Flashcards · 0417 · Topic 3

Storage devices and media flashcards

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Storage device vs storage media: A storage device is the hardware that reads and writes the data (e.g. a DVD drive). Storage media is the material the data is recorded onto (e.g. a DVD disc).
Magnetic storage: devices, strength and weakness: Devices: fixed and portable hard drives, tape drives. Strength: large capacity and low cost per GB. Weakness: slower access, and damaged by strong magnetic fields or shock.
Solid-state storage: devices, strength and weakness: Devices: SSDs, pen drives and flash drives. Strength: no moving parts, so fast and shock-resistant. Weakness: higher cost per GB.
Why does an SSD suit a laptop?: No moving parts, so it survives being carried and knocked; lower power use, so longer battery life; faster and silent. The trade-off is a higher price per gigabyte.

Name the media used in each storage family: Magnetic: magnetic hard disks and magnetic tape. Optical: CD, DVD and Blu-ray discs. Solid-state: memory cards such as SD, xD and CFast.
Order CD, DVD and Blu-ray by capacity: CD (smallest), then DVD, then Blu-ray (largest).
Why is magnetic tape still used for backups?: It has a very low cost per gigabyte at huge capacities. Its access is sequential, so finding one file is slow, but that is acceptable for long-term archiving.
Why might optical media be chosen deliberately?: Read-only and write-once (R) discs mean the data cannot be changed after writing. They are also cheap and widely compatible.