Computer Science 2210 (Notes)
Chapter: 1.3 Hardware and software
Topic: 1.3.5 Memory, storage devices and media
Storage Devices are the data storage devices that are used in the computers to store the data. The
computer has many types of data storage devices. Some of them can be classified as the removable data
Storage Devices and the others as the non-removable data Storage Devices.
The memory is of two types; one is the primary memory and the other one is the secondary memory.
0T 0T43 43T 0T 0T43 0T43 0T 0T 0T43 43T
The primary memory is the volatile memory and the secondary memory is the non-volatile memory. The
volatile memory is the kind of the memory that is erasable and the non-volatile memory is the one where
in the contents cannot be erased. Basically when we talk about the data storage devices it is generally
assumed to be the secondary memory.
The secondary memory is used to store the data permanently in the computer. The secondary storage
devices are usually as follows: hard disk drives – this is the most common type of storage device that is
used in almost all the computer systems. The other ones include the floppy disk drives, the CD ROM, and
the DVD ROM. The flash memory, the USB data card etc.
PRIMARY STORAGE
Primary Storage, also referred to as computer memory, is used by the CPU (Central Processing Unit) of a
computer to continuously read and execute programming instructions. Also it reads and writes data
from/to the file store in the Secondary Storage of the computer. And this is accessible directly by the CPU.
Typical examples of Primary Storage types are RAM, ROM, and memory adapters.
SECONDARY STORAGE
Secondary Storage refers to non-volatile data storage which is not directly accessible by the CPU and
only accessible via primary storage devices using I/O (Input/Output) channels or device drivers. Typical
examples of Secondary Storage are hard disks, floppy disks, optical storage devices ( such as CD , DVD
drives), magnetic tape data storage devices, RAM drives, and flash memory (such as USB sticks /keys.)
OFF-LINE STORAGE
Off-line storage or disconnected storage is computer data storage on a medium or a device that is not
under the control of a processing unit. The medium is recorded, usually in a secondary or tertiary storage
device, and then physically removed or disconnected. This type of storage system must be inserted or
connected by a human operator before a computer can access the information.
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Computer Science 2210 (Notes)
Chapter: 1.3 Hardware and software
Topic: 1.3.5 Memory, storage devices and media
The medium is recorded, usually in a secondary or tertiary storage device, and then physically removed or
disconnected. This type of storage system must be inserted or connected by a human operator before a
computer can access the information.
CHARACTERISTICS OF STORAGE
VOLATILITY OF INFORMATION
Volatile memory requires a constant power to maintain the stored information. They are required to be
very fast and they also are the fastest memory technologies of today (not a universal rule). Non-volatile
memory will retain the stored information even if there is no supply of electric power. It is suitable for
long-term storage of information. Examples of this category are secondary, tertiary, and off-line storage.
ABILITY TO ACCESS NON-CONTIGUOUS INFORMATION
Information from the storage devices can be either seek sequentially or randomly. In a sequential access
the information is seek one after the other. In a random access any location in storage can be accessed at
any moment in approximately the same amount of time.
ABILITY TO CHANGE INFORMATION
Certain storage devices information to be overwritten at any time. They are often referred to as Mutable
storage. Read only storage retains the information stored during the time of manufacture, and write once
storage (WORM) allows the information to be written only once at some point of time after the
manufacture. These are called immutable storage.
CAPACITY AND PERFORMANCE
Storage capacity: It is the total amount of stored information that a storage device or medium can hold.
E.g. 80GB of hard disk. Storage density: It is the compactness of stored information. E.g. 1.2 Gigabytes per
square inch). Latency: It is the time taken to access a particular location in storage. Throughput: It is the
rate at which information can be read from or written to the storage.
Page 2 of 13
Computer Science 2210 (Notes)
Chapter: 1.3 Hardware and software
Topic: 1.3.5 Memory, storage devices and media
Different Kinds of Data Storage
Primary Storage
The primary storage is basically the memory in-built in the computer itself such as:
Random Access Memory (RAM)
The computer processor uses it as a scratch pad. It stores the information on a temporary basis. RAM is a
fickle memory which loses the entire information the moment you switch off your computer. However,
what works in its favor is its greater access rate. Access rate is basically time needed to access to a
particular memory. Monetarily, random access memory is expensive.
