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Computer Architecture > Chapter 7 > Flashcards

Chapter 7 Flashcards

External memory

1
Q

Define

Magnetic disk

A

A circular ‘platter’ constructed of nonmagnetic material, called the ‘substrate,’ and coated with a magnetizable material. Traditionally the substrate has been an aluminium or aluminium alloy, recently glass been introduced

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2
Q

Describe

Benefits of glass substrate

for magnetic disks

A

Improvement in uniformity of the magnetic film surface to increase disk reliability.
A significant reduction in overall surface defects to help reduce read/write errors.
Ability to support lower fly heights.
Better stiffness to reduce disk dynamics.
Greater ability to withstand shock and damage.

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3
Q

Describe

Magnetic read/write mechanisms

A

R/w done via a conducting coil named the ‘head.’
In many systems, separte r/w heads.
During the r or w operation, the head is stationary while the platter rotates.
Write mechanism exploits fact that electricity flowing through a coil produces a magnetic field.

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4
Q

List

Physical characteristics of Disk systems

A
  • Head motion: fixed or moveable
  • Disk portability: removable or not
  • Sides: single or double sided
  • Platters: single or multiple
  • Head mechanism: contact (floppy), fixed gap, aerodynamic gap (Winchester)
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5
Q

List and define

The three types of disk classification

A

1st: traditional – r/w head positioned a fixed distance above platter, allowing air gap
2nd: floppy disk – head comes in physical contact with platter during r/w operations
3rd: Winchester heads – used in sealed drive assemblies that are almost free of contaminants. Designed to operate closer to the disks surface than conventional rigid disk heads, thus allowing greater data density. Is actually an aerodynamic foil that rests lightly on the platter’s surface when the disk is motionless. Air pressure generated by spinning disk is enough to make foil rise above the surface.

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6
Q

List

Disk performance parameters

A

When disk drive is operational, disk is rotating at constant speed.
To r/w, head must be positioned at desired track and beginning of desired sector on track.
Seek time
Rotational delay (latency time)
Bloc access time
Transfer time

bloc is not typo

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7
Q

Define

Seek time

magnetic disk

A

For moveable head, time to position at the right track

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8
Q

Define

Rotational delay

magnetic disk

A

Latency time. Time for beginning of sector to reach head

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9
Q

Define

Bloc access time

magnetic disk

A

Sum of seek, latency, and transfer time

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10
Q

Define

RAID

A

Redundant array of independent disks

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11
Q

List

Three common characteristics of all RAID levels

A
  1. Set of physical disk drives viewed by the operating system as a single logical drive
  2. Data are distributed across the physical drives of an array in a scheme known as striping
  3. Redundant disk capacity is used to store parity information, which guarantees data recoverability in case of a disk failure
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12
Q

Define

RIAD level 0

A

Addresses the issues of request patterns of the host system and layout of the data. Impact of redundancy does not interfere with analysis

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13
Q

List

RAID level 0 applications

A

Video production and editing, image editing, prepress applications, anything that requires high bandwidth

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14
Q

Define

RAID level 1 characteristics

A

Redundancy handled differently than levels 2-6, just duplicates all the data.
Data striping used, but each logical strip mapped to 2 separate physical disks so each disk has mirror

Principle disadvantage is cost

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15
Q

List

Applications of RAID level 1

A

Accounting, payroll, financial, high availability stuff

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16
Q

Define

RAID level 2 characteristics

A

Makes use of parallel access technique.
In a parallel access array, all member disks participate in the execution of every I/O request.
Spindles of independent drives are synched so each disk head is in the same position on each disk at same time.

Number of redundant disks is proportional to the log of the number of data disks.
Error correcting code is calculated across corresponding bits on each data disk and the bits of code are stored in corresponding bit positions on each data disk.

17
Q

List

Applications of RAID level 2

A

No commercial implementations exist / is not commercially viable.

18
Q

List

RAID level 3 characteristics

A

Requires only a single redundant disk, no matter how large the disk array.
Employs parallel access but with a single parity bit calculated for set of individual bits in same position on all of the data disks.
Can achieve very high data transfer rates.

