SOUTH EAST ASIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, INC.

National Highway, Crossing Rubber, Tupi, South Cotabato

COLLEGE OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

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IT 121: Introduction to Computing

SOUTH EAST ASIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, INC.

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 LEARNING MODULE
FOR
IT 121: INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTING

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WEEK 7

COURSE OUTLINE

COURSE CODE : IT 121

TITLE : Introduction to Computing
TARGET POPULATION : All BS Information Technology Students
INSTRUCTOR : Ms. Juliet Lugan

IT 121: Introduction to Computing

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Overview:

Computers are everywhere: at work, at school, and at home. Computers are a primary means of local and
global communications for billions of people. Through computers, society has instant access to information from
around the globe. This module presents the knowledge you need to be computer literate. The course acquaints
students to discover different and innovative ways of using various technology and learn how computing is
applied creatively to solve problems. Students will finish this course with a solid understanding of computers,
how to use computers, and how to access information on the Web.

Objectives:

General Objective
Familiarize themselves with the use of storage in the computer.
Describe the characteristics of an internal hard disk including capacity, platters,
read/write heads, cylinders, sectors and tracks, and revolutions per minute.
Discuss the purpose of network attached storage devices, external and removable hard disks,
and hard disk controllers.
Differentiate among various types of optical discs and highlight the importance of
storage in the computer.

Instruction to the Learner

Each chapter in this module contains a major lesson involving the introduction to computers and learn
how computing is applied creatively to solve problems. The units are characterized by continuity, and are
arranged in such a manner that the present unit is related to the next unit. For this reason, you are advised to
read this module. After each unit, there are exercises to be given. Submission of task given will be submitted by
the agreed deadline.

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 Storage

● Storage - is the component of your computer that allows you to store and access data on a long-term basis.
Usually, storage comes in the form of a solid-state drive or a hard drive. Storage holds data, instructions, and
information for future use.

● Storage medium - is the physical material on which a computer keeps data, instructions, and information.

● Storage capacity - refers to how much disk space one or more storage devices provides.

ꟷ Capacity is the number of bytes a storage medium can hold. It measures how much data a computer
system may contain. For an example, a computer with a 500GB hard drive has a storage capacity of 500
gigabytes. Storage capacity is often used synonymously with "disk space." However, it refers to overall
disk space, rather than free disk space. For example, a hard drive with a storage capacity of 500GB may
only have 150MB available if the rest of the disk space is already used up. Therefore, when checking
your computer to see if it meets a program's system requirements, make sure you have enough free disk
space to install the program. If you need more disk space, you can increase your computer's storage
capacity by adding another internal or external hard drive.

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 Figure 1: Storage and their number of bytes.

● Storage device - is the computer hardware that records and/or retrieves items to and from storage media. A
storage device is any hardware capable of holding information either temporarily or permanently. The
picture shows an example of a Drobo, an external secondary storage device.

● Access time measures:

ꟷ The amount of time it takes a storage device to locate an item on a storage medium
ꟷ The time required to deliver an item from memory to the processor.
Reading is the process
of transferring items
from a storage medium
into memory

Writing is the process of

transferring items from
memory to a storage
medium

Figure 2: Storage Process

There are two types of storage devices used with computers: a primary storage device, such as RAM,
and a secondary storage device, such as a hard drive. Secondary storage can be removable, internal, or external.

● Hard disk - is a non-volatile data storage device contains one or more inflexible, circular platters that use
magnetic particles to store data, instructions, and information. It is usually installed internally in a computer,
attached directly to the disk controller of the computer's motherboard.

Figure 3: Hard disk in a System Unit Figure 4: Hard disks can store
data using longitudinal recording or
perpendicular recording.

Characteristics of a hard disk include:

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SOUTH EAST ASIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, INC.

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 ꟷ Capacity: The hard disk provides a large storage capacity. The capacity of a personal computer hard
disk is from 160 GB to 2TB and more.
ꟷ Platter: is the circular disk on which magnetic data is stored in a hard disk drive.
ꟷ Read/Write Heads: are the small parts of a disk drive which move above the disk platter and
transform the platter's magnetic field into electrical current (read the disk) or, vice versa, transform
electrical current into magnetic field (write the disk).
ꟷ Cylinders: is comprised of the set of tracks described by all the heads (on separate platters) at a
single seek position. Each cylinder is equidistant from the center of the disk.
ꟷ Sectors and Tracks: is the smallest physical storage unit on the disk. The data size of a sector is
always a power of two, and is almost always 512 bytes. Each track has the same number of sectors,
which means that the sectors are packed much closer together on tracks near the center of the disk.
ꟷ Revolutions per Minute: RPM basically measures how many times the disk will revolve in a minute,
hence measuring the speed of the hard drive.
ꟷ Transfer Rate: HDD data transfer rate depends upon the rotational speed of the disks and the data
recording density.
ꟷ Access Time: The access time or response time of a rotating drive is a measure of the time it takes
before the drive can actually transfer data.