Read Only Memory (ROM)
It stores the information permanently. In this type of memory, data is stored either by the manufacturer or
by the user. The main thing about this type of storage is that the data once stored, cannot be changed. Its
access rate is less in comparison with the RAM. ROMs are less expensive than RAM.
Page 3 of 13
Computer Science 2210 (Notes)
Chapter: 1.3 Hardware and software
Topic: 1.3.5 Memory, storage devices and media
Secondary Storage
These storage devices are external to the basic built in of the computer processor and are used to build
more space for storage. The secondary storage cannot be changed, but the information sustains even if
the computer is turned off.
Some of the secondary storage devices are:
Hard Drives
Hard drives are present inside the CPU. They store the information in a digital form on the platters having
magnetic surface. The information is unchangeable. There are different types of hard drives present
today.
Solid State Drives (SSD)
The traditional spinning hard drive (HDD) is the basic nonvolatile storage on a computer. That is, it doesn't
"go away" like the data on the system memory when you turn the system off. Hard drives are essentially
metal platters with a magnetic coating. That coating stores your data, whether that data consists of
weather reports from the last century, a high-definition copy of the Star Wars trilogy, or your digital music
0T 0T16 0T16 0T
collection. A read/write head on an arm accesses the data while the platters are spinning in a hard drive
enclosure.
An SSD does much the same job functionally (saving your data while the system is off, booting your
system, etc.) as an HDD, but instead of a magnetic coating on top of platters, the data is stored on
interconnected flash memory chips that retain the data even when there's no power present. The chips
can either be permanently installed on the system's motherboard (like on some small laptops and ultra-
books), on a PCI/PCI e card (in some high-end workstations), or in a box that's sized, shaped, and wired to
slot in for a laptop or desktop's hard drive (common on everything else). These flash memory chips differ
from the flash memory in USB thumb drives in the type and speed of the memory. That's the subject of a
totally separate technical treatise, but suffice it to say that the flash memory in SSDs is faster and more
reliable than the flash memory in USB thumb drives. SSDs are consequently more expensive than USB
thumb drives for the same capacities.
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Computer Science 2210 (Notes)
Chapter: 1.3 Hardware and software
Topic: 1.3.5 Memory, storage devices and media
OFFLINE STORAGE DEVICES:
Blu-ray Discs
Gaming lovers generally go for this secondary storage, as they offer high definition video storage. They
are the optical storage devices. Physically, blu-ray discs are same as CDs and DVDs. The storage capacity
of the blu-ray discs is much larger.
Compact Discs (CD)
CDs are very popular for saving audio, video or any other data. They have the ability to store the
information for a longer time. The information is optically stored and is non- fickle. CDs are also known as
the offline storage data device, especially used to increase the security of the information. They are hugely
used as a backup for important information.
Digital Versatile Disc (DVD)
It stores the data in a similar way as a CD does, but the storage space herein is larger than a CD. Like CDs,
these are also known as offline storage data.
Flash Memory
Flash memory is an advanced version of ROMs. The main difference between the two is that in flash
cards, the information stored can be electrically erased. The entire erasing process takes place only in few
seconds. Also, according to your requirements, you can very easily modify the information.
USB Flash Drives
They are also called as thumb drives. If you want to store the information in a compact and portable way,
then USB flash cards are for you. With the help of a USB port, USB flash drives get connected to the
computer. They use the universal serial bus interface to save a large amount of information. They can be
rewritten and come with a built-in flash memory. USB flash drives can store data of up to 64 gigabytes.
External Hard Drives
They work similarly as hard drives present inside the computer, but the main difference is that they are
present outside. They are connected to a computer through a USB port. They can store data of up to 700
gigabytes.
