Muhammad Asif Idrees

Storage devices:
A storage device is a hardware device designed to store information. There are
two types of storage devices used in computers; a 'primary storage' device and
a 'secondary storage' device.
Primary storage device:
A storage location that holds memory for short periods of times. For example,
computer RAM is an example of a primary storage device.
RAM
Short for Random Access Memory, RAM, also known as main memory or system
memory, is a term commonly used to describe the memory within a computer.
Unlike ROM, RAM requires power; if power is lost, all data is also lost. Below is an
example image of a 512MB DIMM memory stick.

Secondary storage device:

A storage medium that holds information until it is deleted or overwritten. For
example, a floppy disk drive or a hard disk drive is an example of a secondary
storage device.
The following Chart shows all types of Secondary Storage Devices.

Secondary
Memory

Magnetic Optical Solid State

Memory Memory Memory

Magnetic Magnetic Compact Memory Memory

DVD
Disk Tape Disk Sticks Cards

Floppy

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Hard disks
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Magnetic Disk:
Magnetic disk are the most popular direct access secondary
storage device. They are also the most popular online
secondary storage device.

Basic Principles of Operation

• Storage Organization

• Storage Capacity

• Access Mechanism

• Access Time

i. Seek Time

ii. Latency

iii. Transfer Rate

Storage Capacity

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Access Mechanism

Basic Principle of Operation

• Disk Formatting

• Disk Drive

• Disk Controller

Types of Magnetic Disks:

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Floppy Disk Drives:

Floppy disk drives also known as Diskette drives. A
Floppy Disk Drive, or FDD for short, is a computer
disk drive that enables a user to easily save data to
removable diskettes. Although 8" disk drives were
the first real disk drives, the first widely used a floppy
disk drives were the 5 1/4" floppy disk drives, which
were later replaced with 3 1/2" floppy disk drives.
However, today because of the limited capacity and reliability of floppy diskettes many
computers no longer come equipped with floppy disk drives and are being replaced
with CD-R and other writable disc drives and flash drives. A reusable magnetic storage
medium introduced by IBM in 1971. It was called a floppy because the first varieties
were housed in bendable jackets. Woefully undersized for today's use, it is no longer
standard equipment on computers. However, until the early 1990s, the floppy was the
primary method for distributing software and was widely used for backup. By the mid-
1990s, it had mostly given way to the CD-ROM.

This is an example of
each of the different
types of floppy
drives. As can be
seen the size of the
floppy drives and
their disks have greatly
decreased over
time.

Traditional Floppy Diskette

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TRACKS AND SECTORS

Storage of Data in 3 1/2 inch Floppy

• Double Density

40 tracks, 18 sectors/track, 512 bytes/sector

2 x 40 x 18 x 512 = 737280 => 720 KB

• High Density

80 tracks, 18 sectors/track, 512 bytes/sector

2 x 80 x 18 x 512 = 1474560 => 1.4 MB

• Very High Density

80 tracks, 36 sectors/track, 512 bytes/sector

2 x 80 x 36 x 512 = 2949120 =>2.88 MB

PARAMETERS OF FLOPPY DRIVE

1. Calculation of the capacity of drive

There is the formula to calculate the disk capacity

(No of bytes /sector)* (no of sector /track)* (no of track /surface)*(no of surface).

2. Drive access time

Track seek time+ Rotational delay+ Transfer time.

USES & APPLICATION

The application of floppy drive are as follows

1. These are used as the main type of secondary storage device.

2. We can transfer the information from one computer to another computer.

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3. To provide the backup or save the copy of information contain in the hard disk.

4. Unlike the audio & video disk ,when we get copy of copy of program quality is
not degrade.

HARD DISK:
It is a primary online secondary storage device.The hard disk or hard drive is an
essential hardware that every computer desktop and server contain. And its
functionality, is to store vast amount of digital data in a non-volatile form, so that data
can be retained when the computer is powered off. Data is again accessed when the
power is on.

Hard disks use multiple platters, stacked on a spindle. Each platter has two read/write
heads, one for each side. Hard disks use higher quality media and a faster rotational
speed than diskettes.

Removable hard disks

combine high capacity
with the convenience of
diskette.
Hard disks store large
amount of data. New PCs
feature hard disk with
120GB and higher.

