UNIT 3: HARDWARE

SECTION 3.3: STORAGE DEVICES

Memory Device:

Device that is used to store data or programs (sequences of instructions) on a temporary or permanent
basis.

Types of Storage devices.

There are three major storage formats on which data is stored.

• Primary Storage
• Secondary Storage
• Offline Storage

Primary storage (also known as main memory) is the component of the computer that holds data,
programs and instructions that are currently in use. Primary storage is located on the motherboard.

TYPES OF PRIMARY STORAGE:

1. (RAM) 2. (ROM)
ROM= Read Only Memory

• You can write data only once. However, once it is written, you can read it any number of times

• A ROM chip is used mainly in the start-up process of a computer. they are often used to store
data that the computer needs to access when powering up for the first time (the basic
input/output system (BIOS)); these are known as the start-up instructions (or bootstrap)

ENGR. TASMIA NIAZI 1

 • Its content is not lost when the power supply is switched off.

• A ROM is non-volatile memory.

RAM= Random Access Memory

• The information stored in this type of memory is lost when the power supply to the PC or laptop
is switched off.
• Much faster to read from and write.

*IMPORTANT*: In general, the larger the size of RAM the faster the computer will operate. In
reality, RAM never runs out of memory; it continues to operate but just becomes slower and
slower as more data is stored. As RAM becomes ‘full’, the CPU has to continually access the
secondary data storage devices to overwrite old data on RAM with new data. By increasing the
RAM size, the number of times this has to be done is considerably reduced; thus, making the
computer operate more quickly.

RAM chips are available in two forms:

i. SRAM (Static RAM)

ii. DRAM (Dynamic RAM)

Difference between SRAM & DRAM:

SRAM is much faster than DRAM when it comes to data access (typically, access time for SRAM is
25nanoseconds and for DRAM is 60nanoseconds).

ENGR. TASMIA NIAZI 2

Example: A remote-controlled toy car has circuitry which contains both RAM and ROM chips. The
remote control is a hand-held device. Explain the function of the RAM and ROM chip in this application.

We will consider the function of each type of memory independently:

ROM

» Storing the factory settings such as remote-control frequencies

» Storing the ‘start-up’ routines when the toy car is first switched on
» Storing of the set routines; for example, how the buttons on the hand-held device control turning left,
acceleration, stopping, and so on.
RAM

» The user may wish to program in their own routines; these new instructions would be stored in the
RAM chip
» The RAM chip will store the data/instructions received from the remote-control unit.

Secondary Storage
1. Magnetic Storage
The Hard Disk

• Main internal backing storage.

• A hard disk stores:

1. Operating system

2. Software applications or programs

3. the majority of your data files

• Hard disks spin at very high speed (around 7,200 RPM - revolutions per minute)

• Vulnerable to mechanical shocks

Uses of HDD

✓ Fixed hard drives are used to store the operating system and working data.
✓ They are used for storing applications software that needs fast retrieval and storage of data.
✓ Real-time systems (e.g. robots, control of a chemical plant) and online systems (e.g. booking
airline tickets, automatic stock control) use fixed hard drives.

ENGR. TASMIA NIAZI 3

 Advantages of HDD:
✓ They have a very fast data transfer rate and fast access times to data.

✓ They have very large memory capacities.

Disadvantages of HDD:

✓ They can be fairly easily damaged (e.g. if the correct shut-down procedure on a laptop computer
has not been correctly carried out and the computer is then moved).

✓ They lack portability unless a portable hard disk drive is used.

Offline Storage

External Hard disk

• A portable storage device

• Attached through a computer via USB

• Have high storage capacity

2. Solid State Drive (SSD)

Made up of Integrated Circuit (IC). The chip is the medium at which data is stored. The term ‘solid-state
‘essentially means “no moving parts”.

Solid-state storage devices are based on electronic circuits with no moving parts (no reels of tape, no
spinning discs, no laser beams, etc.), so the issue of LATENCY is removed. All data is retrieved at the
same rate.

.
ENGR. TASMIA NIAZI 4
Memory sticks/flash memories: (also known as pen drives) use solid state technology. They usually
connect to the computer through the USB port. Their main advantage is that they are very small,
lightweight devices, which make them very suitable as a method for transferring files between
computers.

*Complex or expensive software, such as financial planning software, often uses memory sticks as a
dongle. The dongle contains additional files that are needed to run the software. Without this dongle,
the software won’t work properly. It therefore prevents illegal or unauthorized use of the software, and
also prevents copying of the software since, without the dongle, it is useless. *

Advantages of SSD over HDD

• They are more reliable (no moving parts to go wrong).

• They are considerably lighter (which makes them suitable for laptops).
• They have a lower power consumption.
• They run much cooler than HDDs (these last two points again make them very suitable for
laptop computers).
• because they have no moving parts, they are very thin.
• Data access is considerably faster than HDD.
Most solid-state storage devices are conservatively rated at only 20GB of write operations per day over
a three-year period – this is known as SSD endurance.
Note: It is also not possible to over-write existing data on a flash memory device; it is necessary to first
erase the old data and then write the new data at the same location.
Optical storage

Optical storage device writes and reads data from optical storage medium by using a LASER. The shorter
the wavelength of the laser light, the greater the storage capacity of the medium.