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Computer Science 2210 (Notes)
Chapter: 1.3 Hardware and software
Topic: 1.3.5 Memory, storage devices and media
TYPES OF STORAGE DEVICES
MAGNETIC:
The most common and enduring form of removable-storage technology is magnetic storage. For example, 0T 0T43 0T43 0T
1.44-MB floppy-disk drives using 3.5-inch diskettes have been around for about 15 years, and they are
still found on almost every computer sold today. In most cases, removable magnetic storage uses a drive, 0T 0T43 43T
which is a mechanical device that connects to the computer. You insert the media, which is the part that 0T 0T43 43T
actually stores the information, into the drive.
Just like a hard drive, the media used in removable magnetic-storage devices is coated with iron oxide.
0T 0T32U U32T 0T 0T43 43T
This oxide is a ferromagnetic material, meaning that if you expose it to a magnetic field it is permanently
0T 0T43 0T43 0T
magnetized. The media is typically called a disk or a cartridge. The drive uses a motor to rotate the media 0T 0T43 0T43 0T 0T 0T43 43T
at a high speed, and it accesses (reads) the stored information using small devices called heads. 0T 0T43 43T
Each head has a tiny electromagnet, which consists of an iron core wrapped with wire. The electromagnet
0T 0T43 43T
applies a magnetic flux to the oxide on the media, and the oxide permanently "remembers" the flux it sees.
0T 0T43 0T43 0T
During writing, the data signal is sent through the coil of wire to create a magnetic field in the core. At the
gap, the magnetic flux forms a fringe pattern. This pattern bridges the gap, and the flux magnetizes the
oxide on the media. When the data is read by the drive, the read head pulls a varying magnetic field across 0T 0T43 0T43 0T
the gap, creating a varying magnetic field in the core and therefore a signal in the coil. This signal is then
sent to the computer as binary data. 0T 0T32U U32T
Before music CDs were introduced in the 1980s, portable music devices used magnetic tape in the form of
music cassettes. Early computers adapted this technology to store digital information. One of the major
weaknesses is that information on a tape can only be accessed in a very sequential fashion. This is fine if
you want to listen to a whole music album in sequence, but computer systems typically need to access
data in a non-sequential manner. For magnetic tape, this means you may need to fast-forward through a
lot of tape to get to a specific piece of data. While magnetic tape is a very cheap way to store data, the
very slow access to the data meant that it was primarily used for creating back-ups of data in case older
forms of storage failed. Tape backup systems are still in use today, but their importance has greatly
declined with the advance of cheap, large capacity hard disk drives.
The floppy disk became widely used as a portable storage medium. The floppy disk uses magnetic
storage in the form of a thin disk that is protected by a more rigid plastic casing. Data could be written to
a floppy disk on one computer using a floppy disk drive, and you could then physically take it to another
computer to be read. In a time before computer networks were widely used for data transfer, floppy disks
presented an easy-to-use and fast way to move data between computers. Today's equivalent of the
floppy disk is the USB flash drive (which does not use magnetic storage), which is used to physically
move relatively small amounts of data between multiple computers. By today's standards, floppy disks
had a very small capacity in the order of 1MB. Floppy disks were widely used throughout the 1980s and
1990s, but their use declined with the introduction of external hard disk drives and flash-based storage
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Computer Science 2210 (Notes)
Chapter: 1.3 Hardware and software
Topic: 1.3.5 Memory, storage devices and media
devices. While once a standard feature on any computer, modern day computer system no longer feature
floppy drives.
OPTICAL STORAGE DEVICES:
Optical storage devices save data as patterns of dots that can be read using light. A laser beam is the
usual light source.
The data on the storage medium is read by bouncing the laser beam off the surface of the medium. If the
beam hits a dot it is reflected back differently to how it would be if there were no dot. This difference can
be detected, so the data can be read.
Dots can be created using the laser beam (for media that is writable such as CD-Rs). The beam is used in
a high-power mode to actually mark the surface of the medium, making a dot. This process is known as
‘burning’ data onto a disc.
The different patterns of dots correspond to the data stored on the disc.
Read-Only Optical Discs
Read-only optical discs have data written onto them when they are manufactured. This data cannot be
changed.
CD-ROM
Compact Disc - Read-Only Memory (CD-ROM) discs can hold around800MB of data. The data cannot be
altered (non-volatile), so cannot be accidently deleted. CD-ROMs are random-access devices.