Read Write Head

The RW head is the key
component that performs the
reading and writing functions. It is placed on a slider which is in term connected to an
actuator arm which allow the RW head to access various parts of the platter during
data IO functions by sliding across the spinning platter. The sliding motion is derived
by passing a current through the coil which is part of the actuator-assembly. As the
coil is placed between two magnets, the forward or backward sliding motion is hence
derived by simple current reversal. This location of the platter (just like the landmark
along the road) is identified and made possible by the embedded servo code written
on the platter.

Read Write Function of Disk

As the head writes data onto the disk, it changes its magnetic polarization to induce either a one
or zero value. During a read request, data is interpreted when the magnetic fields on the platter

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brings about an
electrical change (as a
result of change in
electrical resistance of
some special material
property) in the read-
head that passes over it.
These electrical fields
are then encoded and
transmitted to the CPU
to be processed and
read by the system.

Various components of a Hard Disk

Types of Hard Disk:

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Zip Disk Disk Pack Winchester Disk

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Advantages of Magnetic Disks

Direct Access
Multiple Uses
Suitable for online & offline storage of data
Unlimited Storage Capacity
Low Cost
Light in weight & size
Portable
High Data Transfer Rate
Less vulnerable to data corruption

Limitations of Magnetic Disks

Less efficient than magnetic tape

Security of information
Recovery of loss data
Portability
Expensive
Environment as dust free
Must be labeled

Uses of magnetic disks

• Random data processing

• Shared on line secondary storage devices

• Back up for off line data storage

• Archiving of data that may be used occasionally

• Transferring of data between two computers

• Distribution of software by vendors

Magnetic Tape

Magnetic Tape is the most popular storage medium that

are accessed and processed sequentially.

Structure:

Magnetized recording material

Plastic ribbon

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Length varies from 50-2400 ft

Basic Principle of Operation

Storage Organization
Storage Capacity
Data Transfer rate
Tape Drive
Tape Controller

Storage Organization

Vertical columns called frames

Horizontal rows called tracks
Older magnetic tape with 6 tracks
BCD code format
Parity bit
Most modern magnetic tape with 9 tracks
EBCDIC code format
IRG (inter record gaps)
IBG (inter block gaps)

Storage capacity

Storage capacity of a tape = Data recording density x Length

Data transfer rate

Data transfer rate = Data recording density x Tape speed

Tape Drive

Storage and retrieval of data

Tape Controller

Read/Write of information
Interprets the command for operator tape drive

Storage Organization

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Types of Magnetic Tapes

1/2 –inch tape reel

1/2-inch tape cartridge
¼-inch streamer tape
4mm-digital audio tape (DAT)

Half-Inch Tape Cartridge Quarter-Inch Streamer Tape 4mm Digital Audio Tape (DAT)

Advantages of Magnetic Tape

Storage Capacity is virtually unlimited.

Low Cost
Portability

Limitations of Magnetic Tape

No Direct Access
Slow
Environment Problem
Temperature Problem
Must be labeled

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Uses of Magnetic Tape

Sequentially data processing

Back up of data
Achieving of data
Transferring of data and programs
Distribution of software by vendors

Compact Disc Read-

Only Memory: CD-
ROM
CD-ROM,in computer science, acronym for
compact disc read-only memory, a rigid plastic
disk that stores a large amount of data through
the use of laser optics technology. Because they
store data optically, CD-ROMs have a much
higher memory capacity than computer disks that
store data magnetically. However, CD-ROM
drives, the devices used to access information on
CD-ROMs, can only read information from the
disc, not write to it.

The underside of the plastic CD-ROM disk is

coated with a very thin layer of aluminum that
reflects light. Data is written to the CD-ROM by
burning microscopic pits into the reflective
surface of the disk with a powerful laser. The
data is in digital form, with pits representing a value of 1 and flat spots, called land, representing a value of 0. Once data is
written to a CD-ROM, it cannot be erased or changed, and this is the reason it is termed read-only memory. Data is read
from a CD-ROM with a low power laser contained in the drive that bounces light—usually infrared—off of the reflective
surface of the disk and back to a photodetector. The pits in the reflective layer of the disk scatter light, while the land
portions of the disk reflect the laser light efficiently to the photodetector. The photodetector then converts these light and
dark spots to electrical impulses corresponding to 1s and 0s. Electronics and software interpret this data and accurately
access the information contained on the CD-ROM.

