Storage Devices

Fundamentals of Computer
Software and Application
Lesson 5

Lesson 4

1 Wells Computer Concepts BASICS

 Storage Devices

Short-term data is stored in RAM (temporary

memory)
Longer term storage requires another
medium such as the hard drive or USB drive
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Storage devices are categorized by:

magnetic technology
optical technology
solid-state storage media

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 Storage Devices

Magnetic storage devices

Use oxide-coated plastic storage media called
Mylar
Data stored on tracks
Each track is labeled and the location kept in a file
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allocation table (FAT)

Types of magnetic storage: Floppy disk, hard
disk, magnetic tape

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 Storage Devices
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Floppy disk Magnetic tape

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 Storage Devices

Hard disk

The hard disk is a spindle of

magnetic disks, called platters,
that record and store information.
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Because the data is stored

magnetically, information
recorded to the hard disk remains
intact after you turn your
computer off.

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 Storage Devices

Optical storage devices

Use laser technology to
read/write on silver platters
Most common types are
CDs and DVDs
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Blu-ray is a new high-

capacity storage medium
that is expected to
A laser reads data on a CD or DVD
replace conventional
DVDs
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 Storage Devices

Solid-state storage media

Non volatile, removable medium
Everything processed electronically, no moving
parts
Miniature mobile media, USB flash drives
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Miniature mobile storage media

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 Caring for Storage Media

Keep away from magnetic fields (monitor or TV)

Avoid extreme temperatures
Remove from drive and store properly when not
in use
Hold optical discs at the edges
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Do not remove media from a drive when the
drive indicator light is on
Keep disks in a sturdy case when transporting

8 Wells Computer Concepts BASICS

 Summary

To maintain a permanent copy of data, you

should store it on some type of storage medium.
The three categories of storage media are
magnetic storage, optical storage, and solid-
state storage.
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9 Wells Computer Concepts BASICS