CD-ROMs are used to distribute all sorts of data: software (e.g. office applications or games), music,
electronic books (e.g. an encyclopedia with sound and video.)
DVD-ROM
Digital Versatile Disc - Read-Only Memory (DVD-ROM) discs can hold around 4.7GB of data (a dual-layer
DVD can hold twice that). DVD-ROMs are random-access devices.
DVD-ROMs are used in the same way as CD-ROMs (see above) but, since they can hold more data, they
are also used to store high-quality video.
Page 7 of 13
Computer Science 2210 (Notes)
Chapter: 1.3 Hardware and software
Topic: 1.3.5 Memory, storage devices and media
High Capacity Optical Discs
Blu-Ray
Blu-Ray disks are a recent replacement for DVDs. A Blu-Ray disc can hold25 - 50GB of data (a dual-layer
Blu-Ray disc can hold twice that). Blu-Ray discs are random-access devices.
Blu-Ray discs are used in the same way as DVD-ROMs (see above) but, since they can hold more data,
they are also used to store very high-quality, high-definition (HD)video.
The 'Blu' part of Blu-Ray refers to the fact that the laser used to read the disc uses blue light instead of red
light. Blue light has a shorter wave-length than red light (used with CDs and DVDs).
Using a blue laser allows more data to be placed closer together on a Blu-Ray disc, than on a DVD or CD,
so Blu-Ray has a much higher storage capacity than these older discs.
HD DVD
High-density DVD (HD-DVD) discs can hold around 15GB of data (a dual-layer HD-DVD can hold twice
that). HD-DVDs are random-access devices.
HD-DVD discs are used in the same way as DVD-ROMs (see above) but, since they can hold more data,
they are also used to store very high-quality, high-definition (HD) video.
The HD-DVD format was launched at the same time as Blu-Ray. For about a year they competed to be the
'next DVD'. For various reasons, Blu-Ray won the fight, and the HD-DVD format has been abandoned.
Recordable Optical Discs
Recordable optical discs can have data written onto them (‘burnt’) by a computer user using a special disc
drive (a disc ‘burner’).
CD-R and DVD-R
CD-Recordable (CD-R) and DVD-recordable (DVD-R) discs can have data burnt onto them, but not erased.
You can keep adding data until the disc is full, but you cannot remove any data or re-use a full disc.
CD-RW and DVD-RW
CD-Rewritable (CD-RW) and DVD-Rewritable (DVD-RW) discs, unlike CD-Rs and DVD-Rs, can have data
burnt onto them and also erased so that the discs can be re-used.
When CD-Rs and DVD-Rs are burnt, the laser makes permanent marks on the silver-colored metal layer.
This is why these discs cannot be erased.
When CD-RWs and DVD-RWs are burnt the laser makes marks on the metal layer, but in a way that can be
undone. So these discs can be erased.
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Computer Science 2210 (Notes)
Chapter: 1.3 Hardware and software
Topic: 1.3.5 Memory, storage devices and media
DVD-RAM
DVD-Random Access Memory (DVD-RAM) discs are a type of re-writable DVD. They often come in a
floppy-disc style case (to protect the disc).
DVD-RAM discs have a similar capacity to a normal DVD, holding 4.7GB of data. DVD-RAM discs are
random-access devices.
DVD-RAM discs are used in many camcorders (video recording cameras).
The discs are much higher quality than normal DVD-RWs and can reliably store data for up to 30 years.
This means that they are often used for video and data back-up and archiving.
SOLID STATE STORAGE DEVICES
In contrast to magnetic and optical forms of backing storage, these devices have no moving parts and so
are called 'solid state'. Instead, they use a special kind of programmable ROM memory chip on which data
is stored. Very different to usual memory, this kind of chip remembers the data even when the power has
been turned off.
USB Flash Drives
Universal Serial Bus (USB) is a type of socket or port in computer systems that allow USB type devices to
connect to it. One of which is the USB Flash Drive - sometimes called pen drive.
