HARDWARE

FUNDAMENTALS : TOPIC 8
STORAGE DEVICES
 STORAGE DEVICES

As a computer technician, your responsibilities are likely

to include installing and maintaining many different
types of computer components, including storage devices.
By identifying the various types of storage devices that
can be found in most personal computers, you will be
better prepared to select, install, and maintain storage
devices in personal computers.
 COMMON STORAGE DEVICES

There are different kinds of storage devices.

Can you name these storage devices? 
GRAMOPHONE VINYL DISC
CASSETTE TAPE
VHS TAPE
3.5 FLOPPY DISK
5 INCH FLOPPY DISK
 WHAT IS A STORAGE DEVICE
 A storage device is any computing
hardware that is used for storing,
porting and extracting data files
and objects. It can hold and store
information both temporarily and
permanently, and can be internal
or external to a computer, server
or any similar computing device.
 A storage device may also be
known as a storage medium or
storage media.
 THERE ARE 2 KINDS OF STORAGE

Primary Storage
Secondary
Storage
 PRIMARY STORAGE
Generally smaller in size,
these are designed to hold
data temporarily and are
internal to the computer.
They have the fastest data
access speed, and include
RAM and cache memory.
 PRIMARY STORAGE
 It is also called as “main memory”
 This usually refers to RAM or Random Access Memory
 Primary storage is also called as “volatile storage” because all
information that are saved here are deleted once the power shuts
off.
 Examples of primary storage are Memory module, Cache memory
and processor register.
 ADVANTAGES
It help to determine the number of characters entered on a
computer when a processed data
Silent: since there are no moving parts RAM operation is
completely silent.
Power-efficient: for the same reasons, RAM uses much
less power than disk drives. Reduce your CO2 emissions
and extend your battery life.
Fast: RAM is the fastest storage medium outside of the
CPU.
 DISADVANTAGES

Slower than the CPU cache

Not cost friendly
Volatile
Space limited
 SECONDARY STORAGE DEVICES

These usually have large

storage capacity, and they
store data permanently. They
can be either internal or
external to the computer, and
they include the hard disk,
optical disk drive and USB
storage device.
secondary storage device is a non-volatile device
that holds data until it is deleted or overwritten.
Secondary storage is about two orders of
magnitude cheaper than primary storage.
Consequently, hard drives (a prime example of
secondary storage) are the go-to solution for
nearly all data kept on today's computers.
 EXAMPLES OF SECONDARY
STORAGE
Hard drive
Solid-state drive
USB thumb drive
SD card
CD
DVD
Floppy diskette
Tape drive
 ADVANTAGES OF SECONDARY
STORAGE DEVICES
 possessing the capacity to store enormous amounts of
information such as hundreds, even the equivalent of thousands,
of books.
 Secondary storage also removes the once-enormous costs to
businesses that were incurred for storage of important documents
in filing cabinets or storage facilities.
 In addition, secondary storage devices are safe, reliable and
permanent.
 DISADVANTAGES OF SECONDARY
STORAGE
 Expensive
 The information on the secondary device has to be first located,
then move to the primary memory or RAM, which needed some
time.
 Consumes a lot of power
 Data error is frequent
 Can be broken if dropped.
 Can get infected by a virus
KINDS OF STORAGE
DEVICES
 FLOPPY DRIVES
A floppy disk drive (FDD)is a
storage device that reads data
from, and writes data to, floppy
disks. Floppy disks are
removable disks that are made
of flexible Mylar plastic that is
covered with magnetic coating
and enclosed in stiff, protective
plastic cases.
 FLOPPY DRIVES

3.5-inch floppy disks can hold

up to 1.44 MB of data. Floppy
disk drives are not used much
anymore and are considered a
legacy technology, but you might
still encounter them on older
machines.
 HARD DISK DRIVES

A hard disk drive (HDD)is a

storage device that reads
data from, and writes data
to, a hard disk. A hard disk
consists of several metal or
hard plastic platters with a
magnetic surface coating.
Data is stored magnetically and can be accessed directly. Although
the HDD and the hard disk are not the same thing, they are
packaged together and are often referred to interchangeably. HDDs
are also referred to as hard drives, and they can be internal or
external devices. Internal hard drives are mounted inside the
chassis and connect directly to the system board through at least
one cable for data and one for power, while external hard drives
generally connect to the system by means of anexpansion card or a
port.
 DISK CONTROLLERS

