LECTURE 5: EXTERNAL MEMORY

External memories include the following:

- Magnetic disks are the foundation of external memory on virtually all
computer systems.
-The use of disk arrays to achieve greater performance, known as RAID
(Redundant Array of Independent Disks).
-An increasingly important component of many computer systems is external
optical memory.
-Magnetic tapes was the first kind of secondary memory. It is still widely used as
the lowest-cost, slowest-speed member of the memory hierarchy.

Magnetic Disk
A disk is a circular platter constructed of nonmagnetic material, called substrate,
coated with a magnetizable material.
-Traditionally, substrate has been an aluminum or aluminum alloy material.
-More recently, glass substrates have been introduced. Benefits are:
- Improve surface uniformity to produce better reliability.
- Reduction in surface defects to reduce read/write errors.
- Greater ability to resist damages.
Magnetic Read and Write Mechanisms
- Data are recorded on and later retrieved from the disk via a conducting
coil named the head.
- In many systems, there are two heads, a read head and a write head.
- During a read or write operation, the head is stationary while the platter
rotates beneath it.
In the write mechanism, electricity flows through a coil to produce a magnetic
field.
-Electric pulses are sent to the write head, and the resulting magnetic patterns
are recorded on the surface below, with different patterns for positive and
negative currents.
-Reversing the direction of the current reverses the direction of the
magnetization on the recording medium.

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In traditional read mechanism, a magnetic field moves relative to a coil in order
to produce an electrical current in the coil.
-When the surface of the disk passes under the head, it generates a current of the
same polarity as the one already recorded.
-The structure of the head for reading is in this case essentially the same as for
writing and therefore the same head can be used for both.
-Nowadays rigid disk systems use a different read mechanism, requiring a
separate read head, positioned for convenience close to the write head. The read
head consists of a partially shielded magnetoresistive (MR) sensor.
The MR material has an electrical resistance that depends on the direction of the
magnetization of the medium moving under it. By passing a current through the
MR sensor, resistance changes are detected as voltage signals.
-The MR design allows higher-frequency operation, which equates to greater
operating speeds.

Data Organization and Formatting

The head is a relatively small device capable of reading from or writing to a
portion of the platter rotating beneath it. This gives rise to the organization of
data on the platter in a concentric set of rings, called tracks.

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Each track has the same width as the head. There are thousands of tracks per
surface. Adjacent tracks are separated by intertrack gaps. This prevents, or at
least minimizes, errors due to misalignment of the head or simply interference of
magnetic fields.
Data are transferred to and from the disk in sectors. There are typically hundreds
of sectors per track, and these may be of either fixed or variable length.
In most contemporary systems, fixed-length sectors are used, with 512 bytes
being the nearly universal sector size. Adjacent sectors are separated by
intersector gaps.
A bit near the center of a rotating disk travels past a fixed point (such as a read–
write head) slower than a bit on the outside. Therefore, some way must be found
to compensate for the variation in speed so that the head can read all the bits at
the same rate. This can be done by increasing the spacing between bits of
information recorded in segments of the disk. The information can then be
scanned at the same rate by rotating the disk at a fixed speed, known as the
constant angular velocity (CAV). The disk is divided into a number of pie-
shaped sectors and into a series of concentric tracks

Advantages and disadvantages of CAV

- Individual blocks of data can be directly addressed by track and sector.
- To move the head from its current location to a specific address, it only
takes a short movement of the head to a specific track and a short wait for
the proper sector to spin under the head.
- The amount of data that can be stored on the long outer tracks is same as
what can be stored on the short inner tracks.
- Because the density increases in moving from the outermost track to the
innermost track, disk storage capacity in a straightforward CAV system is
limited by the maximum recording density that can be achieved on the
innermost track.
To increase density, modern hard disk systems use a technique known as
multiple zone recording, in which the surface is divided into a number of
concentric zones (16 is typical). Within a zone, the number of bits per track is
constant. Zones farther from the center contain more bits (more sectors) than
zones closer to the center. This allows for greater overall storage capacity at the
expense of somewhat more complex circuitry.
As the disk head moves from one zone to another, the length (along the track) of
individual bits changes, causing a change in the timing for reads and writes.
The disk itself is mounted in a disk drive, which consists of the arm, a spindle
that rotates the disk, and the electronics needed for input and output of binary
data.

