CBCT 2203

Basic Concepts of
Information technology

Topic: 4
Secondary Storage
Objectives:

By the end of this topic, you should be able to:

• Describe FIVE advantages of secondary storage
• Explain TWO types of magnetic storage
• Recognise FOUR types of optical storage
• Identify other types of storage devices
Basic Storage:

• Storage in computer holds data and information to be

retrieved for future use
• Primary storage holds data temporarily
• Secondary storage holds data permanently

Secondary storage:

The physical material on which a computer stores data,

instructions and information.
Secondary Storage:

Storage
Tape
CD/CD-R/ DVD Smart
Flash CD-RW Media
drive

Examples of Removable
hard-drive
secondary
storage
Floppy
disk
Micro
Drive

PC card
Zip Disk Memory
Stick Smart Online
Card Storage Site
Secondary Storage:

Capacity of a storage medium refers to the number of bytes

(characters) that can be hold

Capacity of a storage medium

Advantages of Secondary Storage:

Characteristics Advantages
Size • Can accommodate large amounts of data
• Data stored can reach gigabyte (GB) or
Terabyte (TB)
Reliability • It can be considered safe
Comfort • Data can be accessed immediately
Economic • Storage costs can be reduced
Lifetime • It is permanent and can be used for
archiving
• Some storage has a lifespan of up to 100
years
Magnetic Storage Devices

• Refers to equipment which uses a magnetic head to read

and write data
• Gets the data to and from a magnetisable medium
• The medium may be a plastic tape coated with fine
particles of a metal
• The two magnetic storage devices are magnetic tape and
hard disk
Magnetic Storage Devices

Hard Optical
disk Disk

Magnetic
tape

Flash
Memory
Storage
Cloud
Storage Other Types
of Storage
Magnetic Storage Devices: Magnetic Tape

• A magnetic tape is a thin plastic tape that has been covered with materials,
which can be magnetised
• Data are stored inside the tape roll and is represented by magnetic particles
that are digital data in discrete forms of “0” and “1”
• A tape contains a number of tracks (normally 7 or 9 tracks) or channels
used to store data
• Data on the tape will be deleted before new data is written on it
• Every tape column will represent one character
• Disadvantage: slow rate of serial data access
• Advantages: cheap, portable and long lasting
Magnetic Storage Devices: Hard Disk

• Contains one or more inflexible, circular, thick and strong metallic platters
that use magnetic particles to store data, instructions and information
• Disk is enclosed in an airtight, sealed case to protect it
• A hard disk that is mounted inside the system unit of a computer is called
an internal hard disk and not as portable as the external hard disc
• An external hard disk is a separate hard disk that connects with a cable to a
USB port on the system unit or communicates wirelessly
• Meanwhile, a removable hard disk is a hard disk that you insert and remove
from a drive
Magnetic Storage Devices

Magnetism and Data Storage

Storage Devices: Optical Storage

• Uses the principle of light, rather than the magnetic principle of storing data
• The emission of a laser beam determines the data to be written or read
• During the writing of data onto the surface of an optical device, a high
powered laser beam is used to form microscopic holes (pits) on the disc
• Each pit represents data “0” while part of the disc without a pit represents
data “1”
• During the reading of the optical disc, a low powered laser beam is directed
on the disc surface
• A reflection of the laser beam depends on the holes/ pit on the surface
• Four types: CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW and DVD
Storage Devices: Optical Storage

How Compact Discs Work

Storage Devices: Flash Memory Storage

• Flash memory storage is a type of solid state media which consists entirely
of electronic components, such as integrated circuits; contain no moving
parts
• It is more durable and shock resistant compared to other types of media
such as magnetic hard disks or optical disks, due to lack of moving parts
• Example of flash memory storage:
- Solid State Drives (SSD)
- Memory cards
- USB flash drives
Storage Devices: Flash Memory Storage

How Does Flash Drive Work

Storage Devices: Cloud Storage

• Cloud storage is an Internet service that provides hard disk storage to

computer users
• The types of services offered by cloud storage providers vary.
• Unlike other types of storage, cloud storage is preferred to:
- Access files from any device that has Internet access
- Share files with other users
- Store offsite backups of data
Storage Devices: Cloud Storage

What Is Cloud Storage

Data Organisation Hierarchy
Data is stored in secondary storage on the basis of hierarchies and divided into
five levels, which are:
1. Bit: represented by “0” and “1” that is operated with hardware.
2. Character/Byte: a byte is formed by eight bits. A character is formed by a
group of bits and is not necessarily made up of eight bits; it depends on the
type of coding system, such as ASCII and EBCDIC
3. Field: a unit of data that is made up of one or more characters
4. Record: a collection of several related fields. A number of related fields of a
certain event is combined together logically to form a record
4. File: It is a collection of several related records
Data Organisation Hierarchy

File Smith 29-07-1991 BITN

Mark 03-07-1983 BMMG

Record Smith 29-07-1991 BITN

Field Smith

Character/Byte
S (8 bits)

Bit
01010011
Upgrade Performance

1) Racking the disk

• A combination of hardware and software
• While the processor is quiet, data that is
always used will be read from the hard
disc into the cache memory
• When the data is required, they will be
accessed directly from this memory
• The rate of transfer from memory is
faster than that of the hard disc
• Performance normally goes up by 30%
Upgrade Performance

2) Redundant Arrays of Independent Disks (RAID)

• This increases the performance by having more external storage

• A collection of cheap hard discs is arranged by using a special network and
software
• This group of discs is considered like a large hard disc
• However, it performs better than a single disc of the same capacity
Upgrade Performance: RAID

Introduction to RAID Concepts

Upgrade Performance

3) Compressing/Decompressing Files
• This is required to remove excessive spaces from the computer files that
have reduced total available storage space
• Compressed files need to be decompressed before they can be used
• Normally data that has been compressed has a special suffix, such as .zip
and .rar
• Compression and decompression techniques are called “codec”
• Two main techniques:
- Lossless: data compression is done by preserving all input data
- Lossy: removes data permanently during the compression process but
users will not feel any loss