Compare and contrast magnetic tapes, magnetic disks, optical discs, Flash RAM, and

solid-state drives (SSD) in terms of:

a. Speed
b. Volatility
c. Access methods
d. Portability
e. Cost
f. Capacity

A magnetic tape is a data storage device which typically stores digital information. The magnetic tape
uses digital recording methods and is shaped as a cassette or a cartridge. The tape driver is a device that
records the data on to the magnetic tape. Typically, the speed of the magnetic depends on the capacity
of the drive which also happens to depend on the cost. Legacy open reel tapes used nine linear tracks
(8 bits plus parity), while modern cartridges use 128 or more tracks(PC Mag). Magnetic tape has
sequential access where data bits are recorded one after the other. To find these bits, the tape drive
has to be fast forwarded or rewind so that the data can be found.
Magnetic disk is more commonly known as a hard disk or a hard drive provides most of the secondary
storage on modern computers. Rotating drives which make up the magnetic disk are found in hard disk
drives, floppy disks and optical disks such as DVDs and CDs. The speed of the magnetic disk depends on
its rotating drives which are commonly found starting at 4200 rpm going all the way up to 15,000 rpm.
The data transfer time that controls the data that is moving between the disk surface and the reader on
the device is factored in the price and capacity of a magnetic disk.
Magnetic disks are NVM or non-volatile storage devices. This means that the memory does not require
power to retain itself. Magnetic disks arent exactly portable as they are installed in computers but they
there is a perk as not much space is taken by most.
The access method that optical disks use is being inserted into a reader that displays the data on the
disks. DVDs and CDs require a reader that plays the music or displays picture data on to the television
and the speakers. Recently, blu ray optical disks have changed digital media in many ways by holding
very high amounts of data and portraying data in high definition.
Example applications of both types of flash memory include personal computers, PDAs, digital
audio players, digital cameras, mobile phones, video games, scientific instrumentation, industrial
robotics, medical electronics, and so on. In addition to being non-volatile, flash memory offers
fast read access times, as fast as dynamic RAM, although not as fast as static RAM or ROM. Its
mechanical shock resistance helps explain its popularity over hard disks in portable devices, as
does its high durability, being able to withstand high pressure, temperature, immersion in water,
etc(southafrica).
Typical read access time is 55 to 120 nanoseconds. Three basic operations in a flash memory are its ability to
read one byte, program one byte and erase it. Flash memory is an electronic non-volatile computer storage
medium that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed


http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/46499/magnetic-tape.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/8510314.stm




Describe a situation in which you would use Static RAM (Random Access Memory)
(SRAM) and Dynamic RAM (DRAM), and Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM) and
emphasize access times, fabrication technology, data transfer rates, and capacity.
So static RAM is fast and expensive, and dynamic RAM is less expensive and slower. Therefore static
RAM is used to create the CPU's speed-sensitive cache, while dynamic RAM forms the larger system
RAM space.