USB Flash drives come in various sizes from 16 MB up to and over 4GB. They are very useful and a simple
way of backing up and transporting data. Because of the USB connection they will work on any computer
with a USB port and have really replaced floppy discs as a method of moving files from one computer
system to another.
Memory Cards
Like USB flash drives, these solid state devices come in various sizes, from 64MB to over 2GB. They
connect differently and need a card reader to 'read' their contents.
Commonly, they are used in digital cameras to store photographs and are similar to SIM cards used in
phones.
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Computer Science 2210 (Notes)
Chapter: 1.3 Hardware and software
Topic: 1.3.5 Memory, storage devices and media
Solid State Hard Drives:
Solid state drives have several advantages over the magnetic hard drives. The majority of this comes from
the fact that the drive does not have any moving parts. While a traditional drive has drive motors to spin
up the magnetic platters and the drive heads, all the storage on a solid state drive is handled by flash
memory chips.
This provides three distinct advantages:
1. Less Power Usage
2. Faster Data Access
3. Higher Reliability
The power usage is a key role for the use of solid state drives in portable computers. Because there is no
power draw for the motors, the drive uses far less energy than the regular hard drive. Now, the industry
has taken steps to address this with drives spinning down and the development of hybrid, but both of
these still use more power. The solid state drive will consistently draw less power than the traditional and
hybrid hard drive.
Faster data access will make a number of people happy. Since the drive does not have to spin up the drive
platter or move drive heads, the data can be read from the drive near instantly. Hybrid hard drives do tend
to mitigate the speed aspect when it comes to frequently used drives. Similarly, Intel's new Smart
Response Technology is a similar method of caching on a small solid state drive to produce similar
results.
STORAGE REQUIREMENT OF A FILE
Formula to compute storage needs:
Basic storage capacity requirements can be estimated by simple calculation:
Total storage needed = # of image files x average file size x 1.25
Example: A Collection of 3,000 text images, each averaging 75KB, would require about 225MB of storage.
However, many other factors can increase storage needs. OCR text for the same pages might run 3KB per
page, or about 1/25th the space required for the corresponding image file. The number and size of
derivative files, as well as whether they're permanently stored or created on the fly could add further to
storage requirements. In addition, all storage technologies involve a certain amount of wasted space. The
precise amount depends on factors such as the storage technology used, total capacity, partition size,
and average file size. Some experimentation may be necessary to determine the approximate percentage
of wasted space, but it needs to be taken into account in estimating storage needs. The formula above
factors in a generous overage to cover such concerns.
Page 10 of 13
Computer Science 2210 (Notes)
Chapter: 1.3 Hardware and software
Topic: 1.3.5 Memory, storage devices and media
How Many Pages in a Gigabyte?
There are a number of factors that determines how many pages are in a gigabyte. Different document
types will generate very different files sizes and take up more space. For example, a Microsoft Word file
with just text and no graphics would take up a relatively small amount of file space, but a paper document
that has been scanned to a digital, PDF file format image with hidden searchable text can result into a
large amount of disk space. The table below summarizes common file sizes based on various document
types to help determine how much storage space will be needed when subscribing to Net
Documents. (16-17,000 Word Documents = 1GB of storage on average)
Digital Files
DOCUMENT TYPE AVERAGE SIZE AVERAGE
PER PAGE PAGES PER
GIGABYTE
15k 64,800
Microsoft Word files
6k 166,000
Microsoft Excel files
57k 17,500
Microsoft
PowerPoint files
100k 10,000
Adobe PDF files (image+text)
1.5k 677,90
Text files
10k 100,000
Email files
65k 15,477
Image files (TIFF)
PDF files are approximately one-tenth the size of a TIFF image, making PDFs much faster to transmit and
download. Benefits of PDF over TIFF: 1) Search ability, 2) file size 3) clarity, 4) universal compatibility.
Page 11 of 13
Computer Science 2210 (Notes)
Chapter: 1.3 Hardware and software
Topic: 1.3.5 Memory, storage devices and media
Scanning Paper Documents
SOURCE AVERAGE PER # OF
SIZE GIGABYTE PAGES
SCANNED
Scanned Page – 50k 64,800 pages 1
TIFF
Banker Box 125MB 8 boxes 2,750
File Cabinet (4 2 cabinets 10,000
drawer of paper)
DVD-ROM (2 sided, 10 GB, 20
4 layers) Cabinets
More Information:
A terabyte is a trillion bytes, or a million megabytes, or 1,000 gigabytes, as measured by the hard-drive
industry.