Figure 5: HDD Structure and How it’s Work

o The hard disk arms move the read/write head, which reads items and writes items in the drive.
Location often is referred to by its cylinder. A head crash occurs when a read/write head touches the
surface of a platter.

Note: Always keep a backup of your hard disk.

o RAID (redundant array of independent disks) is a group of two or more integrated hard disks. RAID is
a data storage virtualization technology that combines multiple physical disk drive components into
one or more logical units for the purposes of data redundancy, performance improvement, or both.
o A network attached storage (NAS) device is a server connected to a network with the sole purpose
of providing storage. NAS system is a storage device connected to a network that allows storage
and retrieval of data from a centralized location for authorized network users and heterogeneous
clients.

Figure 6: Network Attached Storage

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 o External hard disk is a separate free-standing hard disk that connects to your computer with a cable
or wirelessly. An external hard disk is just a hard disk drive (HDD) or solid-state drive (SSD) that needs
to be connected to the computer rather than being inside the computer.
o Removable hard disk is a hard disk that you insert and remove from a drive. A type of disk drive
system in which hard disks are enclosed in plastic or metal cartridges so that they can be removed
like floppy disks. Removable disk drives combine the best aspects of hard and floppy disks.
Note: Internal and external hard disks are available in miniature sizes (pocket hard drive).

o Hard Disk Controller consists of a special-purpose chip and electronic circuits that control the
transfer of data, instructions, and information from a disk to and from the system bus and other
components of the computer.
There are 4 types of hard disk interfaces for personal computer which are as follows:
1. SATA  
SATA stands for serially advanced technology attachment. It used for serial signals to transfers data,
instruction and information. The main advantage of SATA is that cables are thinner, longer and higher.
The external hard disks can use the SATA interface that is much faster than USB.
2. EIDE
EIDE stands for Enhanced Integrated Drive Electronics. EIDE is a device interface that used signals
parallelly to transfer the instructions and data etc. The approximate data transfer speed of EIDE is up to 133
Mbps.
3. SCSI
SCSI stands for Small Computer System Interface. It is used as a parallel signal and cannot support from
8 to 15 devices. SCSI can support hard disks, disk drives, printers, etc.
4. Disk cache
It is used to improve hard disk performance.it is a type of ram program instructions and data that the
user is working with. When the CPU needs the information it first looks at the cache from the hard disk and if
it doesn’t need the information it retrieves information from the hard disk.
● Flash Memory Storage - Flash storage is a data storage technology based on high-speed, electrically
programmable memory. The speed of flash storage is how got its name: It writes data and performs random
I/O operations in a flash. Flash memory chips are a type of solid state media and contain no moving parts.
Flash Memory Development History
Flash memory dates back to around 1980 when the concept was developed at Toshiba by Dr. Fujio
Masuoka. It was then later presented at the 1984 IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting, IEDM held in San
Francisco, California. The basic laboratory concept took a few years to develop into a product that could be
launched commercially. Intel introduced the first commercial chips onto the market in 1988 - these were NOR
based types. The NOR flash memories had relatively long erase and write times. Toshiba again developed their
technology further and were able to announce NAND technology at the 1987 IEDM. The advantage of NAND
flash was that it had reduced erase and write times and it had a greater storage density. Flash memory has
developed significantly in recent years and is widely used in many applications being found as USB memory
sticks, compact Flash cards, SD memory cards and even as Flash hard drives, also called solid state drives in
some computers.
Solid State Drives (SSDs) have several advantages over magnetic hard disk:
ꟷ Faster Access time
ꟷ Faster Transfer rates
ꟷ Generate less heat and consume less power
ꟷ Last longer

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 o USB flash drives is a device used for data storage that includes a
flash memory and an integrated Universal Serial Bus (USB)
interface. Most USB flash drives are removable and rewritable.
Physically, they are small, durable and reliable. The larger their
storage space, the faster they tend to operate.

o ExpressCard module is a removable device that fits in an

ExpressCard slot. The ExpressCard is the successor of the PC Card,
which was originally designed for laptop computer storage expansion
but was also used in early digital single-lens reflex cameras and as
plug-in components that contained devices like network adapters,
solid state drives, hard disks, sound cards and modems. Commonly
used in notebook computers.

o Memory Card is a type of storage device that is used for storing media and data files. It provides a
permanent and non-volatile medium to store data and files from the attached device. Memory cards are
commonly used in small, portable devices, such as cameras and phones.
Some of the most popular forms of memory cards are:

SSD HDD

Stands for Solid State Drive Hard Disk Drive

Less rotation required. Less rotation required.