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Characteristics of Magnetic Disks

The major physical characteristics that differentiate among the various types of
magnetic disks are:

1.Head Motion
-The head may either be fixed (one per track) or movable (one per surface) with
respect to the radial direction of the platter.
-In a fixed-head disk, there is one read-write head per track. All of the heads are
mounted on a rigid arm that extends across all tracks; such systems are rare
today.
-In a movable-head disk, there is only one read-write head. The head is mounted
on an arm and it is positioned on the tracks.
2.Disk Portability
-A non removable disk is permanently mounted in the disk drive. Hard disk is
an example for a non removable disk.
-A removable disk can be removed and replaced with another disk. The
advantage is that unlimited amounts of data are available with a limited number
of disk systems.
-Furthermore, such a disk may be moved from one computer system to another.
Floppy disks and ZIP cartridge disks are examples of removable disks.
3.Sides
-For most disks, the magnetizable coating is applied to both sides of the platter,
which is then referred to as double-sided.
-Some less expensive disk systems use single-sided disks.
4.Platters
-Multiple-platter disks employ a movable head, with one read-write head per
platter surface. All of the heads are mechanically fixed so that all are at the same
distance from the center of the disk and move together.
-Thus, at any time, all of the heads are positioned over tracks that are of equal
distance from the center of the disk.
-Single-platter disks employ only a single platter.

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5.Head mechanism
-The head mechanism provides a classification of disks into three types.
Traditionally, the read-write head has been positioned a fixed distance above the
platter, allowing an air gap. This head mechanism is known as fixed-gap.
-At the other extreme is a head mechanism that actually comes into physical
contact with the medium during a read or write operation. This mechanism is
used with the floppy disk.
-Another head mechanism known as aerodynamic heads (Winchester) are
designed to operate closer to the disk’s surface than conventional rigid disk
heads, thus allowing greater data density. The head is actually an aerodynamic
foil that rests lightly on the platter’s surface when the disk is motionless. The air
pressure generated by a spinning disk is enough to make the foil rise above the
surface.

Disk I/O operation

The actual details of disk I/O operation depend on the computer system, the
operating system, and the nature of the I/O channel and disk controller
hardware.
-When a process issues an I/O request, it must first wait in a queue for the
device to be available. At that time, the device is assigned to the process. If the
device shares a single I/O channel or a set of I/O channels with other disk
drives, then there may be an additional wait for the channel to be available. At
that point, the seek is performed to begin disk access.

Fig: General Timing Disk I/O transfers

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-When the disk drive is operating, the disk is rotating at constant speed. To read
or write, the head must be positioned at the desired track and at the beginning of
the desired sector on that track. On a movable head system, the time it takes to
position the head at the track is known as seek time. A typical average seek time
on contemporary hard disks is under 10ms.
-Once the track is selected, the disk controller waits until the appropriate sector
rotates to line up with the head. The time it takes for the beginning of the sector
to reach the head is known as rotational delay, or rotational latency. In
nowadays hard disks, the average rotational delay is less than 3ms.
-The sum of the seek time and the rotational delay equals the access time, which
is the time it takes to get into position to read or write.
-Once the head is in position, the read or write operation is then performed as
the sector moves under the head; this is the data transfer portion of the
operation; the time required for the transfer is the transfer time.
The transfer time to or from the disk depends on the rotation speed of the disk in
the following fashion:
b
T=
rN
where T = transfer time
b = number of bytes to be transferred
N = number of bytes on a track
r = rotation speed, in revolutions per second (rpm)

RAID: (Redundant Array of Independent Disks).

-The rate in improvement in secondary storage performance has been
considerably less than the rate for processors and main memory. This mismatch
has made the disk storage system perhaps the main focus of concern in
improving overall computer system performance.
-This leads to the development of arrays of disks that operate independently and
in parallel.
-With multiple disks, separate I/O requests can be handled in parallel, as long as
the data required reside on separate disks.
-Further, a single I/O request can be executed in parallel if the block of data to be
accessed is distributed across multiple disks.
-With the use of multiple disks, there is a wide variety of ways in which the data
can be organized and in which redundancy can be added to improve reliability.