CD-ROMs can store large amounts of data and so are popular for storing databases and multimedia material. The most
common format of CD-ROM holds approximately 630 megabytes.By comparison, a regular floppy disk holds approximately
1.44 megabytes.

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CD-ROMs and Audio CDs are almost exactly alike in structure and data
format. The difference between the two lies in the device used to read the data
—either a CD-ROM player or a compact disc (CD) player. CD-ROM players
are used almost exclusively as computer components or peripherals. They may
be either internal (indicating they fit into a computer’s housing) or external
(indicating they have their own housing and are connected to the computer via
an external port).

Both types of players spin the discs to access data as they read the data with a
laser device. CD-ROM players only spin the disc to access a sector of data and
copy it into main memory for use by the computer, while audio CDs spin
throughout the time that the audio recording is read out, directly feeding the signal to an audio amplifier.

The most important distinguishing feature among CD-ROM players is their speed, which indicates how fast they can read
data from the disc. A single-speed CD-ROM player reads 150,000 bytes of data per second. Double-speed (2X), triple-speed
(3X), quadruple-speed (4X), six-times speed (6X), and eight-times speed (8x) CD-ROM players are also widely available.

Other important characteristics of CD-ROM players are seek time and data transfer rate. The seek time (also called the
access time) measures how long it takes for the laser to access a particular segment of data. A typical CD-ROM takes about a
third of a second to access data, as compared to a typical hard drive, which takes about 10 milliseconds (thousandths of a
second) to access data. The data transfer rate measures how quickly data is transferred from the disk media to the computer’s
main memory.

The computer industry also manufactures blank, recordable compact discs, called CD-Rs (compact disc-recordables), that
users can record data onto for one-time, permanent storage using CD-R drives. Compact disc-rewriteables (CD-RWs) are
similar to CD-Rs, but can be erased and rewritten multiple times. Another technology that allows the user to write to a
compact disc is the magneto-optical (MO) disk, which combines magnetic and optical data storage. Users can record, erase,
and save data to these disks any number of times using special MO drives.

Spiral tracks in a CD

Storing Data on Compact Discs

Data stored on a compact disc (CD) and on two variations of the CD, the compact disc-recordable (CD-R) and the compact disc-rewriteable
(CD-RW), is read by bouncing a low-powered laser off the disc and analyzing the reflection. The three formats differ, however, in the
method employed to record data. On a CD, data is stored as a pattern of unreflective pits pressed into a layer of highly reflective aluminum
(Al) at a factory. On a CD-R, a higher-powered laser burns areas of a transparent dye that lies over a reflective layer, turning specks of dye
opaque and creating virtual pits that prevent the lower-powered read laser from being reflected. Once burned the dye cannot be made

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transparent again. A CD-RW has a layer of metal phase-change film that can switch between a highly reflective phase and a nonreflective
phase. When a higher-powered laser melts specks of the metal film, the specks cool quickly and become non-reflective, similar to the pits on
a CD. However, the metal film can be made reflective again (erased) by heating it with a medium-powered laser that allows the film to cool
slowly. Two layers of dielectric film sandwich the metal film and help prevent the heat from damaging the CD-RW.

Figure : Storing Data on Compact Discs

Digital Versatile Disk or Digital Video Disk

(DVD):
  A Digital Video Disk (DVD) is similar to a normal compact disk,
but it is able to store more than 4Gb of digital data on a single
disk. The drive has a different frequency laser from normal CD-
ROMs and hence DVD media cannot be used on a normal CD-ROM.

Basic Concept

The basic concept behind DVD-R and DVD-RW are now well-known. The most fundamental concept is that
these discs are compatible with read-only DVD discs. This is exactly equivalent to the relationship between CD-
ROM discs, and CD-R and CD-RW discs. The basic discs are high-volume pressed versions, with compatible
recordable media also playing a major role. Therefore, the 4.7 GB DVD-R disc is specified such that after
recording, its signal characteristics and format of the recorded data are the same as those defined by the DVD-
ROM specification. The same is true of DVD-RW; with the exception that the reflectivity of DVD-RW discs are the
same as that of dual-layer DVD-ROM discs, DVD-RW discs are like DVD-R discs with the addition of rewrite
capability.
Since all these specifications are defined based on this fundamental concept, DVD-R and DVD-RW discs can be
easily played in players designed for read-only DVDs and in DVD-ROM drives.