Heat, Electricity and Noise Uses less power.

Uses less power.
Less heat or noise.
Less heat or noise.

HDD supports fewer input

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SOUTH EAST ASIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, INC.

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 Speed SSD has lower latency output operations per
second.
SSD has faster
read/writes HDD has higher latency

SSD has supports more HDD has longer read/write

input output operations times
per second

Components SSD architecture have NO moving HDD architecture have

parts. moving parts.

Performance don’t care about The performance is not better

fragmentation. and the main reason is disk
Defragmentation
fragmentation. We need
Defragmentation is not frequent defragmentation.
compulsory as in HDD.

Weight Less in Weight Heavy in weight

Example Flash Drive Hard disk
Table 1: Solid State Drive vs. Hard Disk
Figure 7: Various Memory Cards
Drive
Comparison of HDD versus SSD

● Cloud Storage is an Internet service that provides storage to computer user. Cloud storage allows you to
save data and files in an off-site location that you access either through the public internet or a dedicated
private network connection. Data that you transfer off-site for storage becomes the responsibility of a third-
party cloud provider. The provider hosts, secures, manages, and maintains the servers and associated
infrastructure and ensures you have access to the data whenever you need it .

Figure 8: Example of Cloud Drive

Types of Cloud Computing:
1. Public Cloud
Public cloud solutions are readily available from Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and others. Public cloud
services provide infrastructure and services to the public, and you, or your organization, secure a piece
of that infrastructure and network. Resources are shared by hundreds or thousands of people. Gmail
and U of I Box are examples of public cloud.

2. Private cloud solutions are dedicated to one organization or business, and often have much more
specific security controls than a public cloud. Using private cloud storage allows them to control highly
sensitive data by meeting regulations and industry-based criteria, whether that be medical records,
trade secrets, or other classified information.

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 3. Hybrid Cloud, this model combines elements of private and public clouds, giving organizations a choice
of which data to store in which cloud. This is a more complex cloud solution in that the organization
must manage multiple platforms and determine where data is stored. An example of a hybrid cloud
solution is an organization that wants to keep confidential information secured on their private cloud,
but make more general, customer-facing content on a public cloud.

Figure 9: Cloud

Users subscribe to cloud storage for a variety of reasons:

1. Access files from any computer

2. Store large files instantaneously
3. Allow others to access their files
4. View time-critical data and images immediately
5. Store offsite backups
6. Provide data center functions

● Optical Discs is any computer disk that uses optical storage techniques and technology to read and write
data. It is a computer storage disk that stores data digitally and uses laser beams (transmitted from a laser
head mounted on an optical disk drive) to read and write data. Consists of a flat, round, portable disc made
of metal, plastic, and lacquer that is written and read by a laser. The most common types of optical media
are Blu-ray, CDs, and DVDs.
● Note: A CD drive can only read CDs, a DVD drive can only read DVDs and CDs, and a Blu-ray drive can read
CDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray discs.

Types of Optical Disc:

o CD –ROM stands for compact disk read-only memory. The data
stored on CD-ROM can only be read. It cannot be deleted or changed.
CD-ROM is a portable storage device. The data can be transferred
easily by using CD-ROM. It can store about 650MB of data.

o CD-RW is an erasable multisession disc.

Uses several technologies to combine optical and magnetic disk
technology to enable read and write storage. A 5 ½ inch rewritable
disk can store up to 5 GB. These are normally used for applications
using large volumes of storage with little update activity.

o CD-R stands for "Compact Disc Recordable." CD-R discs are blank CDs
that can record data written by a CD burner. The word "recordable" is
used because CD-Rs are often used to record audio, which can be
played back by most CD players. However, many other kinds of data
can also be written to a CD-R, so the discs are also referred to as
"writable CDs."

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 o DVD-ROM stands for Digital versatile disc-read only memory (DVD-
ROM) is a read-only digital versatile disc (DVD) commonly used for
storing large software applications. It is similar to a compact disk-read
only memory (CD-ROM) but has a larger capacity. A DVD-ROM stores
around 4.38 GB of data. A CD-ROM usually stores 650 MB of data.

o Blu Ray Disc is an optical disc format such as CD and DVD. It was
developed for recording and playing back high-definition (HD) video
and for storing large amounts of data. While a CD can hold 700 MB of
data and a basic DVD can hold 4.7 GB of data, a single Blu-ray disc
can hold up to 25 GB of data.

