Storage Devices
What is storage?
Stores programs and data
Reading / Writing / Recording data
Variety of devices
• Storage Medium
• Storage Device
• Capacity
• Access Time
Storage Devices
Primary Devices Secondary Devices
Magnetic Disk
RAM, ROM Optical Disk
Magnetic Disks
Storage device that uses a magnetization process to write, rewrite and
access data
Covered with a magnetic coating and stores data in the form of tracks,
spots and sectors
Track: a narrow recording band that forms a full circle on the surface
of the disk
Sectors: Pie shaped sections break the tracks into small arcs
Hard disks and floppy disks are common examples of magnetic disks.
Both sides of the disk are used for storing data
Magnetic Disks
80 tracks per side X 18 sectors per track X 2 sides per disk X 512 bytes per sector = 1,474,560 bytes
Hard Disk
Contains one or more circular platters
that use magnetic particles to store data,
instructions, and information.
Device is airtight to prevent
contamination
Fixed disk
Personal computer hard disks have
storage capacities from 160 GB to 2 TB
Uses longitudinal recording or
Perpendicular recording
Characteristics of Hard disks
Capacity
Platters
Tracks
Sectors
Read/Write heads
Hard disk working
Head crash
Occurs when a read/write head touches the surface of a platter
resulting in a loss of data
The platters of the hard disk rotate at a high rate of speed while the
computer is running
The spinning creates a cushion of air that floats the read/write head
above the platter
Dirt, hair, dust and other particles could cause the hard disk to have a
head crash
Hard Disk Controllers
Special-purpose chip and electronic circuits that control the transfer of
data from a disk to and from the system components
Controls the interface between the hard disk and the system bus
Part of a hard disk or the motherboard
Hard Disk
Miniature Hard Disks
• Pocket hard drive, ultra-portable, up to 250 GB.
External Hard Disks
• Separate freestanding hard disk, connects with a
USB or FireWire port
Removable Hard Disks
• Hard disk that you insert and remove from a
drive
Miniature Hard Disks
Internal and external hard disks are
available in miniature sizes.
Portable media players, digital cameras,
and smart phones often have internal
miniature hard disks, which provide
greater storage capacities than flash
memory
Miniature hard disks have storage
capacities that range from 4 GB to 250
GB.
External/Removable Hard Disks Advantages
Transport a large number of files
Back up important files or an entire internal hard disk
Easily store large audio and video files
Secure data
Add storage space (without having to open the system unit)
Disk partition
Creation of one or more regions on
secondary storage
Each region can be managed
separately called partitions
There must be either unallocated
disk space or free space on hard disk
Disk stores the information about
the partitions' locations and sizes in
partition table
Flash Memory Storage
Nonvolatile memory that can be erased electronically and rewritten
Consist entirely of electronic components, integrated circuits, and
contain no moving parts
Durable and shock resistant than others
Types of flash memory storage
• Solid state drives
• Memory cards
• USB flash drives
Solid State Disk
Uses flash memory to store data, instructions, and information
semiconductor store information by changing the electrical current of
circuits
Uses: servers, PC’s, smartphones, portable media players and cameras
Access times of SSDs is more than 80 times faster than a HDDs
Transfer rates of SSDs are faster than comparable hard disks
SSDs generate less heat and consume less power
Generally last longer than HDDs
Optical Disk
Storage media that consists of a flat, round,
portable disc made of metal, plastic
CD-ROM (compact disk read-only memory)
CD-R and CD-RW
DVD-ROM
BD-ROM
HD DVD-ROM
Optical Disk Formats
OPTICAL DISKS READ WRITE ERASE
CD-ROM Y N N
CD-R Y Y N
CD-RW Y Y Y
DVD-ROM / Y N N
BD-ROM
DVD-R / DVD Y Y N
Cloud Storage
Internet service that provides hard disk
storage to computer users
Cloud storage services typically charge
for storage on a per gigabyte basis
To access files on the Internet from any
computer or device that has Internet
access
View time-critical data immediately
while away from location/office
To store offsite backups of data
Cloud storage providers
Data Access Method
A program or a hardware mechanism that moves data between the
computer and an outlying device such as a hard disk.
There are three different methods which can be used to access (locate)
data stored on a storage device
• Direct access
• Serial access
• Sequential access
Sequential Access
A particular record can be read only by first reading all the
records that come before it
Records are read in sequence
Cannot read just any record at random
Examples: Magnetic tape
Direct Access/Random Access
Allow to reads data from the storage medium directly to any point
Directly reached to particular position without first having to read
previous record
Records and files located very quickly.
Access time is independent of the storage location.
Examples: Magnetic disks, hard disk, optical storage and flash
memory
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