Storage

Question 1

What is magnetic storage?

Answer 1

Storage types that use magnets to store data.

Question 2

What is optical storage?

Answer 2

Storage types that use lasers to read data off a device.

Question 3

What is solid state storage?

Answer 3

Storage types that contain no moving parts so generally conserve battery life and are faster.

Question 4

Give 4 advantages of magnetic storage and an example.

Answer 4

-Big storage capacity
-Relatively fast
-Not too expensive
-Useful to store operating system and program information for quick and easy access
Example: Magnetic tape/HDD

Question 5

Give 5 advantages of optical storage and an example.

Answer 5

-Cheap
-Good storage-to-price ratio
-Portable
-Accepted by many devices
-Can easily be read-only for copyright issues
Example: DVD

Question 6

Give 4 advantages of solid state storage and an example.

Answer 6

-Big storage capacity
-Extremely fast
-No moving parts (improves energy consumption)
-Very useful to store operating system and program information for quick and easy access
Example: SSD

Question 7

What is secondary storage?

Answer 7

Storage where a computer can store information that is not the RAM or the BIOS, e.g. A HDD.

Question 8

What is internal secondary storage?

Answer 8

Storage that (at the very least) stores the OS, and often applications, documents and files. This is inside a computer and therefore (generally) close to the motherboard.

Question 9

What is external secondary storage?

Answer 9

Storage that is attached to the computer, e.g. a DVD or a flash drive.

Question 10

Give an advantage of internal secondary storage.

Answer 10

It is faster as it is connected directly to the motherboard.

Question 11

Give a disadvantage of internal secondary storage.

Answer 11

If the Hard Disk fails, all the data and applications may be lost.

Question 12

Give 2 advantages of magnetic tape.

Answer 12

• Extremely cheap
• Can store large amounts of data (up to 1TB per tape cartridge)
• If kept in good conditions, a highly reliable form of storage

Question 13

Give 3 disadvantages of magnetic tape.

Answer 13

• Slow to access data (uses serial access, unlike a HDD which uses direct access)
• Need special equipment to record and read data
• Data may be corrupted if the tape is near a strong magnetic field or extremes of heat