The Industry has agreed on a standardized scheme for multiple-disk database

design, known as RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks).
-The RAID scheme consists of seven levels that share three common
characteristics:

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1. RAID is a set of physical disk drives viewed by operating system as a single
logical drive.
2. Data are distributed across physical drives of an array known as stripping.
3. Redundant disk capacity is used to store parity information, which guarantees
data recoverability in case of a disk failure (except RAID level 0).

- The RAID strategy employs multiple disk drives and distributes data in
such a way as to enable simultaneous access to data from multiple drives,
thereby improving I/O performance.
- Although allowing multiple heads and actuators to operate
simultaneously achieves higher I/O and transfer rates, the use of
multiple devices increases the probability of failure.
- To compensate for this decreased reliability, RAID makes use of stored
parity information that enables the recovery of data lost due to a disk
failure.

RAID 0 (Level 0)
It is not a true member of RAID, because it does not include redundancy to
improve performance. The user and system data are striped across all of the disks
in the array.

A set of logically consecutive strips that maps exactly one strip to each array
member is referred to as a stripe.
Array management software is used to map logical and physical disk space. This
software may execute either in the disk subsystem or in a host computer.
This has a notable advantage over the use of a single large disk: If two different
I/O requests are pending for two different blocks of data, then there is a good
chance that the requested blocks are on different disks. Thus, the two requests
can be issued in parallel, reducing the I/O queuing time.

RAID 1 (Mirrored)
Redundancy is achieved by the simply duplicating all the data.

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Each logical strip is mapped to two separate physical disks so that every disk in
the array has a mirror disk that contains the same data.

There are a number of positive aspects to the RAID 1 organization:

- A read request can be serviced by either of the two disks that contains the
requested data, whichever one involves the minimum seek time plus rotational
latency.
- A write request requires that both corresponding strips be updated, but this can
be done in parallel. Thus, the write performance is dictated by the slower of the
two writes
- Recovery from a failure is simple. When a drive fails, the data may still be
accessed from the second drive.
The principal disadvantage of RAID 1 is the cost. It requires twice the disk space
of the logical disk that it supports.
RAID 1 can achieve high I/O request rates if the requests are mostly read
operations. In this situation, the performance of RAID 1 can approach double of
that of RAID 0. However, if the requests require write operations, then there may
be no significant performance gain over RAID 0.

RAID 2 (Redundancy through Hamming Code)

- Make use of a parallel access technique. In a parallel access array, all
member disks participate in the execution of every I/O request.
- Typically, the spindles of the individual drives are synchronized so that
each disk head is in the same position on each disk at any given time.
- RAID 2 uses very small strips, often as small as a single byte or word.
- Error-correcting code is calculated across corresponding bits on each data
disk, and the bits of the code are stored in the corresponding bit positions
on multiple parity disks.

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On a single read, all disks are simultaneously accessed. The requested data and
the associated error-correcting code are delivered to the array controller.
On a single write, all data disks and parity disks must be accessed for the write
operation.
RAID 2 would only be an effective choice in an environment in which many disk
errors occur.
RAID 2 has never been implemented.

RAID 3 (Bit-Interleaved Parity)

- RAID 3 requires only a single redundant disk, no matter how large the
disk array. It employs parallel access, with data distributed in small
strips.
- Instead of an error-correcting code, a simple parity bit is computed for
the set of individual bits in the same position on all of the data disks.
- In the event of a drive failure, the parity drive is accessed and data is
reconstructed from the remaining devices. Once the failed drive is
replaced, the missing data can be restored on the new drive and
operation resumed.

RAID 4 (Block-Level Parity)

- RAID 4 make use of an independent access technique. In an independent
access array, each member disk operates independently, so that separate
I/O requests can be satisfied in parallel.
- Because of this, independent access arrays are more suitable for
applications that require high I/O request rates and are relatively less
suited for applications that require high data transfer rates.
- Data striping is used where the strips are relatively large. A bit-by-bit
parity strip is calculated across corresponding strips on each data disk,
and the parity bits are stored in the corresponding strip on the parity
disk.

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RAID 5 (Block-Level Distributed Parity)
- RAID 5 is organized in a similar fashion to RAID 4. The difference is that RAID
5 distributes the parity strips across all disks.
- The distribution of parity strips across all drives avoids the potential I/O
bottleneck found in RAID 4.