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Fig
ure : Basic Concept

Basic Specifications

This section will describe the basic specifications that are common to 4.7 GB DVD-R and DVD-RW discs.
As explained previously, the basic playback specifications of DVD-R and DVD-RW discs after recording are the
same as those for DVD-ROM discs. As shown in the table below, the reflectivity of DVD-RW discs differs from
that of single-layer DVD-ROM discs (but is the same as that of dual-layer DVD-ROM discs). With that exception,
other parameters such as recording capacity, density (track pitch, minimum pit length), and recorded signal
playback quality follow suit with the parameters of single-layer DVD-ROM discs.
Table 1 Comparison of Basic Playback Specifications with Those of DVD-ROM Discs
single-layer dual-layer
DVD standard DVD-R DVD-RW
DVD-ROM DVD-ROM
Laser Wavelength 635 / 650 nm
Objective lens NA 0.60
Reflectivity 45 to 85 % 18 to 30 %
Modulated amplitude 0.60 min.
Data track form Single spiral track
Track pitch 0.74
Tracking method DPD (Differential Phase Detection)
Minimum pit length 0.40 0.44
Data modulation 8 / 16, RLL(2,10)
Error correction RS-PC (Reed-Solomon Product Code)
Channel bit rate 26.16 Mbps
3.84 m/s
Scanning velocity 3.49 m/s (CLV)
(CLV)
4.25
User data capacity 4.70 Gbytes / side
Gbytes/layer

 As shown in Figure 3, the recording tracks (grooves) "wobble" at a fixed frequency, and address pits called Land
Pre-Pits are positioned between the recording tracks. (The details of this structure will be explained later.) These
two types of addressing are used during recording to control disc rotation and generate the recording clock, as
well as providing information such as recording address, which is necessary in the recording process.
After recording, the disc Information Area, the playback region, has exactly the same structure as that of a DVD-
ROM disc, and the data format is also exactly the same. Closer to the center of the disc than the Information
Area is another region, called the R-Information Area, which is peculiar to DVD-R and DVD-RW discs. This area
contains an area called the PCA (Power Calibration Area), which is used for laser power calibration, and an area
called the RMA (Recording Management Area), which contains recording management information necessary for
the recording device. This information is provided to prevent problems in playing these writable discs in ordinary
players and drives. 

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Figure Disc Structure Common to DVD-R and DVD-RW

Write strategy

As one means of increasing recording performance when actually writing a signal to the disc, the DVD-R and
DVD-RW specifications define a type of laser output multi-pulse modulation called write strategy, which rely on
the fact that DVD-R and DVD-RW use heat for recording. Figure 5 shows the basic write strategy for these two
types of disc. For both media types, the laser pulse for a single recording mark is divided into a top pulse and a
series of multiple pulses, which provides control of distribution of heat generated in forming the mark. DVD-R
uses two levels of laser power, while DVD-RW uses three levels to enable overwriting. For the latter in particular,
the series of pulses is ended with a cooling pulse.
This method alleviates heat interference between adjacent and the heat accumulation at the trailing edge of the
formed mark, and makes it possible to obtain a playback signal with good characteristics.
The DVD-R and DVD-RW specifications also provide the option of encoding the optimal pulse width for a
particular media type and embedding that information in the land pre-pit, as a mechanism for further increasing
system margin.

Figure Write Strategy

DVD-R and DVD-RW are recordable and re-recordable DVD standards recognized by the DVD Forum, defined in
accordance with the basic concept of providing compatibility with read-only discs.
As applications for these recordable media, the DVD Forum has established the Video Recording format, which
provides excellent support for features such as video editing, and the DVD Video format (for non-copy-protected
data only), which is primarily concerned with providing compatibility with the existing DVD-Video specification.
These specification are available today for use in certain applications.
The DVD-R and DVD-RW specifications were promulgated somewhat later than the read-only specification, and
as a result there are some compatibility issues with some of the earlier DVD players and drives. (For example,
some players cannot recognize DVD-R/RW discs because the aforementioned Book Type flag is different from
those of ROM discs, or because DVD-RW discs are single-layer discs but have the same reflectivity as dual-layer
discs.) Recently, however, as a result of increased recognition of these specifications, standardization efforts
such as RWPPI (the RW Products Promotion Initiative), and due to continuing efforts by manufacturers to
improve product quality, compatibility problems and user inconveniences in the market should be considerably
reduced.

