1.3 Storage

1.3 Storage

1. Secondary storage

   • Long term storage of data, files, software, OS
     • We store these things to use software and interact with the computer

2. Optical

   • A laserlight creates marks in a pattern on the disk and translates this into a readable format
     • Blu ray, DVD and CD ROM are all optical
       • Best capacity
         • Fastest speed
           • Reliable

3. Magnetic

   • Read/write move across the medium and changes how magnetised that part of the medium is
     • One level of magnetism will be a 1, a second will be 0
       • Hard disk drive and tape drives are magnetic
       • Portable
         • Best durebility

4. Solid state

   • This is made up of microchips (swiches)
     • The state of the switches determines whether a 0 or a 1 is stored
       • Solid state drive, SD cards and USB stick are all solid state
       • Cheapest

5. Durability

   • How well does is last e.g. if it gets dropped

6. Reliability

   • Hoe consistently does it perform

7. Portabilty

   • How easy it is to move from one place to another

8. Capacity

   • How much data can it store
     • Types of capacity are GB, KB, Bytes, MB, Nibbles, Bits

9. Speed

   • How fast can it store the data

10. Cost

11. Image

    • Number of pixels x number of bytes per pixel

12. Characteristcs

    • A feature, attribute or distinguishing trait