1.1.3 - Input, Output and Storage

Question 1

What is an input device?

Answer 1

One which can be used to put data and info into a computer.

Question 2

What is an output device?

Answer 2

An output device is one which can be used to send information from the computer.

Question 3

Name 4 examples of input devices?

Answer 3

Keyboard
Webcam
Magnetic stripe reader
Barcode reader

Question 4

Name 3 examples of output devices?

Answer 4

Speakers
Printers
Projector

Question 5

Give an example of a double input/output device?

Answer 5

Touch screen

Question 6

What should you consider when purchasing an input device?

Answer 6

Speed
Accuracy
Cost
Relevance

Question 7

What are optical devices?

Answer 7

Optical devices are read from and written to

using lasers shone into spiral tracks on the disc surface.

Question 8

How does the surface of an optical disc represent data?

Answer 8

The portions which are recessed, called pits, scatter
light whereas the flat portions, called lands,
reflect light. Pits represent a 0 and lands
represent a 1.

Question 9

What is a CD?

Answer 9

This is a compact disc which uses optical technology to store small quantities of
information. Most commonly used for audio files, CDs can also be used to store text
and digital images.

Question 10

Pros and cons of CD.

Answer 10

Small, thin and light making them very portable.

Easily scratched, limited storage capacity and slow data transfer speeds.

Question 11

What is a DVD?

Answer 11

Digital video discs are optical devices which have a higher storage capacity than CDs, making them
suited to storing digital videos which require more storage space than audio files or
photos.

Question 12

What is a Blu-Ray?

Answer 12

Blu-rays have e more than five times as much

storage than traditional DVDs, making them useful for storing high-resolution films

Question 13

How does magnetic storage work?

Answer 13

Devices which store information magnetically represent binary information using two
magnetic states: polarised and unpolarised. If a portion of magnetic material is polarised,
all magnetic poles align and can be read by a read/write head passing over the region. If
an area is not polarised, magnetic poles are randomly scattered and produce a different
reading on a read/write head. These two states can represent 1 and 0, allowing any
information to be represented in binary form.

Question 14

How does an HDD work?

Answer 14

HDDs work by rotating magnetic platters at high speeds
under a read/write head on an actuating arm. The combination of the arm and
rotating platter allows the read/write head to access any part of the platter. Most
HDDs will have multiple platters stacked on top of each other to maximise storage
capacity.

Question 15

Pros and cons of HDDs.

Answer 15

High capacities (500gb-5tb)
Slow data transfer speeds and damaged by movement because of their moving parts and brittle platters.

Question 16

How does magnetic tape work?

Answer 16

Wound onto reels, long stretches of
tape were passed through readers which would check the polarity of the tape and
read off a binary value.

Question 17

What is the issue with magnetic tape?

Answer 17

It was a bulky way to store data, and data is read in sequentially meaning it is hard to locate data.

Question 18

What is a floppy disk?

Answer 18

It is a thin magnetic disk (which would have originally been

flexible, hence the name) enclosed in plastic to protect the disk from dust and dirt

Question 19

Pros and cons of floppy disks.

Answer 19

Incredibly portable and cheap- but very small storage capacity(1-200mb) and data transfer speed, and low reliability.

Question 20

How does flash storage work?

Answer 20

The technology makes
use of silicon semiconductors forming the logic gates NAND and NOR to store electrical charge in one of two states: high or low. These two states represent the binary values True and False, which can be used to represent information.
Information is stored in blocks, which are combined to form pages.

Question 21

Features of flash memory.

Answer 21

Flash memory can be erased and reprogrammed electronically, and is non-volatile,
meaning it stores its data even when power is lost.

Question 22

Pros and cons of SSDs

Answer 22

Light and portable, no moving parts so resistant to damage. High data transfer rates.
However, high cost and limited lifespan (Every time a page is written to the voltage to write to it increases).

Question 23

What is primary storage.

Answer 23

Storage used by the computer’s operating
system to run the computer. They store information like code instructions to execute and
files which are required by running programs.

Question 24

What is RAM?

Answer 24

Random access memory is a type of fast main memory used to store data and
programs that the computer is currently using.

Question 25

Features of RAM

Answer 25

Higher access speeds than flash memory.
More expensive per gB than secondary storage devices.
Volatile, so loses info when power is lost.

Question 26

What is ROM?

Answer 26

ROM
Read only memory, as the name suggests, cannot be modified. Once programmed,
the state of the memory cells inside does not changed

Question 27

When is ROM useful?

Answer 27

ROM is useful for storing
fixed sequences of instructions like a computer’s startup (bootstrap) routine. ROM is
non-volatile, so it retains this data even when the computer is powered off.
It is quick to start up and protected against malware or accidental changes.

Question 28

What is virtual storage?

Answer 28

Virtual storage is the name given to storing information remotely so that it can be accessed
by any computer with access to the same system, for example over the Internet.
It is often an abstraction of multiple drives acting like one.

Question 29

Give some examples of virtual storage.

Answer 29

Cloud storage services like Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive
as well as networked storage used in offices and schools.

Question 30

Pros and cons of virtual storage.

Answer 30

Convenient to access and share.
Automatically does backups and security

Limits user’s network speed, high cost, data concerns.