Unit 1.3 - {Storage}

Unit 1.3 - {Storage}

1. Types Of Storage

   • Optical
     • Definition: Device that uses a laser to read and write
     • Devices: Blu Ray DVD CD ROM
     • Characteristics: Cost is mid-range out of all three types of storage and is also mid-range when it comes to durability and portability
   • Magnetic
     • Definition: Read/write, move across the medium and change how magnetised that part of the medium is
     • Devices: Hard Disk Drive and Tape Drive
     • Characteristics: Has the best capacity, best cost and mid-range speed and portability
   • Solid-State
     • Definition: Made up of micro-chips (switches)
     • Devices: Solid State Drive, SD Card, USB Memory Stick
     • Characteristics: Has the best speed, portability, durability and reliability out of all three different types of storage

2. Six Characteristics Of Storage

   • Capacity: How much data it can store
   • Speed: How fast it accesses the data
   • Portability: How easy it is to move it from one place to another
   • Durability: How durable it is if dropped
   • Reliability: How well it consistently performs
   • Cost: How expensive it is per KB, MB and GB

3. What is Secondary Storage? Secondary storage is long term storage of data, files, software and OS

   • Why do we need to store them? To access it again later, to use software, to interact with the computer
   • What would happen without it? Software would need to be installed every time that you used it and you couldn't save any files, data, images or videos etc

4. secondary storage

   • devices not directly accessible by the computer’s CPU