1

A LEVEL COMPUTER SCIENCE

1.1.3
1: Computer systems
• 1.1 Processors, I/O & Storage

INPUT, OUTPUT & •

•
1.1.1 Structure and function of
the processor
1.1.2 Types of processor

STORAGE •
•
• 1.1.3 Input, output and storage
1.2 Software & development
1.3 Exchanging data
• 1.4 Data types, structures &
algorithms
• 1.5 Legal, moral, cultural & ethical
PART 2 issues

2: Algorithms & Programming

STORAGE •
•
•
2.1 Computational thinking
2.2 Problem solving & programming
2.3 Algorithms
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1.1.3 INPUT, OUTPUT AND STORAGE

a) How different input, output and storage devices

can be applied to the solution of different
problems.
b) The uses of magnetic, flash and optical storage
devices.
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IN THIS SECTION

Give examples of the three types of

ESSENTIAL
physical storage.

List advantages and disadvantages of each

CHALLENGE type.

Argue the appropriateness of different

types for different users.
EXTEND
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Input, Output and Storage devices

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Magnetic, Flash and Optical storage

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SECONDARY STORAGE

• Programs and data in use are stored in RAM

• However, RAM is volatile
• It loses its data when power is lost
• Secondary storage is non-volatile, it does not lose
data when there is no power
• Secondary storage is used to permanently store
both programs and data
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STORAGE TECHNOLOGIES

• Nowadays there are three main categories of storage

• Magnetic
• Optical
• SSD/Flash

• When choosing a storage technology we must take into account

three main factors (plus maybe a couple of others)
• Cost
• Speed
• Capacity
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MAGNETIC STORAGE

• Stores binary data

• Uses a disk or a reel of tape coated with magnetic material
• Polarisation represents data – North/South = 1/0

• Examples include:
• Hard Disk Drive (still common)
• Cassette Tapes (the music and video kinds is rare but more robust
versions are still commonly used for backup)
• Floppy Disk (very rare nowadays)
• Magnetic Core Memory (archaic, obsolete since 1975))
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MAGNETIC STORAGE - HARD DISK DRIVE

• Still the most common form of main storage for home

computers
• Typical capacity now is 500GB – 1TB (up to 6TB now
available commercially)
• Used to store:
• Operating System
• Applications
• Files (documents, music, videos, etc)
• Can be either internal or external (portable)
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MAGNETIC STORAGE - HARD DISK DRIVE

ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES
• Very fast data access • Moving parts and disks
• >1Mb/second that are vulnerable to
• Data can be read scratching
directly from any part • Not suitable for mobile
of the hard disk devices
(Random Access) • Data very difficult to
recover if device fails
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OPTICAL STORAGE

• Stores binary data on a reflective surface

• Some areas reflect light, some don’t, representing 1 and 0
• Data read with a laser

• Examples include:
• CDs
• DVDs
• Blu-ray
• All of these are still common for media, though becoming increasingly
rare for computing, many laptops nowadays do not even have an optical
drive
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OPTICAL STORAGE

ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES
• Hold a reasonable amount of
• Data can be lost or corrupted
data
• CD – 800MB if the disc is scratched
• DVD – 4.7GB • Memory capacity is not the
• Blu-ray – 50GB highest
• Optical drives are common and
• Cannot overwrite data
inexpensive
• Very portable (unless using more
• Fast-ish data transfer rate expensive versions with a
(about 88.5 Mb/s depending on more limited life)
the drive)
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SOLID STATE DRIVES/FLASH MEMORY

• Stores binary data on semi-conductor material sheets

• Different areas act as switches that are either open (1) or closed (0)

• Examples include:
• Solid State Drives
• USB sticks
• Compact flash cards (sometimes used in cameras)

• SSDs are used in much the same way as HDDs

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SOLID STATE DRIVES/FLASH MEMORY

ADVANTAGES: DISADVANTAGES:
• Storage capacity less than hard drives
• No moving parts – less
(though this is increasing quickly)
susceptible to physical • Data cannot be overwritten, it must be
shock deleted first – this leads to slowdown
• Faster access time than with age
HDD • Each switch has a limited number of
writes. This is large and optimisation
• Not affected by magnets
software means in home use it is not
• Lower power consumption
much of an issue, but SSDs are not
• No noise very suitable to high-intensity
applications
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FUTURE OF STORAGE

• How have storage standards changed through the

years?
• What is the future of storage likely to be?
• At what point will we have “enough” storage?
Will we ever?
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FURTHER READING

P1 - Input Output Storage Activity 1 .pptx

P1 - Input Output Storage Activity 2.pptx
P2 - Storage Activity 1.pptx
P2 - Storage Activity 2.pptx