Mr W:end of half term storage and memory test, 23/10/2023

Question 1

What is another way of saying Primary Memory?

Answer 1

Main Memory

Question 2

What makes up primary memory?

Answer 2

ROM and RAM

Question 3

(True/False): The ROM contains the Operating System (OS) of the computer

Answer 3

False! It contains the bootstrap loader, which tells the computer where the OS is on the hard disk and how to start it.

Question 4

What are the instructions on the ROM called?

Answer 4

Firmware

Question 5

What else does the ROM store?

Answer 5

The BIOS (Basic Input and Output System)

Question 6

(True/False): The RAM is the fastest way of storing and accessing data

Answer 6

False! The CPU Cache is much closer to the CPU and thus much faster.

Question 7

What are some examples of secondary storage?

Answer 7

Hard Disk Drive (HDD), Solid State Drive (SSD), SD Cards, CD/DVD, USB drive, Floppy Disk.

Question 8

(True/False): The CPU is unable to access secondary storage.

Answer 8

True! The CPU needs to communicate with RAM to get data from secondary storage.

Question 9

How is Magnetic Storage (e.g. HDD) edited?

Answer 9

Using Electromagnets to flip the polarity of magnets on the disk, where the polarity of the magnet can be a 0 or 1.

Question 10

What are the Benefits of Magnetic Storage?

Answer 10

Large capacity (Most modern computers have 1TB of HDD), Fast to access compared to other secondary storage types.

Question 11

What are the Downsides of Magnetic Storage?

Answer 11

Not very robust (easily damaged), Life Span of only 4-5 years.

Question 12

How is Optical Storage (e.g. CDs) read?

Answer 12

Optical storage disks will have Pits (grooves) and lands (bits w/o grooves) that will thus reflect light differently, depending on how the light reflects back, that area is a 1 or 0

Question 13

What are the Benefits of Optical Storage

Answer 13

Quite Fast

Question 14

What are the Downsides of Optical Storage?

Answer 14

Not much storage.

Question 15

What are the Benefits of Flash Storage (e.g. SSD) ?

Answer 15

Highly Durable, no moving parts, very fast read/write speeds, nearly silent, faster startup times, typical SSD has 100GB-16TB storage

Question 16

What are the Downsides of Flash Storage?

Answer 16

more cost than HDD for the amount of storage that you get, max number of 10-100 thousand reads/writes per cell (That’s not much if you edit documents a lot).

Question 17

What metrics can we use to measure and judge storage methods?

Answer 17

Capacity/how many bits can be stored, speed/time taken to access data, Portablity/size and how easy it is to move, Durability/how easy is it to break, Reliability/how long will it last, cost/£