Both floppy drives and hard drives require circuitry to communicate with
the CPU. This circuitry is known as the disk controller. Disk controllers
can be built into the drive itself, or they can be contained on an expansion
card. In most modern floppy drives and hard drives, the controller is built
into the drive.
 JUMPERS
Jumpers are used to configure
older hardware by shutting off
an electrical circuit located on
the component. Using jumpers,
this is accomplished by sliding
a jumper shunt over the jumper
pins on the jumper block of the
motherboard.
 HARD DRIVE SPEEDS

The speed of a hard drive is based on how fast the disk is spun to
retrieve the requested data. This is
referred to as revolutions per minute (rpm). Common speeds
include:
 • 5,400 rpm
 • 7,200 rpm
 • 10,000 rpm
 • 15,000 rpm
 TYPES OF HARD DRIVES
There are many types of hard disks that you might encounter as you
work with personal computers, each of which has its own set of
characteristics.

Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment (PATA) - Also known as

Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE), Enhanced IDE (EIDE),Ultra Direct
Memory Access (UDMA), and Advanced Technology Attachment
(ATA) drives, PATA drives have the following characteristics:
• The controller is built into the drive.
•PATA drives are limited to two channels, each with up to two devices.
 SMALL COMPUTER SYSTEMS INTERFACE
(SCSI)
 There is no controller built into the drive. A separate bus within the
computer system enables SCSI drives to communicate with the CPU.
 SCSI supports up to eight devices, but the host bus adapter (HBA) card
installed in the computer counts as one of the devices, so you can actually
connect only up to seven drives or other devices (15 devices in more recent
versions).
 You must configure separate SCSI ID settings for each device.
 You might need to set the system BIOS to no drive, and then configure the
SCSI firmware to recognize which drive to boot from.
 There are several variations on the interface, each supporting different data
transfer rates.
SERIAL ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY ATTACHMENT
(SATA)

SATA supports one device per channel.

Data transfer rates are 150 Mbps for SATA I and 300
Mbps for SATA II.
SATA supports hot swapping of drives, which means
that you can replace a SATA drive without powering
down the system.
Recently, computers have started offering external
SATA jacks.
 OPTICAL DISKS

An optical disk is a storage

device that stores data
optically, rather than
magnetically. The removable
plastic disks have a reflective
coating and require an optical
drive to be read.
In optical storage, data
is written by either pressing or
burning with a laser to create
pits (recessed areas) and lands
(raised areas) in the reflective
surface of the disc. Common
optical disks include compact
discs (CDs) and digital versatile
discs (DVDs).
 TYPES OF OPTICAL DISKS

There is a wide variety of optical discs

available in the marketplace, each with
its own requirements and specifications.
 COMPACT DISC
CD-ROM - Compact Disc-Read Only
Memory. Data is permanently burned
onto the disk during its manufacture.
CD-R - CD-Recordable. Data can be
written to the disk only once.
CD-RW - CD-Rewritable. Data can be
written to the disk multiple times.
 DVD-ROM - Digital Versatile Disc-Read Only Memory . Data is
permanently burned onto the disk during its manufacture.
 DVD-R – DVD Recordable. Data can be written to the disk only
once.
 DVD+R Another format of DVD-Recordable. Data can be written
to the disk only once.
 DVD+R DL - DVD-Recordable Double Layer . A higher-capacity
double-layer format.Data can be written to the disk only once.
 DVD-RW - DVD-Rewritable. Data can be written to the disk
multiple times.
 Dual Layer DVD-RW - A DVD-RW disc that has two layer of
writable space with a maximum capacity of 8.5 GB. These disks
are not used widely due to the cost and the release of Blu-ray.
 DVD+RW - Another format of DVD-Rewritable. Data can be
written to the disk multiple times.
 DVD-RAM - DVD-Random Access Memory. Data can be written
to the disk multiple times.
BD-ROM - Blu-ray Disc-Read Only
Memory. Blu-ray discs (BD) are
intended for high- density storage
of high-definition video as well as
data storage. Current Blu- ray discs
hold 50 GB total. However,
companies such as Sony are testing
experimental disks that have storage
capacities of up to 200 GB and
more.
BD-R - Blu-ray Disc-Recordable (BD-R). Data
can be written to BD-R once.
BD-RE - Blu-ray Disc-Recordable Erasable. BD-
RE is a disc that can be written to as well as
erased. Data can be written to and erased from
the disk many times without compromising the
integrity of the disk or the data stored on it.
 OPTICAL DRIVES
An optical drive is an internal or
external disk drive that reads
data to and writes data from an
optical disc. Optical drives can
be connected to the system by
using IDE, SCSI, or other
interfaces. Internal optical
drives generally have a 5.25-
inch form factor.
 TYPES OF OPTICAL DRIVES AND
BURNERS
Optical drives include CD, DVD, and Blu-ray
drives. Some optical drives provide only read
capabilities, while others enable users to write, or
burn, data to optical disks. CD, DVD, and Blu-ray
drives have varying characteristics and
specifications.
 CD (COMPACT DISCS)