ꟷ DVD-RW, DVD+RW, and DVD+RAM are high-capacity rewritable DVD

formats.

How to care Optical Disc

ꟷ Do Store the disc in a jewel box when not in use.

ꟷ Do not eat, smoke, or drink near a disc.
ꟷ Do not expose the disc to excessive heat or sunlight.
ꟷ Do not stack disc.
ꟷ Do not touch the underside of the disc.
ꟷ Do hold the disc by its edges.

● Tape is a magnetically coated ribbon of plastic capable of storing large amounts of data and information . A
tape drive reads and writes data and information on a tape.

● Magnetic stripe card contains a magnetic stripe that stores information. A magnetic stripe card is a type of
card capable of storing data by modifying the magnetism of tiny iron-based magnetic particles on a band of
magnetic material on the card. The magnetic stripe, sometimes called swipe card or magstripe, is read by
swiping past a magnetic reading head. A smart card stores data on a thin microprocessor embedded in the
card.

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 Figure 10: How Magnetic Stripe Card Works.

● Microfilm and microfiche store microscopic images of

documents on a roll or sheet film. There are two kinds of
microform—microfilm and microfiche. Microfilm is a roll
of images, much like a movie reel, while microfiche is a
flat sheet of microfilm.

● Enterprise Storage stores huge volumes of data and information for large businesses. Enterprise storage
is a broad category of technology that includes products and services designed to assist large
organizations with saving and retrieving digital information. Unlike consumer or small business storage
devices, enterprise storage is designed to handle large volumes of data and a large numbers of
concurrent users. It usually involves centralized storage repositories, such as storage area networks
(SANs) or network-attached storage (NAS) devices

● Putting It All Together

Home user Small Office/Home Office Mobile

user
• 320 GB hard disk
• 1 TB hard disk
• Cloud storage
• Cloud storage
• Optical disc drive • Optical disc drive
• Card reader/writer • External hard disk for
• USB flash drive backup
• USB flash drive
• 250 GB hard disk
• Cloud storage
• Optical disc drive
• Card reader/writer
• Portable hard disk for
backup
• USB flash drive

Power User Enterprise User (desktop Enterprise User(server or

• 2.5 TB hard disk computer) mainframe)
• Cloud storage • 1 TB hard disk • Network storage server
• Optical disc drive • Optical disc drive • 40 TB hard disk system
• Portable hard disk for • Smart card reader • Optical disc server
backup • Tape drive • Microfilm or microfiche
• USB flash drive • USB flash drive

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 Lab Activity

Understanding Memory: The table below has empty spaces for you to fill. Do some research to decide if the
bullet-points under the table are describing RAM or ROM.

RAM ROM

Random Access Memory

Access to this type of memory is much slower

(Write these into the table in the column where you think they go: RAM or ROM)

● Read Only Memory

● Data from this memory can be read and written during processing
● This is a temporary area that a computer uses to store data in current use.
● This is much quicker memory to access than the computer’s hard drive.
● This memory is usually measured in gigabytes
● His memory has a much smaller storage capacity
● This is volatile memory.
● Data from this memory can only be read
● This is non-volatile memory

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 ● This acts like our short-term memory, quickly recalling important information.
● The instructions is this memory are permanently programmed into a chip and is not easily changed or
deleted.
● There are two types: DRAM and SRAM
● This memory has a chips that store the instructions to ‘start-up’ or ‘boot’ the computer (also known as
the BIOS- Basic Input Output System).
● Installed internally in a computer, attached directly to the disk controller of the computer's
motherboard.
● This memory is usually used for storage purposes.
CHALLENGE: Can you challenge yourself to answer these two questions..?

1. Find out what ‘virtual’ memory is and when it is used.

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2. Find out what ‘flash’ memory is and what it is used for.
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Exercises

Test I: The table below shows four features of optical storage media.

(a) Tick (√) the appropriate boxes in the table to indicate which of the features apply to each example of
optical storage media.

Single track Many concentric Blue laser used to Red laser used to
tracks read/write data read/write data
DVD-RW

DVD-RAM

CD-ROM

Blu-ray disc

(b) Solid state drives (SSD) are replacing hard disc drives (HDD) in some computers.
Give three reasons why this is happening.
1. ___________________________________________________
2. ___________________________________________________
3. ___________________________________________________

Explain why many web servers still use hard disc drive (HDD) technology.

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Test II. Give the correct answer on each question.

1. A computer has 2048 MB of RAM. How many GB of Ram does the computer have?
Show your working.
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 2. Describe one item that is stored in RAM.
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3. Explain three ways that RAM is different to ROM.

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SOUTH EAST ASIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, INC.

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