Morley15e PPT Ch03 REV
Morley15e PPT Ch03 REV
Morley15e PPT Ch03 REV
Understanding Computers
Today and Tomorrow
Comprehensive
Chapter 3
Storage
Deborah Morley
Charles S. Parker Copyright 2015 Cengage Learning
Learning Objectives
• Volatility
– Storage media are nonvolatile
• Random vs. Sequential Access
– Random access (direct access) allows data to be retrieved
from any location on the storage medium
– Virtually all storage devices use random access
– Sequential access means retrieval of data can occur only in
the order in which it was physically stored on the storage
medium
• Magnetic tape drive
• Hard Drive
– Used to store most
programs and data
– Can be internal or external
– Can be encrypted
• Magnetic Hard Drives
– One or more permanently
sealed metal magnetic
disks with an access
mechanism and read/write
heads
1. Of the following three options, the storage media that would likely
hold the most data is a(n) __________.
a. internal hard drive
b. USB flash memory drive
c. portable hard drive
2. True or False: Hard drives typically contain more than one metal
hard disk.
3. The circular rings on a magnetic disk on which data is stored are
called __________.
Answers:
1) a; 2) True; 3) tracks
• Optical Drives
– Three categories of discs: CD, DVD, or Blu-Ray Disc (BD)
– Can be read-only, recordable, or rewritable
– Almost always downward compatible
– Can support single or dual layer discs
– Recording data onto disc is called burning
– Can be internal or external drives
• External drives typically connect
via USB port
Answers:
1) b; 2) True; 3) pits
• Flash Memory
– Chip-based storage medium that represents data using
electrons
– Used in SSDs and hybrid hard drives
• Embedded Flash Memory
– Flash memory chips embedded into products, such as
• Portable digital media players, digital cameras
• Handheld gaming devices, GPS devices, mobile phones
• Sunglasses and wristwatches
• Smart Card
– Credit card-sized piece of plastic that contains some
computer circuitry (processor, memory, and storage)
– Stores small amount of data (about 64 KB or less)
– Commonly used to store prepaid amounts of digital cash or
personal information
– Smart card readers are built into or attached to a
computer, door lock, vending machine, or other device
– Some smart cards store biometric data
– Use of mobile smart cards is an emerging trend
• Holographic storage
– Holographic drives connect to a computer via a serial
attached SCSI (SAS) or Fibre Channel interface
– Uses multiple blue laser beams to store data in three
dimensions
• Reference beam and signal beam
– Suited to applications in which large amounts of data need
to be stored or retrieved quickly but rarely changed
• Archiving business data, medical records, TV shows,
sensor data , etc.
• Magnetic Tape
– Plastic tape coated with a magnetizable substance that
represents the bits and bytes of digital data
– Primarily used for backup and archival purposes
– Sequential access only
– Low cost per terabyte
– Most tapes today are in the
form of cartridge tapes
Answers:
1) b; 2) False; 3) magnetic tape