A 1-Terabyte drive can hold:
About 330,000 3MB photos
or 250,000 MP3s
or 358 Movies
or 1000 hours of video
An hour of standard video takes up about 1GB, while an hour of high-definition video takes up 4GB.
Page 12 of 13
Computer Science 2210 (Notes)
Chapter: 1.3 Hardware and software
Topic: 1.3.5 Memory, storage devices and media
Here are a few more details to consider:
Although data storage capacity is generally expressed in binary code, many hard drive manufacturers
(and some newer BIOSs) use a decimal system to express capacity.
o For example, a 30 gigabyte drive is usually 30,000,000,000 bytes (decimal) not the
32,212,254,720 binary bytes you would expect.
Another trivial point is that in the metric system the "k" or "kilo" prefix is always lowercase
(i.e. kilogram = kg not Kg) but since these binary uses for data storage capacity are not properly
metric, it has become standard to use an uppercase "K" for the binary form.
When used to describe Data Transfer Rate, bits/bytes are calculated as in the metric system
o Kilobits per second are usually shortened to kbps or Kbps. Although technically speaking, the
term kilobit should have a lowercase initial letter; it has become common to capitalize it in
abbreviation (e.g. "56 Kbps" or "56K"). The simple "K" might seem ambiguous but, in the
context of data transfer, it can be assumed that the measurement is in bits rather than bytes
unless indicated otherwise.
File Storage Capacity by Bits and Bytes
bit byte Kilobyte Megabyte Gigabyte
bit 1 8 8,192 8,388,608 8,589,934,592
byte 8 1 1,024 1,048,576 1,073,741,824
Kilobyte 8,192 1,024 1 1,024 1,048,576
Megabyte 8,388,608 1,048,576 1,024 1 1,024
Gigabyte 8,589,934,592 1,073,741,824 1,048,576 1,024 1
Terabyte 8,796,093,022,208 1,099,511,627,776 1,073,741,824 1,048,576 1,024
Petabyte 9,007,199,254,740,992 1,125,899,906,842,624 1,099,511,627,776 1,073,741,824 1,048,576
Exabyte 9,223,372,036,854,775,808 1,152,921,504,606,846,976 1,125,899,906,842,624 1,099,511,627,776 1,073,741,824
9,444,732,965,739,290,427,
Zettabyte 1,180,591,620,717,411,303,424 1,152,921,504,606,846,976 1,125,899,906,842,624 1,099,511,627,776
392
File Storage Capacity by Powers of Two (Base 2)
bit byte Kilobyte Megabyte Gigabyte Terabyte Petabyte Exabyte Zettabyte Yottabyte
bit 2^0 2^3 2^13 2^23 2^33 2^43 2^53 2^63 2^73 2^83
byte 2^3 2^0 2^10 2^20 2^30 2^40 2^50 2^60 2^70 2^80
Kilobyte 2^13 2^10 2^0 2^10 2^20 2^30 2^40 2^50 2^60 2^70
Megabyte 2^23 2^20 2^10 2^0 2^10 2^20 2^30 2^40 2^50 2^60
Gigabyte 2^33 2^30 2^20 2^10 2^0 2^10 2^20 2^30 2^40 2^50
Terabyte 2^43 2^40 2^30 2^20 2^10 2^0 2^10 2^20 2^30 2^40
Petabyte 2^53 2^50 2^40 2^30 2^20 2^10 2^0 2^10 2^20 2^30
Exabyte 2^63 2^60 2^50 2^40 2^30 2^20 2^10 2^0 2^10 2^20
Zettabyte 2^73 2^70 2^60 2^50 2^40 2^30 2^20 2^10 2^0 2^10
Yottabyte 2^83 2^80 2^70 2^60 2^50 2^40 2^30 2^20 2^10 2^0
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