Backing Storage

Basic
 Backing Storage Devices
 Backing storage devices allow us to store programs and
data so that we can use them later
 Floppy Disk drive
 Tape drive
 CD-ROM drive
 Hard Disk drive
 CD-R, CD-RW drives
 DVD, DVD-R drives
 USB Flash drive
 Backing Storage Media
 Backing Storage Media is the material used in each
device
MEDIA DEVICE
Floppy Disk Floppy Disk Drive
Hard Disk Hard Disk Drive
CD-ROM CD-ROM Drive
Magnetic Tape Tape Drive
USB Flash Stick Flash ROM Drive
 Floppy Disk
 A floppy disk is made out
of flexible plastic and is coated
with magnetic material.
 The plastic disk is inside
a protective case.
 Floppy disks are very easily damaged
 They have a very small capacity (1.44Mb)
 Hard Disk
 Solid disk (made of metal or very hard plastic)
 Permanently fixed inside the computer (or close
by it in its own box)
 A hard disk is not portable like a floppy disk.

READ/WRITE HEADS
DISK
 Magnetic Tape
 Stores lots of data as they have a large capacity
 Reading from and writing to magnetic tape is
much slower than using a magnetic disk.
 Cheaper than storing data on magnetic disk.
 CD ROM
 High capacity storage medium
 Data is stored on surface of the CD in a series of pits
 Pits are read by shining laser light onto the surface
of the disk.
 CD rotates at a very high speed and laser beam is
reflected off the disks surface.
 Data cannot be written to CD ROM once it has been
produced
 CD-R (Recordable)

 Data is written onto the disk using a special disk

drive unit.
 The unit burns a permanent pattern into the
surface of the disk using a high precision laser
beam.
 CD-R disks can only be written to until the disk is
full
 CD-RW (Rewriteable)

 Data is written and rewritten onto the disk using a

special disk drive unit.
 The unit uses a high powered laser beam with 3
states
 High – used to record data
 Medium – used to erase data
 Low – used to read the data
 CD-RW (CD-Rewritable) disks can be written and
rewritten many times
 DVD ROM

 Stores greater amounts of information (4.7 – 17

gigabytes)
 A DVD can store more information because:
 Pits are smaller
 Can have two layers on each side and be double
sided
 DVD-ROM cannot be written to once it has been
produced
 DVD-R & DVD -RW

 DVD-R (Recordable)
 Write once medium
 Disk can only be written to until the disk is full

 DVD-RW (Rewritable)
 Disks can be written and rewritten many times
 USB Flash Drive
 USB – Universal Serial Bus
 Device used to store data, such as picture and movie files
 USB Flash Drive is a Solid State Device as there are no
moving parts
 Storage capacities of between 16Mb to 2Gb
 Types of Access
 Random (Direct) Access
 Ability to locate data straight away, wherever it is
stored and open it up
 Fast access to files

 Sequential Access
 Retrieving data in the order that it was stored
 Slower access to files
 Access Devices
 Random (Direct) Access
 FloppyDisk Drive
 Hard Disk Drive
 CD-ROM Drive

 Sequential Access
 Tape Drive
 Storage requirements for Different
Applications
 Different Applications have different storage requirements
 Space taken up by the Application
• More or Less fixed when installed
• Also depends on Installation option
• Basic
• Full
• Custom
• Size of application may grow with
• Updates
• new versions
• extra features – plug-ins
 Storage requirements for Different
Applications Continued
 Space taken up by any files produced using the application
 Depends on type of Application
 Multimedia Files require large storage space
• Music
• Video
• High Quality Graphics
 One hour of digital video = 13 Gb
 One way to save space is Compression