Hardware - Backing Storage

Backing storage devices are where you can store data permenantly. This means that
data is held when the computer is switched off and can be loaded onto a computer
system when required.

The hardware that stores the data are called backing storage media. The media are
put into backing storage devices.

The media in the table below are listed roughly according to their capacity. As
technology increases some of these capacities are constantly increasing and it can
be difficult to keep track of maximum storage capacities.

The data stored on backing storage media can either accessed randomly (or directly)
or squentially. Random access means that the computer can go directly to a piece of
data. If the access is sequential then the computer has to go through every item of
data until it gets to the one it is looking for.

Device Media Approx Capacity Access

 
Floppy Disk Drive Floppy Disk 1.44Mb Random
 
CD-ROM drive CD-ROM
CD-R 700Mb Random
CD Rewriter
CD-RW
 
USB Flash Drive Flash ROM 1 - 8Gb Random
 
DVD-ROM Drive DVD-ROM
DVD-R 4.7Gb - 16Gb Random
DVD Rewriter
DVD-RW
 
Magnetic Tape Drive DAT up to 72GB Random
       
Hard Disk Drive Hard Disk up to 5Tb Random

Floppy Disks are now rarely used, having been replaced by Flash ROM that can
easily be plugged into any computers USB port. The access time for Flash ROM is
much faster than that of a floppy disk, the capacity is much greater and Flash ROM
is much less likely to break.

CD's (Compact Discs) and DVD's (Digital Versitile Discs) come in three different
types. ROM's cannot never be written to or erased. These are used to put on
software or files that you never want to change. A lot of software is bought on ROM
discs. R stands for "recordable". R discs can only ever be written to once, whereas
RW (ReWritable) disks can be written to and erased over and over again.

Hard disks are built into computer systems. You can also buy external hard disk
drives that can be plugged into a computer system. External hard disks are
replacing DAT tapes as the most common method of backing up computer systems.
This is due to their direct access and larger capacity.

Flash Memory
Flash memory is a type of Electronically-Erasable Programmable Read-Only
Memory (EEPROM). Flash memory is non-volatile (like ROM) but the data stored in
it can also be erased or changed (like RAM).

Flash memory can be found in many data storage devices...

You might wonder why, since flash memory is non-volatile, normal computers
don’t use it instead of RAM. If they did we would have computers that you could
turn off, turn back on again and no data would be lost – it would be great!

The reason is speed – saving data to flash memory is very slow compared to
saving it to RAM. If a computer were to use flash memory as a replacement for
RAM it would run very slowly.

However some portable computers are starting to use flash memory (in the form
of solid-state ‘discs’ as a replacement for hard-drives. No moving parts mean
less to go wrong and longer battery life.

USB Memory Sticks

Memory sticks (or ‘thumb-drives’) have made many other forms of portable
storage almost obsolete (why burn a CD or DVD when you can more easily copy
your files onto a memory stick?). 

Memory sticks are non-volatile, random-access storage devices.

Each of these small devices has some flash memory connected to a USB

interface. Plug it into your computer and it appears as a drive. You can then add
files, erase files, etc. You can use it to move any type of filebetween computers.

Flash memory used to be very expensive, but in recent years it has become
much cheaper and you can now buy a 16GB memory stick for just a few dollars.
Memory Cards
Many of our digital devices (cameras, mobile phones, MP3 players, etc.)
require compact, non-volatile data storage. Flash memory cards provide this and
come in a variety of shapes and sizes.

One of the most common formats used by digital cameras is the SD Card. The
cards store the digital images taken by the camera.

Mobile phones contain a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card that contains the
phone’s number, the phonebook numbers, text messages, etc. 

Many phones also have extra memory cards to store music, video, photos, etc.
(e.g Tiny Micro-SD cards).

Hardware - Main Memory

Main memory is where anything that the computer is working with is kept.
For example, at the moment, this web page is being stored in your
computer's main memory, along with your web browser software and any
other programs you have running.

There are  two types of main memory; RAM  and  ROM.

RAM stands for Random Access Memory. RAM can be written to and read
from. All the data and programs are stored in RAM while in use. It is a good
idea when you buy a computer to get one with as much RAM as possible as
this improves the performance of your computer.

ROM stands for  Read Only Memory. You cannot write anything to ROM. It
holds programs used when the computer is switched on that, if lost would
make the computer useless.

Differences between ROM and RAM

ROM RAM

Volitile - Data is lost if the computer

Non-volitile - Data is never lost
crashes or is turned off.

Data is temporary - it is only there

Data is permenant - it can never be
as long as the computer is on and it
changed
can be changed

Data can only be read Data can be written to or read from.