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DISKS AND DRIVES

Computer data storage, often called storage or memory, is a technology consisting of

computer components and recording media used to retain digital data. It is a core
function and fundamental component of computers. There are two different types of
storage devices

Primary Storage Devices: Generally smaller in size, are designed to hold data temporarily and
are internal to the computer. They have the fastest data access speed, and include RAM and
cache memory. Secondary Storage Devices: These usually have large storage capacity, and
they store data permanently. They can be both internal and external to the computer, and they
include the hard disk, compact disk drive and USB storage device.
Note: A disk is a device on which data is stored while a drive is a device used to
record/read from a disk. Some devices incorporate the disk and drive together (i.e. Hard
drive/hard disk drive) but others are in separate (i.e. CD/Floppy disks and drives)

Types of computer storage and Disks

The following are some examples of types of storage devices used with computers.

Magnetic storage/disks devices - Today, magnetic storage is one of the most common
types of storage used with computers and is the technology that many computer hard
drives use. It uses magnetism as its method of reading and writing data.

• Floppy diskette
• Hard drive
• Super Disk
• Tape cassette
• Zip diskette

Optical storage/disks devices - Another common storage is optical storage, which uses
lasers and lights as its method of reading and writing data.

• Blu-Ray disc
• CD-ROM disc
• CD-R and CD-RW disc
• DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, and DVD+RW disc

Storage/Disk organization
If data needs to be kept whilst a computer is turned off then it must be stored on backing
store. Any programs or data that are not currently being used by a computer will be kept
on backing store. When programs or data are used they are copied (loaded) into main
memory
(RAM) for faster access.

The purpose of storage in a computer is to hold data and get that data to the CPU as
quickly as possible when it is needed. Computers use disks for storage: most commonly,
hard disks that are located inside the computer (non- removable), and floppy or compact
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disks that are used externally (removable). Three types of Backing Storage media we
will overview in this topic are; Magnetic, Optical and Electronic media.

Storage Media vs Storage Drives

Information stored on backing store is placed on a storage

medium.

The data is read from or written to the storage medium by a piece

of hardware known as a drive or a storage device. That is, a
storage device records and retrieves items to and from a storage
medium.

It takes much longer to access data which is on backing store than data which
is in main memory, typically 100 to 1000 times as long.
This is because most backing storage devices operate mechanically. Computer systems
have much more backing store than main memory for two reasons:

1. Main Memory only needs to store programs and data that are currently being used
whereas the backing store needs to hold all of the programs and data that can be
used on the computer.
2. Backing store is much cheaper per Mb than Main Memory.

Capacity is the number of bytes a storage medium can hold.

Reading is the process of transferring data, instructions, and information from a storage
medium into memory.

Writing is the process of transferring these items from memory to a storage medium.

Characteristics of Backing store

Data is usually accessed using read/write heads. These transfer the data while
the medium rotates in the drive
Access to backing store is slower that to main memory
They are non-volatile. The data is stored on the medium until it is deleted.

Magnetic Media

Magnetic tape

Magnetic tape is a narrow plastic ribbon coated

with an easily magnetisable material on which
data can be recorded. It is used in
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backups.

Downloaded Z
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sound recording, audiovisual systems (videotape), and

Tape is still used to make backup copies of important data. Information is
recorded on the tape in binary form, with two different strengths of signal
representing 1 and 0.
The device that reads the tape is the Tape Drive or Tape Unit.

Magnetic tape comes mainly in two different forms:

Reel to Large reels of tape which must be loaded into a reel-to-reel tape
Reel drive. This type of tape is usually used by mainframe computers.

Cartridges The tape is supplied in a small cartridge rather like a music

tape. This type of tape is used on PCs (microcomputers) and
the device used to read/write the tapes is called a tape
streamer.
Capacities of cartridges vary from 10Gb to 200Gb.

Magnetic Discs - Hard Disks

The hard disk is a magnetic disk, usually fixed in the

drive (internal) although nowadays there also exist
external hard disks. Access to data is far faster than
access to floppy disks. Hard disks store far more data
than floppy disks. They are more reliable then floppy
disks - there is better protection against dirt. Hard
disks are used to
store
the operating system, application software and users' files.

A hard disk is madeof a rigid disk which is coated with a magnetisable material. Hard disks spin much
more quickly than
floppy disks and the disk read/write head is positioned very close to the disk
(thousandths of a millimeter away). Because the disk head is positioned so close
to the disk hard drives can easily be damaged by dust or vibration. Therefore
the disk, the drive head and all the electronics needed to operate the drive are
built together into a sealed unit. This picture shows a hard disk drive with the
case removed.

