Information Technology in FOCUS for CSEC

SECTION 1 OF SYLLABUS: CHAPTER 5: Secondary Storage Media

Activity # 5

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

Chapter 5: Secondary Storage Media

Examination based short answer questions

INSTRUCTION: Answer all questions in your own words as accurately as possible.

1. Briefly explain ONE difference between each device: (8 marks)

(i) Floppy disk and Internal Hard Drive

Possible Solution:

A hard disk, for example, can store anywhere from 10 to more than 100 gigabytes, whereas
most floppies have a maximum storage capacity of 1.4 megabytes.

(ii) External Hard Drive and Magnetic Tape

Possible Solution:

Magnetic tape storage media that stores data as a series of magnetic spots and an external
hard drive is a portable storage device that can be attached to a computer through a USB or
FireWire connection.

(iii) Optical Disk and Optical disk drive

Possible Solution:

Optical disk is any storage media that holds content in digital format and is read using
a laser assembly is considered optical media and optical disc drive (ODD) is a disk drive that uses
laser light or electromagnetic waves within or near the visible light spectrum as part of the
process of reading or writing data to or from optical discs.

(iv) USB Flash Drive and Flash Memory Card

Possible Solution:

USB drives are removable storage devices equipped with flash memory capabilities and a USB
connector. The (Secure Digital) SD card also uses non-volatile memory like flash drives. SD cards
are an integral part of many devices including digital cameras, phones, MP3 players and game
consoles.

1
Information Technology in FOCUS for CSEC
SECTION 1 OF SYLLABUS: CHAPTER 5: Secondary Storage Media

2. State the method that is used to access stored data on the above mentioned devices.
(8 marks)

Possible Solution:
STORAGE DEVICE ACCESS METHOD
Floppy disk Direct
Internal hard drive Direct
External hard drive Direct
Magnetic tape Sequential
Optical disk Direct
USB flash drive Direct
Flash memory card Direct

3. Give the speed, capacity and type of the following devices: (9 marks)
(i) Floppy Disk

Possible Solution:
 Speed – 300RPM or five revs per second
 Capacity – 1.44MB
 Type – 8 inch, 5.25 inch & 3.5 inch

(ii) HDD

Possible Solution:
 Speed – 7200RPM
 Capacity – 1 TB (terabyte)
 Type – SATA (serial ATA) , USB or IDE

(iii) USB Flash Drive

Possible Solution:
 Speed – This drive has a write speed of 60 MB/s and a read speed of 120 MB/s
 Capacity – 512GB
 Type – SandDisk , HP

2
Information Technology in FOCUS for CSEC
SECTION 1 OF SYLLABUS: CHAPTER 5: Secondary Storage Media

4. List three specifications of hard disk you should take into consideration when you are about
to purchase it. (3 marks)

Possible Solution:
 Speed
 Capacity
 Type

5. What are the two common measurements of hard disk speed? (2 marks)

Possible Solution:
 RPM
 MBPS / GBPS

6. State ONE difference between each of the following terms: (6 marks)

(i) Track and Buffer

Possible Solution:
The TRACKS are concentric circles around the central spindle on either side of each platter. Tracks
physically above each other on the platters are grouped together into cylinders which are then
further subdivided into sectors of 512 bytes apiece. While BUFFER is a temporary storage area,
usually in RAM. The purpose of most buffers is to act as a holding area, enabling the CPU to
manipulate data before transferring it to a device.

(ii) Cylinders and Access time,

Possible Solution:
The CYLINDER is a group or a set of tracks in a parallel order on the hard drive. While ACCESS
TIME is the time from the start of one storage device access to the time when the next access
can be started.

(iii) direct access and sequential access

Possible Solution:
DIRECT ACCESS is reading a particular data without any interruption. While SEQUENTIAL ACCESS
is the order in which data is stored e.g. chronological order.

3
Information Technology in FOCUS for CSEC
SECTION 1 OF SYLLABUS: CHAPTER 5: Secondary Storage Media

7. When planning to upgrade your processor, what two main features must be considered
before doing so? (2 marks)

Possible Solution:
 Type of Motherboard – 32 or 64 bit
 Type of Processor

8. What is the advantage of having more memory in a computer system? (1 mark)

Possible Solution:
You would be able to maintain more simultaneously open applications, work with larger
databases, spreadsheets, etc. Video processing would be faster with the additional memory.

9. Some schools prefer to backup data on CDs rather than flash drives. Explain why. (2 marks)

Possible Solution:
The institution might what to backup data permanently for record purposes. That is where the
institution might want to consider using optical disks.

10. What does the terms write and read head stands mean. (2 marks)

Possible Solution:
What are the WRITE and READ SPEEDs of a device?

 The READ SPEED is how long it takes to read data from a device, especially a storage
device.
 The WRITE SPEED is how long it takes to save data on to a device, especially a storage device.

11. What is the common device that have a Read and Write Head. (1 mark)

Possible Solution:
Hard Disk Drive (HDD)
TOTAL 44 MARKS