RAID 6 (Dual Redundancy)

- In the RAID 6 scheme, two different parity calculations are carried out and
stored in separate blocks on different disks.
- Thus, a RAID 6 array whose user data require N disks consists of N+2 disks.
- This makes it possible to regenerate data even if two disks containing user data
fail.
- Three disks would have to fail to cause data to be lost.

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 Optical Memory
In 1983, the compact disk (CD) digital audio system was introduced. The CD is a
nonerasable disk that can store more than 60 minutes of audio information on
one side.The huge commercial success of the CD enabled the development of
low-cost optical-disk storage technology that has revolutionized computer data
storage.

Compact Disk Read-Only Memory (CD-ROM)

- It is a non-erasable disk used for storing computer data about 700
Mbytes.
- Digitally recorded information is imprinted as a series of microscopic pits
on surface of polycarbonate by a laser.
- The pitted surface is then coated with a highly reflective surface, usually
aluminum or gold.
- This shiny surface is protected against dust and scratches by a top coat of
clear acrylic.
- Finally, a label can be silkscreened onto the acrylic.

- Information is retrieved from a CD or CD-ROM by a low-powered laser

housed in an optical-disk player, or drive unit.
- The laser shines through the clear polycarbonate while a motor spins the
disk.
- The intensity of the reflected light of the laser changes as it encounters a
pit.
- The areas between pits are called lands.
- The change between pits and lands is detected by a photo-sensor and
converted into a digital signal.

CD Recordable (CD-R)
It is a write-once read-many CD. It is prepared in such a way that it can be
subsequently written once with a laser beam of modest intensity.Thus, with a
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somewhat more expensive disk controller than for CD-ROM, the customer can
write once as well as read the disk.
For a CD-R, medium includes a dye layer which is used to change reflectivity
and is activated by a high-density laser.
CD-R disk can be read on a CD-R drive or a CD-ROM drive. The CD-R optical
disk is attractive for archival storage of documents and files. It provides a
permanent record of large volumes of user data.

CD Rewritable (CD-RW)
Can be repeatedly written and overwritten. It uses an approach called phase
change. The phase change disk uses a material that has two significantly different
reflectivity in two different phase states.
A beam of laser light can change the material from one phase to the other.

Digital Versatile Disk (DVD)

The DVD has replaced the videotape used in video cassette recorders (VCRs)
and the CD-ROM in personal computers and servers.
The DVD takes video into the digital age. DVDs come in writeable as well as
read-only versions.
The DVD’s greater capacity is due to three differences from CDs:
- Bits are packed more closely on a DVD, thus resulting in a capacity
of 4.7GB.
- The DVD can employ a second layer of pits and lands on top of the
first layer, known as dual layer. It increased the capacity to 8.5GB.
- The DVD can be double sided. This brings total capacity up to 17 GB.
Blu-ray Disk
There is a new technology named as Blu-ray disk, designed to store HD videos
and provide greater storage capacity compared to DVDs. The higher bit density
is achieved by using a laser with a shorter wavelength, in the blue-violet range.
Blu-ray can store 25 GB on a single layer. Three versions are available: read only
(BD-ROM), recordable once (BD-R), and recordable (BD-RE).

Magnetic Tape

The medium is flexible polyester tape coated with magnetizable material.

Virtually all tapes are housed in cartridges.
A tape drive is a sequential-access device. If the tape head is positioned at record
1, then to read record N, it is necessary to read physical records 1 through N-1,
one at a time.
If the head is currently positioned beyond the desired record, it is necessary to
rewind the tape a certain distance and begin reading forward.

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Unlike the disk, the tape is in motion only during a read or write operation.
Magnetic tape was the first kind of secondary memory. It is still widely used as
the lowest-cost, slowest-speed member of the memory hierarchy.
The dominant tape technology today is a cartridge system known as linear tape-
open (LTO) that has a capacity range between 200GB and 6.25TB.

Flash Memory
Flash memories are also used very widely as external storage devices.
- Memory cards are the most commonly used implementation of
flash memories. They are used in lots of devices such as MP3
players, mobile phones and digital cameras.
- Card readers are used for writing and reading a memory card in
computers.

- There are also flash memories that can be connected to the

computer through the USB interface.

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