Usually (as in the picture above) several physical disks are contained in one hard
disk unit. Each disk is known as a platter. Typical hard disk capacities for a
home PC now start at up to 180 Gb.
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Floppy Disks

Consists of a plastic case that measures 3 1/2 by 5 inches. Inside that case
is a very thin piece of plastic (see picture at right) that is coated with
microscopic iron particles (magnetic). This disk is much like the tape
inside a video or audio cassette. Never touch the inner disk - you could
damage the data that is stored on it.
Floppy disks are the smallest type of storage, holding only 1.44MB.

Access to data is much slower than for hard disk. The data on the disk can
be protected by sliding a small write-protect tab which prevents the
contents of the disk from being changed.

Some hardware companies now produce storage devices (Zip disks)

which are very similar to floppy disks but can store 100Mb or even
250Mb of data. These devices are also much faster than standard floppy
disk drives.

How Hard disks and Floppy Disks Work - Magnetic

The process of reading and writing to a hard or floppy disk is done with electricity and
magnetism. The surfaces of both types of disks can be easily magnetized. The electromagnetic
head of the disk drive records information to the disk by creating a pattern of magnetized and
non-magnetized areas on the disk's surface. Do you remember how the binary code uses on and
off commands to represent information? On the disk, magnetized areas are on and non-
magnetized areas are off, so that all information is stored in binary code. This is how the
electronic head can both write to or read from the disk surface.

It is very important to always keep magnets away from floppy disks and away from your
computer! The magnets can erase information from the disks!

Format of Magnetic Disks

All magnetic disks are similarly formatted, or divided into areas, called Tracks
and Sectors. The formatting process sets up a method of assigning addresses to
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the different areas. It also sets up an area for keeping the list of addresses.
Without formatting there would be no way to know what data went with
what.
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Tracks - A track is a circular ring on one

side of the disk. Each track has a
number. The diagram shows 3 tracks.

Sectors - A
disk sector is
a wedgeshap
e piece of
the disk.
Each sector
is numbered.

Double sided A typical

magnetic disk
has two
surfaces or
sides. Each
surface holds
data in circular
tracks and each
track is divided
into equal
sections called
sectors. The
track number
and sector
number are
used as an
adderss to find
where data is
on the disk.
Data can be
both both
written to or
read from the
disk. Magnetic
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disk are direct

access i.e. any
data item can
be accessed
without reading
other
data first.

What happens when a disk is formatted?

1. All data is erased. Don't forget this!!

2. Surfaces are checked for physical and

magnetic defects.

3. A Filing system (with root directory) is

created to list where things are on the disk.

Optical Media

An optical disk is a storage medium in which laser technology is used to record and read large
volumes of digital data.

Compact Disks

CDs use (microscopic indentations) and (flat surfaces) to store

information much the same way floppies and hard disks use magnetic and non- magnetic
storage. Inside the CDRom is a laser that reflects light off of the surface of the disk to an electric
eye.

Compact disks are exchangeable and easy to transport.

Access to data is faster than access to floppy disks but
slower than hard disks. CDs typically hold 650 or 700
megabytes of data, and are used
in distributing large
amounts of text and graphics, such
as encyclopedias,
catalogues, and technical manuals.
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As with a hard disk the drive head in an optical drive can

move directly to any file on the disk so optical disks are direct
access.

CD-ROM (Compact Disk - Read Only Memory) - The data is written onto the CD- ROM
disk before it is sold and can not be changed by the user. CD-ROMs are used for applications
such as distributing software, digital videos or multimedia products.

CD-R (Compact Disk - Recordable) - A CD-R disk is blank when it is supplied. The user can
write data to it just once. After data has been written to the disk it can not be changed. CD-Rs are
often used for making permanent backups of data and distributing software when only a small
number of copies are required.

CD-RW (Compact Disk - Rewriteable) - CD-RW disks can be read from and
written to.

DVDs

DVD-ROM (Digital Versatile Disk - Read Only Memory) - DVD disks are able to store much
more data than CD disks. The DVD standard includes disk capacities up to 30Gb. DVD-ROM
disks can be read from but can not be written to.

DVD-RAM (Digital Versatile Disk - Random Access Memory) - DVD-RAM disks have all of
the benefits of DVD-ROM disks and can be written to as well. These very high capacity disks
are ideal for producing backups.

