Information & Communication Technology

Chapter 3 Activity - Documentation

Roles
●​ Editor to advise on final content and colours and to select images that
have the approval of the whole group : (Lara)
●​ Creator of the presentation : (Aleeya)
●​ Researcher for Optical Devices : (Zi Yi)
●​ Researcher for Magnetic Devices : (Kayleigh)
●​ Researcher for Solid-State Devices : (Jia-Yi)

Optical Devices
What are Optical Storage Devices?
-​ Optical storage devices are devices that work by using lasers to read and write
data.
-​ The laser in the optical storage shines on the device's surface, and when it hits a
pit, the light bounces differently than when it hits a flat land. The drive detects
these changes and read the data in binary code

Examples:
1.​ CD-ROM (Compact Disc-Read Only Memory)
-​ Non-volatile (data cannot be changed or erased, only can be read)
-​ Used to store: music, software applications
-​ Advantages: Large storage capacity (can hold large amount of data, Data
security (considered more stable and secure compared to magnetic
devices),
-​ Disadvantages: Not durable (easily be scattered and damages), Read
only access(can’t edit or write new data once it is created)
2.​ DVD-ROM (Digital Versatile Disc-Read Only Memory)
-​ Non-volatile (data cannot be changed or erased, only can be read)
-​ Used to store: movies, tv shows, audio or video collections
-​ Advantages: Large storage capacity (can store more data than a
CD-ROM), High quality video and audio (Provides excellent picture and
sound quality when used for video content)
-​ Disadvantages: Read only access (can’t edit or write new data once it is
created), slower access speed of data (data retrieve slower compared to
hard drives device

3.​ Blu-Ray
-​ Random access devices
-​ Used to store: HD movies, large software applications
-​ Advantages: store high quality video, faster access speed of data, support
3D
-​ Disadvantages: More expensive, data will loss easily if scattered, Blu-ray
player is required

4.​ HD DVD
 -​ Hold more data, store very high definition video

5.​ CD-R and DVD-R (CD-Recordable and DVD-Recordable)

-​ Can add data until the drive is full, but cannot remove any data or reuse
the disc

6.​ CD-RW and DVD-RW (CD-Rewritable and DVD-Rewritable)

-​ Data can be erased so that the drive can be reuse

7.​ DVD-RAM
-​ A type of rewritable DVD
-​ Similar capacity to DVD-RAM
-​ Often used for video and data back-up and archiving as it can store data
for up to 30 years
References: https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/definition/optical-storage
https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/CD-ROM
https://www.igcseict.info/theory/3/optic/index.html
https://www.teach-ict.com/gcse_new/computer%20systems/storage_devices/miniweb/p
g9.htm#:~:text=This%20huge%20capacity%20is%20very,training%20courses%20in%2
0video%20format.&text=Sound%20and%20picture%20quality%20is,ideal%20for%20sto
ring%20HD%20films.&text=Using%20a%20Blu%2Dray%20for,lot%20of%20data%20to
%20lose
https://www.teach-ict.com/gcse_new/computer%20systems/storage_devices/miniweb/p
g8.htm

Solid-State Devices
●​ Solid-State storage devices are based on electronic circuits with no moving parts
that use semiconductors to control electrical current.
●​ Solid-State storage devices store data using a special type of memory called
flash memory.
●​ They have a direct access type.

Solid-State Drives (SSD)

What are solid-state drives?

●​ A solid-state drive (SSD) is a device for storing data on non-volatile memory ,
using flash-based memory
 ●​ Solid-state drives have no moving parts and are known to be smaller , more
reliable , have lower power consumption and have much higher input/output
performance.
●​ Solid-State drives come in multiple capacities , media types , interfaces , form
factors and segments to address the large market for data storage

Uses
●​ It acts as a storage device to store files , applications and operating systems
●​ Solid-state drives are faster , more durable and more energy efficient than
traditional hard disk drives

Advantages :
➔​ They are more reliable
➔​ They are considerably light & thin
➔​ They have a lower power consumption
➔​ SSDs have a much faster data transfer speed

Disadvantages :
➔​ Lifespan - there are only so many times you can erase and rewrite data on a
solid state drive. Each time this process is completed , cells in the SSD decay
until the drive cannot be used anymore.
➔​ SSDs are a lot more expensive
➔​ Limited storage space

Examples of solid state devices:

1.​ USB Memory Stick

Uses : Transfer files
Advantages : Portable , small , large capacities
Disadvantages : easy to lose and could be damaged if not ejected correctly

2.​ Memory Card

Uses : Store files on digital cameras , mobile phones , mp3 players
 Advantages : Very small , robust
Disadvantages : Expensive , smaller storage capacities

References :

-​ Cambridge IGCSE Information and Communication Technology Third Edition -

Hodder Education
-​ https://www.avast.com/c-what-is-ssd
-​ https://aesonlabs.ca/blogs/using-solid-state-drives-advantages-and-disadvantage
s/#:~:text=The%20top%20disadvantage%20to%20SSD,drive%20cannot%20be
%20used%20anymore.

Magnetic devices:
Magnetic tape drives
What are magnetic tape drives?
-​ Data on magnetic tapes are read from or written to by a read/ write head in the
magnetic tape storage device/
-​ Data is read from the tape using serial access
-​ Best used for offline or batch processing

Advantages
-​ Inexpensive
-​ Robust technology and large data capacity
-​ Fast data transfer rate

Disadvantages
-​ Slow data access time because it uses serial access
-​ While updating, another tape is needed to store the final updated version
-​ Affected by magnetic fields which can corrupt data

Uses
-​ motion picture production companies record their footage on magnetic tape
-​ Used in holding data from scientific experiments that produce mass quantities of
data.
Hard disk drive (HDD)
What is hard disk drive?
-​ Most common method of storing data
-​ Data is stored on a digital format on the magnetic surface of the hard disk,
called platters
-​ Accessed using direct access/ random access
uses
-​ Main secondary storage device to store operating system and system
software
-​ Used in real-time systems like robots and online systems

Advantages
-​ Fast data transfer rate and access time
-​ Large memory capacity

Disadvantages
-​ Can be easily damaged
-​ Have many moving parts so it may not be reliable and noisy
Portable hard disk drives/ external hard disk drive
-​ Basically HDDs but external and can be connected to the computer by
USB

Uses
-​ Used as a way of transferring data between computer
-​ Used as a backup system

Advantages
-​ Fast data transfer rate and access time
-​ Can be used to transfer info to computers

Disadvantages
-​ Easily damaged
-​ Data transfer is not as fast as HDD
References :
https://www.easeus.com/images/en/screenshot/partition-manager/hdd-stru
cture.png
https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatabackup/definition/magnetic-tape
https://www.securedatarecovery.com/Media/blog/2023/external-hard-drive.
webp
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ94a2Kn8mga5
wT3UJQf4ikdJpdONgpwIZAQw&s
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fsiteproxy.ruqli.workers.dev%3A443%2Fhttps%2Fsimple.wikipedia.o
rg%2Fwiki%2FMagnetic_tape&psig=AOvVaw14XmOdFV94TIusoKaEANA
p&ust=1740564676168000&source=images&cd=vfe&opi=89978449&ved=
0CBQQjRxqFwoTCIDXjYDL3osDFQAAAAAdAAAAABAK