Compact discs store data on one

side of the disc, and most hold
up to 700 MB of data, although
older disks and drives may
support only up to 650.4 MB of
data. CDs are widely used to
store music and data.
To meet the audio CD standard, the CD drive on a computer must
transfer data at a rate of at least 150 KBps. Most CD drives deliver
higher speeds: at least eight times (8x) or sixteen times (16x) the
audio transfer rate. There are also drives with much higher transfer
rates, up to 52x. CD drives use one of two special file systems:
Compact Disc File System (CDFS) or Universal Disc Format
(UDF). CDs can be either CD-R (which can be
written to once) or CD-RW (which can be written to multiple
times).
 DIGITAL VERSATILE DISC (DVD)
Digital versatile discs can typically
hold 4.7 GB on one side of the disk; it
is possible to write to both surfaces of
the disk, in which case the disk can
hold up to 9.4 GB. There are also dual-
layer disks, which store additional data
on each side, and are capable of holding
up to 17 GB. DVD drives access data at
speeds from
600 KBps to 1.3 MBps.
 BLU RAY DISC

Named for the blue laser it

uses to read and write data,
Blu-ray drives read and write
data from Blu-ray discs. Blu-
ray discs are primarily used
for high-definition video,
though they are also used for
data storage.
 TAPE DRIVES
A tape drive is a storage device
that stores data magnetically on
a tape that is enclosed in a
removable tape cartridge. Data
on the tape must be read
sequentially. Sizes for external
tape drives vary, but internal
drives have a 5.25-inch form
factor
 SOLID STATE STORAGE
Solid state drives (SSDs),uses
flash technology to retain data in
special types of memory instead of
on disks or tape. Solid state
storage uses non-volatile memory
to emulate mechanical storage
devices, but solid state storage is
much faster and more reliable than
mechanical storage because there
are no moving parts.
 SOLID STATE VS. MAGNETIC
STORAGE
Storage devices typically store
data in either solid state or
magnetic form. Solid state
devices, such as flash drives,
contain no moving parts and
tend to be more reliable than
magnetic drives. Magnetic
drives, such as hard drives,
store information on a magnetic
coated media that is rotated
underneath a read/write head.
 TYPES OF SOLID STATE STORAGE

Solid state storage comes in several formats,

many of which are used in external devices
such as digital cameras or mobile devices.
 FLASH DRIVES
USB flash drives come in several form
factors, including thumb drives and pen
drives. Thumb drives can be small, from
50 to 70 mm long, 17 to 20 mm wide, and
10 to 12 mm thick. Data storage
capacities vary, from 128 MB up to 128
GB. Data transfer rates also vary, from
700 KBps to 28 MBps for readoperations,
and from 350 KBps to 15 MBps for write
operations.
 SOLID STATE DRIVES
Flash-memory-based disks do not
need batteries, allowing makers to
replicate standard disk-drive form
factors (2.5-inch and 3.5-inch).
Flash SSDs are extremely fast
since these devices have no
moving parts, eliminating seek
time, latency, and other
electromechanical delays inherent
in conventional disk drives.
The use of SSDs has been increasing over time due to their speed
and quick data access times. SSDs can be configured within systems
to replace traditional computer hardware such as disk drives, optical
drives, and network security appliances that include firewall and
routing functions.