Because of their high capacity, DVD disks are used to store high quality video such as complete
movies.

Disk management
Disk Management is an extension of the Microsoft Management Console that allows full
management of the disk-based hardware recognized by Windows.
You can use Disk Management in this version of Windows to perform disk-related tasks such as
creating and formatting partitions and volumes, and assigning drive letters.

What is a system utility?

System utilities are programs that are designed to help you fix and enhance your current
computer system. Many operating systems include a range of utility programs to perform
common tasks such as checking disks, backing up information, restoring information and
reorganising information. Many other system utilities are available as third party software – this
means that you purchase and install these utilities separately from the operating system software.
Third party system utilities are designed to perform specific functions that the current operating
system either does not perform or performs at a lesser standard.
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The types of system utilities we’ll look at in this reading will allow you to perform these basic
tasks:
• disk scan
• disk defragment
• file back up
• file recovery
• get system information.

What is a disk scan?

A disk scan is a useful utility to help identify and repair problems on a hard disk or floppy disk; it
is provided with some operating systems. It can perform a thorough check of the disk’s surface
to ensure that it is able to read and write information on all areas of the disk. If the disk scan
utility finds a problem it will usually display a message and offer to fix the problem.
There is a disk scan utility on recent versions of Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh
operating systems, where if you turn off your computer without exiting the system, the
Scan Disk utility will run automatically the next time you start your computer.
There are also third party utilities that you are able to use that will perform similar and
sometimes more thorough scans of the disk.
What is defragment?
To a computer, defragment means that all the files on the computer’s hard disk will be placed in
a neat and tidy order.
Gradually, as a computer hard disk has many files added, updated and deleted, the files can start
to become fragmented. Fragmentation means that portions of the files are scattered all over the
disk. A defragment will ensure that all files are reordered so that their parts are placed adjacent to
one another. This will mean the computer can now read these files much more quickly.
Depending on how many files need to be reorganised, a defragment can take hours. If you use
your computer regularly you should try and do a defragment at least once a month. A good
time to do a defragment may be overnight – when nobody will be using the computer.
Often an operating system will include several system tools, including the defragment utility. If
it is not included with the operating system, a defragment program can be purchased as an
external software program (a third party utility).
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Figure 1: A diagram of a disk before and after a defragment. The picture on the left displays
a disk with lines (representing data) that have been randomly placed on the disk. The picture
on the right displays a disk after defragmentation — the lines (data) now appear in a
consecutive order.

Figure 2: A screenshot of the Disk Defragmenter utility provided with the Microsoft Windows
XP operating system

Backing up
Backing up means making a copy of your files, in case your computer hard disk fails and your
original files become ‘corrupted’. Although for the majority of time the computer’s hard disk
will not have any problems, occasionally a disk may fail unexpectedly. Some reasons why a
hard disk may fail include:  a sudden power failure
• computer virus damaging the hard disk
• damaged caused by knocking or moving the hard disk.
Backups need to be done on a regular basis, so if there is a problem you will still have a
recent copy of your files. It is also a good idea to keep backups in another location away from
your computer. Make sure where you store your backup information is away from sunlight,
dust and magnetic fields.
Choosing a backup media
It is important to choose the most appropriate kind of media to backup data to. When choosing
media, be realistic; it is better to store backups using media that has a large capacity. Some
suggestions include:
• Second hard disk: Some computers may have a second hard disk available that will allow a
fast and easy method of backing up data.
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• CD or DVD: Many computers have CD and DVD burners that will allow you to ‘burn’ data
onto a writeable CD or DVD.
• Zip disk: Zip disks are removable disks that hold between 100MB and 250MB of
information.
• Tape drive: A medium that may be used by a business to backup business information.
What should you backup?
Backup anything that you have created yourself — including documents, digital photographs and
video. All of these items will have no other way of being replaced if there are problems later on.
If there is a problem, you can always reinstall the operating system and the application software
using the original software CDs.
How often should you backup?
How often you backup will really depend on how often you use the computer and what is being
stored on the computer. If, for example, your computer contains important business information
that you are using everyday, it is a good idea to try to back up everyday. If, however, you only
use your computer occasionally to play games or write the odd letter, a backup will probably
only need to be done once a month.
How to perform a backup
Some operating systems include special backup utilities that make it easy for you to back up
important files. If you don’t have a backup utility already installed you could install a third party
program that is designed to do backups or manually copy and paste your files from the hard disk
to your backup device.
Backup programs allow you to easily select files that you want to back up, then they copy the
files to the chosen backup device. A backup program may also compress the files before they are
copied so you can fit more files onto the backup device.
Recovery
A recovery utility is used to undelete a file that has been accidentally deleted. Many operating
systems now include special recovery utilities to help you restore files that have accidentally
been removed. Microsoft Windows includes a Recycle Bin and Macintosh operating systems
include Trash. Both of these utilities allow you a second chance to undelete any files on the
hard disk.
There is also a recovery utility in recent version of Microsoft Windows called System Restore.
The System Restore utility keeps a regular log of all current settings so if, for example, a new
installation of a program is causing problems System Restore will be able to reset all settings
back to how they were before the installation.
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Figure 3: A screenshot of the System Restore utility in Microsoft Windows XP operating system