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Hand in hand with the increasing popularity of DVD video, audio, and ROM, we anticipate that DVD-R and DVD-
RW will also quickly establish a large recordable DVD market.

  

Digital Versatile Disk has same size as a CD but stores seven times CD capacity on a single side.
DVDs can also be double-sided or dual layer.
Today most DVDs are used to display full-length commercial motion pictures, plus additional
material such as outtakes, director's notes, movie trailers, etc.
DVD, introduced in 1996, was originally known as Digital Video Disc but soon became known as
Digital Versatile Disc.
It is the next generation of optical disc storage technology, which shares the same overall
dimensions of a CD, but have significantly higher capacities - holding from 4 to 28 times as
much data.

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Single sided DVDs can store 4.7GB for single layer and 8.5GB for dual-layer disks. Double-sided
DVDs can store 9.4GB for single layer and 17GB for dual-layer disks.

Blu-ray Disc:
Blu-ray Disc (also known as Blu-ray or BD) is an optical disc storage medium.
Its main uses are high-definition video and data storage.
The disc has the same physical dimensions as standard DVDs and CDs.
New disks use blue laser light instead of the red laser light used in traditional CD
players
Disks may ultimately hold
Over 30GB on one-sided disks
Over 50GB on two-sided disks
The name Blu-ray Disc is derived from the blue laser (violet-colored) used to read and
write this type of disc.
Because of the beam's shorter wavelength (405 nano meters), substantially more data
can be stored on a Blu-ray Disc than on the DVD format, which uses a red (650 nm)
laser.
A two-layer Blu-ray Disc can store 50 gigabytes, almost six times the capacity of a
two-layer DVD, or ten times that of a single-layer DVD.
During the format war over high-definition optical discs,
Blu-ray Disc competed with the HD DVD format.
On February 19, 2008, Toshiba—the main company
supporting HD DVD—announced that it would no
longer develop, manufacture, and market HD DVD
players and recorders, leading almost all other HD DVD
companies to follow suit, effectively ending the format
war.
Blu-ray Disc was developed by the Blu-ray Disc
Association, a group representing makers of consumer
electronics, computer hardware, and motion pictures.
As of October 29, 2008, more than 1010 Blu-ray Disc
titles have been released in the United States and more
than 550 Blu-ray Disc titles have been released in Japan.
There are expected to be over 1300
Blu-ray Disc titles released in the
United States by the end of 2008.

MEMORY STICKS:
It is also called a pen drive, thumb
drives, USB drive or Flash memory.
It is small in size and can be carried easily.
It can hold 512 MB to 32 GB
We can plug it into the USB port of a computer and laptops similar to External Hard
drives (Hard disk).

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Flash memory is an evolving technology.

The first generation of chips required that your PC or other device using the chips
handle all the minute of the
erase and write operations.
Current generation chips have
their own onboard logic to
automate these operations,
making Flash ROM act more
like ordinary memory.
The logic controls the timing of
all the pulses used to erase and
write to the chip, ensures that
the proper voltages reach the
memory cells, and even verifies
that each write operation was
carried out successfully. Fig.
shows a type of Flash memory
card.
On the other hand, the
convenience of using Flash
ROM has led many developers
to create disk emulators from it.
For the most effective operation
and longest life, however, these require special operating systems (or modified
versions of familiar operating systems) that minimize the number of erase and
reprogramming cycles.

USB Flash drives:

For system designers, the electrical re-programmability of Flash ROM makes it easy to use.
Unfortunately, Flash ROM is handicapped by the same limitation as EEPROM—its life is
finite (although longer than ordinary EEPROM) and it must be erased and reprogrammed as
one or more blocks instead of individual bytes. A USB flash drive consists of a NAND-type
flash memory data storage device integrated with a USB (universal serial bus) interface.

USB flash drives are typically removable and rewritable, much shorter than a floppy
disk (1 to 4 inches or 2.5 to 10 cm), and weigh less than 2 ounces (56 g).
Storage capacities typically range from 64 MB to 64 GB with steady improvements in
size and price per gigabyte.

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Some allow 1 million write or erase cycles and have 10-year data retention,
connected by USB 1.1 or USB 2.0.

MEMORY CARDS:
Memory cards are typically used in mobile, camera and camcorders etc.It is much shorter
than a USB (1 to 2.5 inches or 1 cm), and weigh less than 1 ounce (28 g).

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