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Computer Science GCSE > 1.3 Storage > Flashcards

1.3 Storage Flashcards

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1
Q

Why is secondary storage needed?

A
  • Main memory is volatile

* Secondary storage is used to retain a copy of programs and data that need to be kept long term

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2
Q

What is a storage device?

A

A storage device is the physical hardware that carries out the storage action.

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3
Q

Give three examples of storage devices

A
  • DVD writer
  • Hard disk
  • Solid State Drive
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4
Q

What is storage media?

A

Storage media is the physical object used to store the data

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5
Q

Give two examples of storage media

A
  • DVD

* A magnetic tape cartridge

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6
Q

Name two secondary storage devices with no seperate media

A

A hard disk or a Solid State Drive are self-contained with no external media.

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7
Q

How does magnetic storage store data?

A

It uses minute particles or ‘domains’ to store data.

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8
Q

Give two examples of magnetic storage

A
  • Magnetic Disk (e.g. Hard disk)

* Magnetic tape

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9
Q

What are 5 advantages of magnetic storage?

A
  • Huge capacity (up to several terabytes)
  • Low cost/gb (tape is cheapest, hard disk very low as well)
  • Hark disk offers high speed data access
  • Hard disk offers random access to data
  • Magnetic tape can hold its data for up to 30 years
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10
Q

What are 5 disadvantages of magnetic storage?

A
  • Not very portable
  • Has mechanical moving parts - not as rugged as solid state storage
  • Data can be lost/corrupted near strong magnetic fields
  • Magnetic tape uses serial data access so is very slow
  • Read/write not as fast as flash technology
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11
Q

List three examples of optical storage

A
  • CD
  • DVD
  • Blu-ray disks
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12
Q

How are optical disks encoded with data?

A
  • A laser beam burns tiny dark pits on to the surface of the optical disk.
  • If a pit is present, this can represent a ‘1’.
  • If no pit is present, this can represent a ‘0’.
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13
Q

What are 4 advantages of optical storage?

A
  • Cheap for under 10GB
  • Very portable compared to hard disk
  • Ideally sized for storing movies and videos
  • Immune to magnetic fields
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14
Q

What are 5 disadvantes of optical storage?

A
  • Not cheap if terabytes need to be stored
  • Not as portable as Flash media
  • Slow to write and much slower than hard disk to acess
  • Easily scratched
  • Cannot write over stored data
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15
Q

What is another name for solid state media?

A

Flash media

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16
Q

List three examples of Flash media

A
  • USB memory sticks
  • Solid state drives
  • SDHC memory cards (as found in digital cameras)
17
Q

How is solid state media encoded with data?

A

• Solid state media hold data using electronic switches

18
Q

What are 5 advantages of solid state storage?

A
  • Very portable in the form of SD cards and USB sticks
  • Large capacity (especially solid state drive)
  • Very tough and rugged - no moving parts unlike a hard disk
  • Faster than hard disk to read/write data (no mechanical parts)
  • Silent unlike hard disks
19
Q

What are 2 disadvantages of solid state storage?

A
  • Expensive compared to a hard disk of similar capacity

* Less durable than a hard disk - limited number of erase/write cycles

20
Q

Roughly how many erase/write cycles can solid state storage go through before it wears out?

A

About 100,000

21
Q

What is magnetic tape typically used for?

A

Data archiving

22
Q

Which storage media would hold a 2 hour movie with three sound tracks (foreign languages) and bonus features?
CD, Single layer DVD, Double layer DVD

A

Double layer DVD (larger storage up to 8.5GB)

23
Q

What does CD stand for?

A

Compact disk

24
Q

What six things should be considered when choosing a storage media?

A
  • Capacity
  • Speed
  • Reliability
  • Portability
  • Durability
  • Cost
25
Q

When choosing storage media, what does ‘speed’ mean?

A

How quickly data can be accessed from or written to the media

26
Q

What is the difference between durability and reliability?

A
  • Durability is how resistant (rugged) the media is to damage - e.g. knocks and scratches
  • Reliability is the ‘shelf life’ of the media - how long it will retain data so it can be accessed reliably and without error

Computer Science GCSE (7 decks)

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