1.3 Storage

Question 1

Secondary storage​

Answer 1

Long term storage of data, files, software, OS

Question 2

Why do we need to store secondary storage things?

Answer 2

To access it again later
To use software
To interact with the computer

Question 3

What would happen without secondary storage?

Answer 3

Software would need to be installed each time we use it

You couldn’t save any files, data, images, videos etc.

Question 4

Optical

Answer 4

A laser light creates marks in a pattern on the disk

A laser light detects where the marks are and translates this into a readable format

These marks are known as ‘pits’ and ‘lands’

Question 5

Magnetic

Answer 5

A read/write arm move across the platters and changes how magnetised that part of the medium is. E.g. 1 level of magnetism will be a 1, a second will be a 0

Question 6

what is the platters range?

Answer 6

The platter spins between 5400 and 15000 rpm

Question 7

what does the platter consist of?

Answer 7

The platter consists of data tracks and sensors

Question 8

Solid State

Answer 8

Solid state storage is similar to ROM, however it also allows us to write to it (EEPROM)

This is made of transistors(switches)

Question 9

what do the states of the switches determine?

Answer 9

The state of the switches determine if a 1, or 0 is stored

Question 10

which devices are magnetic?

Answer 10

Hard Disk Drive, Tape Drive

Question 11

which devices are optical?

Answer 11

Blu ray, DVD ROM, CD ROM

Question 12

which devices are solid state?

Answer 12

Solid State Drive, SD Card, USB Memory Stick

Question 13

what type of device has the best capacity?

Answer 13

magnetic

Question 14

what type of device has the best speed?

Answer 14

solid state

Question 15

what type of device has the best portability?

Answer 15

solid state

Question 16

what type of device has the best durability?

Answer 16

solid state

Question 17

what type of device has the best reliability?

Answer 17

solid state

Question 18

what type of device has the best cost?

Answer 18

magnetic

Question 19

what type of device has the worst capacity?

Answer 19

optical

Question 20

what type of device has the worst speed?

Answer 20

optical

Question 21

what type of device has the worst portability?

Answer 21

magnetic

Question 22

what type of device has the worst durability?

Answer 22

magnetic

Question 23

what type of device has the worst reliability?

Answer 23

optical

Question 24

what type of device has the worst cost?

Answer 24

solid state

Question 25

what are the 2 main tiers of storage?

Answer 25

primary storage
secondary storage
tertiary storage

Question 26

what is primary storage?

Answer 26

it refers to the memory areas that the CPU can access very quickly. it has the fastest read/write speeds and is mostly volatile

Question 27

examples of primary storage?

Answer 27

CPU registers, cache, ROM and RAM

Question 28

what is secondary storage?

Answer 28

non-volatile. where all data is stored when not in use. read/write speeds are much slower compared to primary storage

Question 29

examples of secondary storage?

Answer 29

magnetic hard disk drives, solid state drives, CD’s and SD cards

Question 30

what is tertiary storage?

Answer 30

for long term data storage. its mainly used for archives and back-ups of massive amounts of data

Question 31

what are hard disk drives?

Answer 31

(HDD) traditional internal storage in PCs and laptops

Question 32

what are HDDs made up of?

Answer 32

a stack of magnetised metal disks spinning at a rate between 5400 and 15000 rpm

Question 33

what does rpm stand for?

Answer 33

revolutions per minute

Question 34

where is data stored magnetically?

Answer 34

in small areas called sectors within circular tracks. read/write heads on a moving arm are used to access sectors on the disk

Question 35

what are portable HDD’s useful for?

Answer 35

backing up and transporting large amounts of data

Question 36

characteristics of HDD’s

Answer 36

despite their moving parts, they are usually long lasting and reliable, they could be damaged by large impacts like being dropped

Question 37

what are solid state drives?

Answer 37

(SSD’s) storage devices with no moving parts. they are used for the same purpose as HDDs, for internal storage

Question 38

examples of solid state drives?

Answer 38

most use a type of flash memory