1.1

Question 1

1.1.3
1. What is primary storage?
2. What is secondary storage?
3. What is virtual storage?

Answer 1

1. Primary storage: memory, which is made up of RAM (volatile) and ROM. It is directly accessible by the CPU.
2. Secondary storage: storage that is non-volatile. It is not directly accessible by the CPU.
3. Virtual storage: storage that appears to be local but is physically located elsewhere.

Question 2

1.1.3
1. What is optical media?
2. What are the advantages and disadvantages?

Answer 2

1. Optical media: can be used to store songs, videos and multimedia files. Data is stored on pits and lands, generally circulating outwards from the centre. 2. Disadvantage: less storage capacity compared to other types. Must have an appropriate reader.

Question 3

1.1.3
1. What is magnetic media?
2. What are the advantages and disadvantages?

Answer 3

1. Magnetic: multiple disk platters with a read/ write head.
2. Advantage: is cheap and has a vast storage capacity. Disadvantage: has lots of mechanical moving parts, durability is an issue. Consists of two surfaces, each of which contains concentric circles (tracks) with each track divided into sectors.

Question 4

1.1.3
1. What is solid state media?
2. What are the advantages and disadvantages?

Answer 4

1. Solid state: Uses non volatile flash memory to store information. Uses: personal handheld devices, tables, smartphones, military all terrain laptops.
2. Advantages: highly durable, very fast read/ write speeds, no noise, no mechanical moving parts.