Hard Disk Interface(s)

Hard drives and other devices are connected to a computer motherboard through some type of
cable. These cables use multiple smaller wires in parallel to transmit the proper signals for
reading and writing to and from the drive. There are multiple types of cables, which transmit at
different speeds and use different types of connectors. Here we will look at some of the most
common device cables and the differences between them.

SCSI - SCSI stands for Small Computer System Interface and used a parallel cable to attach
both internal and external devices. One of the benefits of SCSI interfaces is that multiple devices
could be chained together to a single port. Another benefit is that the interface includes features
like error checking and hand shake signals between devices.

IDE - IDE stands for Integrated Drive Electronics and refers more to the standard than the cable
type itself. The technology is also often referred to as ATA or PATA. ATA cables can only be up
to 18 inches in length and are fairly large and flat, which makes them a poor choice for external
devices, so the interface is mainly used for internal devices. The cable uses a combination of 40
or 80 wires in parallel.

SATA - SATA stands for Serial ATA and is an evolution of the original ATA (or IDE)
interface. The SATA interface is faster in speed, at up to 3GB/s. Another major benefit of the
interface is
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that the cables and connectors are much smaller, taking up less space inside a computer case and
not restricting air flow. There is an external version of SATA known as eSATA for connecting
external hard drives and other devices.

Interface cables have improved quite a bit over the years, but the basic concept of input and
output has remained mainly the same. New interfaces such as Thunderbolt have added
even faster transfer speeds and taken some of the benefits from multiple technologies to
make an improved connection.

Formatting and Partitioning a Hard Drive

Definitions
There are a few words we need to define before going any further. Don't worry, there won't be a
test. :-)

Partition, partitioning: Free space on a hard disk must be partitioned before it can be used by an
operating system. Creating a partition reserves a physical portion of the hard drive space for use
as a logical drive, or volume, that the operating system can address.
Volume: A volume is how the operating system 'sees' your free disk space. Volumes (also called
logical drives) are represented in Windows by drive letters such as C:, E:, etc. Volumes are
formed by partitioning the free space of a hard drive. Volumes must be formatted with a file
system before data can be stored on them.
Formatting: Formatting is the act of creating a file system on a volume, so that the operating
system can store and retrieve data on that volume.
File system: A file system provides a means of organizing and retrieving information written to a
hard disk or any other storage medium. A file system is created on a volume when it is
formatted. Common Windows file systems include FAT32 (File Allocation Table 32) and NTFS
(New Technology File System).

Partition can be thought of as a division or "part" of a real hard disk drive. When you partition
a hard drive, you make it available to an operating system. Multiple partitions on a singe hard
drive appear as separate drives to the operating system.
A partition also is used to mean the division of certain kinds of secondary storage (such as hard
disk drives (HDDs)), via the creation of multiple sub-divitions. Partitions are logical containers
which are usually used to house file systems, where operating systems, applications, and data are
installed on. A single partition may span the entirety of a physical storage device.
Disk formatting is the process of preparing a data storage device such as a hard disk
drive, solid-state drive, floppy disk or USB flash drive for initial use.
The first part of the formatting process that performs basic medium preparation is often referred
to as "low-level formatting".
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The second part, Partitioning is the common term for the part in the process in disc preparation,
making the data storage device visible to an operating system.
The third part of the process, usually termed "high-level formatting" most often refers to the process of
generating a new file system. In some operating systems all or parts of these three processes can be
combined or repeated at different levels and the term "format" is understood to mean an operation in
which a new disk medium is fully prepared
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