and Steve Nicholson
Episode Description
The Small Computer System Interface
(SCSI) has been around in one form or
another for decades. Despite its age, SCSI
drives still appear in niche systems. It’s
important to recognize SCSI systems and
where they’re used today.
CompTIA A+ (220-110x)
Mike Meyers and Steve Nicholson
Key Terms
• 0:36 - Objective term - Parallel ATA
(PATA) uses Integrated Drive Electronics
(IDE) cables
• 0:48 - Objective term - Small Computer
Systems Interface (SCSI)
• 2:07 - Serial Attached SCSI (SAS)
• 2:40 - Internet SCSI (iSCSI)
CompTIA A+ (220-110x)
Mike Meyers and Steve Nicholson
Quick Review
• The Small Computer Systems Interface
(SCSI) is an ancient standard that still has
great support
• The old parallel SCSI is standard, but the
SCSI language lives on in serial
SCSI versions
• Two modern SCSI standards are Serial
Attached SCSI (SAS) and Internet SCSI
(iSCSI)
CompTIA A+ (220-110x)
Mike Meyers and Steve Nicholson