1.2 Types Of Information Storage Media

Question 1

Examples of Paper storage media and the characteristics

Answer 1

Maps, forms, notes, tickets
Comes in different colours, weights, grades, sizes, brightness, reflectance, smoothness, grain.

Question 2

Advantages of paper storage media

Answer 2

Very little energy is consumed when reading from paper
Easy to use by people with limited computer experience
Recognised and required by law; official documents and can be used as court evidence

Question 3

Disadvantages of paper storage media

Answer 3

Deteriorates over time
Vulnerable to damage
Takes up a lot of storage space
Recurring costs of more paper
Limited mobility
Editing is not easy
Collaboration with others is more difficult

Question 4

Examples of Optical media and their characteristics

Answer 4

CD-ROM
DVD-ROM
Blue-ray
Disc
Disks that are read by a laser
Not based on magnetic charges like hard drives

Question 5

Advantages of optical media

Answer 5

Less likely to lose data
Have a longer shelf life
More durable
Cheaper to produce

Question 6

Disadvantages of optical media

Answer 6

It takes more time to access information on different parts of the disk than a hard drive

Question 7

Examples of magnetic media and their characteristics (fixed hard drive)

Answer 7

Fixed hard drive
Disk surface is coated in a magnetic film which is where the data is stored
Has read/write heads allowing data to be saved and used from the disc
Used by real-time online systems
Storage from 250GB to 4TB

Question 8

Advantages of magnetic media (fixed hard drive)

Answer 8

Process data quickly
Fast access speeds
Easy to update and delete files
Large storage capacities

Question 9

Disadvantages of magnetic media (fixed hard drive)

Answer 9

Can be damaged easily
Not portable

Question 10

Examples of magnetic media and their characteristics (portable hard disk drive)

Answer 10

Portable hard disk drive
Work similarly to fixed hard drives but connected to computer externally via USB port
Direct data access methods
Storage from 250GB to 3TB
Used to store large files

Question 11

Advantages of magnetic media (portable hard disk drive)

Answer 11

Fast read/write times
Large storage capacities
Small and light, protective casing more portable
Can be used on almost any computer via USB port

Question 12

Disadvantages of magnetic media ( portable hard disk drive )

Answer 12

Easy to misplace or have stolen due to its small size
More expensive than other forms
Can be damaged if dropped

Question 13

Examples of magnetic media (magnetic tape) and characteristics

Answer 13

Magnetic tape
Tape is a thin strip of magnetic coated plastic that is wrapped on to a reel
Data stored in the form of binary numbers
Data is read in sequence
Used for backing up extremely large amount of data
Used for batch processing applications ( payslips )

Question 14

Advantages of magnetic media ( magnetic tape )

Answer 14

Less expensive than hard drives
Not easily damaged
Very large storage capacity

Question 15

Disadvantages of magnetic media ( magnetic tape )

Answer 15

Very slow data access rate and therefore not used for real time applications
Need additional tape to update data

Question 16

Exampels of Solid state storage and its characteristics

Answer 16

USB flash drive, SD cards and micro SD’s
No moving parts.

Question 17

Advantages of Solid state storage

Answer 17

High capacity
Durable
Small size means portable
Fast access speeds

Question 18

Disadvantages of solid state storage

Answer 18

Expensive
Cheap USB can snap easily