The main types of CD and DVD have different suffixes, as follows:

– ROM stands for “Read-Only Memory” – these cannot be written to, and are suitable for the
distribution of music, movies, software and encyclopedias.

ENGR. TASMIA NIAZI 5

– R stands for “Recordable” – these can be written to just once and then can only be read from, making
them suitable for storing music or movies or archive copies of documents.

– RW stands for “ReWritable” – these can be written to and read multiple times, making them suitable
for making temporary copies of data files for transfer from one computer to another or regular backup
copies.

– DVD-RAM is a DVD (optical disc) technology for high-capacity data storage for computers. Like
ordinary random access memory (RAM), it can be repeatedly read, written to, and erased. However,
with a storage capacity of up to 9.4 gigabytes (GB) per double-sided disc, DVD-RAM has many times the
capacity of CD-RW.

– Blu-ray discs (BD or BR) have larger storage capacities than other optical storage media and a higher
rate of data transfer. Although disks are expensive, their cost per gigabyte of storage is nearer to that of
a HDD.

Comparison of the capacity and interactivity of DVDs and Blu-ray discs :

» A standard dual-layer DVD has a storage capacity of 4.7GB (enough to store a 2-hour standard
definition movie)
» A single-layer Blu-ray disc has a storage capacity of 27GB (enough to store a 2-hour high definition
movie or 13hours of standard definition movies)
» A dual-layer Blu-ray disc has a storage capacity of 50GB (enough to store 4.5hours of high definition
movies or 20hours of standard definition movies).
Advantages of Blu ray disc:

» record high definition television programs

» skip quickly to any part of the disc
» create playlists of recorded movies and television programmes
» edit or re-order programmes recorded on the disc
» automatically search for empty space on the disc to avoid over-recording
» access websites and download subtitles and other interesting features.
Disadvantages of Blu ray disc:

• Very Expensive Technology

• Due to increasing popularity of High Definition DVD players, Blu-ray may be nullified because
consumers will settle for the less expensive competitor

• Not only is the technology expensive but Blu-ray discs have a higher price tag as well

ENGR. TASMIA NIAZI 6

ENGR. TASMIA NIAZI 7
ENGR. TASMIA NIAZI 8
VIRTUAL MEMORY

ENGR. TASMIA NIAZI 9

Virtual memory gives the illusion of unlimited memory being available. Even though RAM is full, data
can be moved in and out of the HDD/SSD to give the illusion that there is still memory available.

paging is used by memory management to store and retrieve data from HDD/SSD and copy it into RAM.
A page is a fixed-length consecutive (or contiguous) block of data utilized in virtual memory systems.

The main benefits of virtual memory are:

» programs can be larger than physical memory and still be executed

» there is no need to waste memory with data that isn’t being used (e.g. during error handling)
» it reduces the need to buy and install more expensive RAM memory (although as mentioned earlier
there are limits to the value of doing this).
disk thrashing (HDD) – a problem in a hard disk drive (HDD) caused by excessive swapping in and out of
data causing a high rate of head movements during virtual memory operations

Due to large numbers of head movements, this can also lead to premature failure of a hard disk drive.

It can be reduced by installing more RAM, another way of reducing this problem is to make use of a solid
state drive (SSD) rather than using HDD.

thrash point – the point at which the execution of a program comes to a halt because the system is so
busy moving data in and out of memory rather than actually executing the program.

data redundancy – the unnecessary storing of the same data on several storage devices at the same
time

ENGR. TASMIA NIAZI 10

Cloud storage
1. Public and private cloud computing

Cloud storage is a method of data storage where data is stored on remote servers. The same data is
stored on more than one server in case of maintenance or repair, allowing clients to access data at
any time. This is known as data redundancy.

The physical environment is owned and managed by a hosting company and may include hundreds
of servers in many locations.

There are three common systems:

» Public cloud – this is a storage environment where the customer/client and cloud storage provider
are different companies

» Private cloud – this is storage provided by a dedicated environment behind a company firewall;
customer/client and cloud storage provider are integrated and operate as a single entity

» Hybrid cloud – this is a combination of the two above environments; some data resides in the
private cloud and less sensitive/less commercial data can be accessed from a public cloud storage
provider.

Data security when using cloud storage:

Potential data loss when using cloud storage: There is a risk that important and irreplaceable data could
be lost from the cloud storage facilities. Actions from hackers (gaining access to accounts or pharming
attacks, for example) could lead to loss or corruption of data.

The following breaches of security involving some of the largest cloud service providers suggest why
some people are nervous of using cloud storage for important files:

» The XEN security threat, which forced several cloud operators to reboot all their cloud servers, was
caused by a problem in the XEN hypervisor (a hypervisor is a piece of computer software, firmware or
hardware that creates and runs virtual machines).

» A large cloud service provider permanently lost data during a routine back-up procedure.

ENGR. TASMIA NIAZI 11

» The celebrity photos cloud hacking scandal, in which more than 100 private photos of celebrities were
leaked. Hackers had gained access to a number of cloud accounts, which enabled them to publish the
photos on social networks and sell them to publishing companies.

» In 2016, the National Electoral Institute of Mexico suffered a cloud security breach in which 93 million
voter registrations, stored on a central database, were compromised and became publicly available to
everyone. To make matters worse, much of the information on this database also linked to a cloud
server outside Mexico.

ENGR. TASMIA NIAZI 12

ENGR. TASMIA NIAZI 13