Chapter 3

Getting Started

Magnetic Optical Solid-state

So you thought tapes had died out?

Now that organizations all over the world keep nearly everything stored digitally, and the amount of data being recorded is
increasing at around 30-40% a year, the capacity of storage media is important because the capacity of hard drives isn’t increasing
as quickly as the amount of data that needs to be held. If there are data that do not have to be accessed immediately, tapes are a
good solution. Magnetic tape is wound onto a spool to be read from or written to by a device.

Tape storage has lots of advantages: it is energy efficient because when it is full, it is stored and doesn’t consume any power;
magnetic tapes are very reliable, and their error rates are very low. It has built-in encryption and is also secure because as it isn’t in
a hard drive, cyber-attacks are not possible. The data cannot therefore be accessed or modified.

Discussion questions

1) Apart from magnetic tapes, what other media are used for archiving large amounts of data?

Hard Disk Drives (HDD’s), Solid State Drives (SSD’s), Optical Discs (DVD, Blu-ray, CD) and Cloud Storage

2) Before reading and discussing this text, what did you think about ‘old fashioned’ tape for ICT purposes and has your thinking
changed now?

Before reading the text, I had thought that magnetic storage tapes are outdated compared to the other modern-day storage
solutions. After reading the article (text), my opinion on the purpose of ‘old fashioned’ tapes had changed. Magnetic tapes are;

- Cost-effective
- High capacity
- Offline storage
- Energy efficient
- Reliable

Activity 3.1

Carry out research to find hard disk drives with the following

- 500GB: Samsung 870 EVO 500GB 2.5” Internal SSD ($0.198 per GB)
- 1TB: Samsung 870 EVO 1TB 2.5” Internal SSD ($0.184 per GB)
- 2TB: Samsung 870 EVO 2TB 2.5” Internal SSD ($0.155 per GB)

Activity 3.2

Investigate the types of lasers used for DVDs and Blu-ray disks.

For DVD players, they typically use a red laser with a wavelength of around 650 nanometers (nm). This red laser is used to read data
stored on the DVD disc. For Blu-ray players, it uses a blue-violet

laser with a shorter wavelength of typically 405 nanometers (nm). A shorter wavelength allows for a higher data density and
therefore enables the storage of more data on a Blu-ray disc compared to a DVD.

Questions

1) The following table shows some statements about hard disk drives. Make a copy of the table and place ticks in the
correct columns to indicate whether they are true or false.
 ✓

✓
✓

Compare and research the cost of a 1TB SSD and a 1TB HDD.

Samsung 990 PRO 1TB SSD M.2 Gen 4 NVMe - $219

Samsung T7 Shield 1TB HDD Rugged Case - $239

Difference in price - $20

Questions

3) There are three main types of storage device

a) State what type of storage medium is used by memory sticks and memory cards.

Flash memory is primarily used as storage medium by memory sticks and memory cards.

b) Name two devices that storage data magnetically

Two devices that store data magnetically Is cassette tape and hard disk drive.

c) List three devices which store data using lasers

Three devices that store data using lasers are CD, DVD, and Floppy disks.

4) Why are storage devices necessary?

Storage devices are important because they allow users to store and access digital data. They help the system store files,
applications, and operation systems.

5) What is the difference between a storage medium and a storage device? Give examples.

• A storage medium is the physical material where data is stored, like a disk or chip. Examples include hard drives, CDs,
DVDs, and flash memory.
• A storage device, on the other hand, is the hardware that reads form and writes to the storage medium. It’s what you use
to access the data. Examples include a computer’s hard drive, a USB flash drive, or an external hard disk drive.

In simplified words, the medium is where the data is stored, and the device is what you can use to access that data.

Practical Task 3.1

1) Discuss what SSD stands for as well as the different types of SSD devices, naming examples.

SSD stands for Solid-state drive.

1) Explain why a laptop needs a storage device

2) Read the four statements and state which ones are true.

True
True
True
False
False

3) State which is the storage medium of a Blu-ray disk:

- Flash

- Magnetic

- Optical

- SSD

4) Describe how data is stored on an optical disk such as a CD ROM

Tiny pits and flat surfaces on a CD-ROM are used store data. Computers can read binary code, which is represented by
these

holes and flat surfaces. The CD-ROM is read by a laser beam when it is inserted into a computer or CD player. The laser
beams

reflects differently when it comes into contact with a pit as opposed to a flat surface. The computer or CD player can read
the

binary code on the CD-ROM and extract the contents, including documents, films, and music, by deciphering these
reflections.

5) Identify two disadvantages of using magnetic instead of solid-state storage.

Two disadvantages of using magnetic storage instead of solid-state storage is that:

• Magnetic storage is slower than solid-state storage

6) Explain the difference between direct access and serial access to your data.

Direct access allows you to immediately jump to any part of your data, like skipping to a specific song on a CD.

Serial access required going through data sequentially, like fast-forwarding or rewinding through a tape to find what you
want.

7) State which of the following types of storage would access data the fastest.

- Magnetic

- Solid-state (SSD)

- Optical

- They all take the same amount of time to access the data.
8) Read the following scenarios and suggest the most suitable storage solutions for each. Justify your answers.

a) The owner of a mail-order company has constantly changed order and customer information as orders are being
processed

throughout the day. What would be the best backup medium for this company?

Magnetic storage can be used as it is able to store vast amounts of data, with data being back up continually throughout
the

day. Or constant backups can be made by syncing with a cloud server.

b) A school student needs a method to back up his homework and transfer documents between school and home?

Cloud storage so that he can access his documents wherever he is if the school and home have internet access or if
there

is no access then you can use a USB solid state

c) The owner of a small business with only one computer no internet access would like to back up the business data once a
week

Optical storage for example; a DVD because it can be easily stored off-site.

9) For exploring the environment, a school uses portable, battery operated data loggers to measure variables such as
temperature,

light intensity and oxygen levels in water. Each data logger has a secondary storage device.

a) Explain why a data logger needs secondary storage.

A data logger needs secondary storage for extended storage capacity, data security and backup data.

b) Explain why solid-state storage is the most suitable for the data loggers.

Fast access or read/write speeds for storing rapidly changing data.