Secondary Storage

Question 1

Secondary storage

Answer 1

Long-term storage in a computer system, necessry because main memory is volatile and will also run out of storage space. Three types of backing storage are optical, magnetic and solid state. All these devices are required to store vast numbers of 1s and 0s, but they do so in different ways

Question 2

Optical

Answer 2

Includes CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray disks
Are written to read from using lasers. Like magnetic disks, the disks spin to allow the laser to read the data from the correct location
Durfacr of disks have billions of locationd in ehich holes can be physically burtn by a laser to represent either a 0 or 1
If there is a pit, it is 0, if not it is a 1

Question 3

Advantages and disadvantages of opticsl d storage media

Answer 3

A:
- opticsl disk is cery cheap
- often read-only so difficult p to accidentally overwrite data

D:
- an unprotected disk is vulnerable to being scratched
- low data capacity

Question 4

Magnetic storage

Answer 4

Disks are round, although built into a rectangular housing. Surface of disk is divided into tracks and secotrs
Tracks are circular and split into segmentd. Disk will spin to allow read-write head to access the data in a particular segment.
Happens quickly with internal hard diskss, ehich spin at 7200 revolutions per minute
Within each sector, billions of magnetic particles exists that are either magnetised (1) or not (0)

Question 5

Advantages and disadvantages of magnetic

Answer 5

A:
- chespest storage median per megsbyte
-less cumbersome than multiple opticsl discs

D:
-slower access speeds that solid states
- unlike, optical discs, data is all on one device, which can be lost

Question 6

Solid state devices

Answer 6

Flash drives
Use electronic circuits, and no moving parts, to store data electronically
No moving parts, devices mkre sturdier and quieter than magnetic and optical
Use electric circuits meaning they are non-volatile, they retain data without a power supply

Question 7

Advantages and disadvantages of SSD

Answer 7

A:
- faster access speeds than both optical and magnetic
-woth no moving parts, to damage

D:
-they are most expensive form of storage per megsbyte
-limited number of times each bit can be written to

Question 8

Cloud storage

Answer 8

Involves storage on remote computers, usually managed by other organisations
When file is saved or loaded, it is transmitted across the internet, and multiple backups of files often exist around the world
Cloud storage uses magnetic, and SSD

Question 9

Advantages and disadvantages of cloud storage

Answer 9

A:
- as data stored remotely snd in multiple physicsl locstions, less likely to be damaged or misolaced
- capacity on your local machine is freed up, granting more storage space

D:
- cloud storage often comes with a subscription fee
-speed at which you can access you data is limited by your internet connection;might take days to access a large video file