In event of of a disk failure, all of the data are still available in what is referred to as ‘reduced mode’

19
Q

List

Applications of RAID level 3

A

Video production, live streaming, image and video editing, prepress, high throughput stuff.

20
Q

Define

Characteristics of RAID level 4

A

Makes use of independent access technique, separate I/O requests can be satisfied in parallel.
Data strips are relatively large.
To calculate new parity, the array management software must read data drive user strip and old parity strip.
Each time a write occurs, the array management software must update user data and parity bits.

21
Q

List

Applications of RAID level 4

A

No commercial implementations exist / is not commercially viable.

22
Q

Define

Characteristics of RAID level 5

A

Organization similar to L4, except parity bits distributed across all disks.
Typical allocation is round-robin.
Avoids potential I/O bottleneck in L4.

23
Q

List

Applications of RAID level 5

A

File application servers
Database servers
Web, email, or news servers
Intranet servers

Most versatile RAID level

24
Q

Define

Characteristics of RAID level 6

A

2 different parity calculations carried out and stored in separate blocks on different disks.
Advantage: provides extremely high data availability. Three disks would have to fail before one is repaired to cause loss of data
Disadvantage: incurs substantial write penalty because each write affects two parity blocks

25
Q

List

Applications of RAID level 6

A

Mission critical apps

26
Q

List

SSDs compared to HDDs

A

High performance I/O operations per second (IOPS)
Durability
Longer Lifespan
Quieter and cooler running
Lower access times and latency rates

27
Q

List

Two practical issues peculiar to SSDs

A
  1. SSD performance has tendency to slow down as device is used.
  2. Flash memory becomes unusable after certain number of writes.
28
Q

Define

CD

A

Compact disk. A non-erasable disk that stores digitized audo information. The standard system uses 12-cm disks and can record more than 60 min of uninterrupted playing time.

29
Q

Define

CD-ROM

A

Compact Disk Read-Only Memory. A nonerasable disk used for storing computer data. The standard system uses 12-cm disks and can hold more than 650 Mbytes.

30
Q

Define

CD-R

A

CD Recordable. Similar to CD-ROM. The user can write to the disk only once.

31
Q

Define

CD-RW

A

CD Rewritable. Similar to a CD-ROM. The user can erase and rewrite to the disk multiple times.

32
Q

Define

DVD

A

Digital Versatile Disk. A technology for producing digitized, compressed representation of video information, as well as large volumes of other digital data. Both 8 and 12 cm diameters are used, with a double sided capacity of up to 17 Gbytes. The basic DVD is read-only (DVD-ROM).

33
Q

Define

DVD-R

A

DVD Recordable. Similar to a DVD-ROM. The user can write to the disk only once. Only one-sided disks can be used.

34
Q

Define

DVD-RW

A

DVD Rewritable. Similar to DVD-ROM. The user can erase and rewrite to the disk multiple times. Only one-sided disks can be used.

35
Q

Define

Blue-ray DVD

A

High-definition video disk. Provides considerably greater data storage density than a DVD, using a 405-nm (blue-violet) laser. A single layer on a single side can store 25 Gbytes.

36
Q

Define

CD-ROM Production

A

Disk is formed using a resin such as polycarbonate. Digitally recorded information is imprinted as a series of microscopic pits on the surface of the polycarbonate. This is done with a finely focused, high intensity laser to create a master disk/ The master is used, in turn, to make a die to stamp out copies into polycarbonate. The pitted surface is then coated with a highly reflective surface, usually aluminum or gold. This shiny surface is protected against dust and scratches by a top coat of clear acrylic. Finally a label can be silkscreened onto the acrylic.

37
Q

Define

Magnetic tape

A

Uses same r/w techniques as disk systems.
Medium is flexible polyester tape coated with magnetizable material.
Data structured as number of parallel tracks running lengthwise.
Data are read and written in contiguous blocks called physical records.
Blocks on the tape are separated by gaps referred to as inter-record gaps

Computer Architecture (11 decks)

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