Types of Local Storage Devices

Random Access Memory (or RAM) and Read Only Memory (or ROM) are
computer hardware chips that store data.

RAM, or Volatile, Cache, or Temporary Memory: Fetches data at a high-speed;

Only stores data for a short time; And automatically deletes data if the device is
shut off.

ROM, or Non-Volatile Memory: Fetches data at slower speeds; Stores larger

amounts of data for as long as needed; And keeps data, even if the device is shut
off.

RAM is used for copy/paste, opening programs, and background processes

ROM is used for computer booting and process initialization.

A Hard Drive or Hard Disk Drive (also called HD or HDD) is a storage drive made of
spinning magnetic plates and a read/write head that reads or writes data. HDDs
are known for having: A large storage capacity; Speeds up to 200 MB/s; And a
tendency to overheat.
HDDs were the standard PC storage for decades. They are best for large, archival
activities.

A Solid-state Drive (SSD) is the fastest storage option. It has no moving parts,
doesn’t need power to retain data, and can read, write, and fetch faster than any
HDD (up to 7000 MB/s, as opposed to 200 MB/s with HDDs). SSDs are the new
standard for PC storage. They are: Small; Fast; And durable; but also Expensive
with limited capacity and they can fail suddenly. SSDs are best for activities that
require speed, like browsing online, or editing large files.

Solid-State Hybrid Drives (or SSHDs) integrate the speed of an SSD and the
capacity of an HDD into a single device. It decides what to store in solid-state vs
hard-disk based on user activity. SSHDs are: Faster than HDDs; Offer better
performance than HDDs; Cost less than pure SSDs; And have higher capacities
than SSDs. Hard drives and solid-state hybrid drives are sometimes referred to as
Spinning Drives because they use spinning plates to read, write, and fetch data.

Optical Disk Drives, or ODDs, read, write, and store data on optical disks like
DVDs, CDs, and BDs (or Blu-ray discs). Optical disk drives use a laser to reflect light
off a disc’s surface so it can read the reflected light. The process is reversed when
writing data to a disk. Optical Disk Drives are also called: CD Drives; DVD Drives;
BD Drives; Disc Drives; And Optical Drives. Optical drives are best for reading large
media files stored on discs. Flash Drives store data on solid-state drives. Less
energy is needed to run flash drives as they don’t have moving parts that require
cooling. High-end versions reduplicate and compress data to save space.

Flash drives are: Small; Fast; and inexpensive to run. But they have smaller
capacity than hard disk drives and are expensive to purchase. Flash comes in
multiple form factors, including USB thumb drives and Digital memory cards. Flash
is best for activities that require speed, like browsing online, or editing files In this
video, you learned that: RAM is used for fast, short-term computer memory, and
ROM is used for slower, longer-term computer memory. SSDs are faster and more
efficient than HDDs. Hybrid Drives offer the speeds of SSDs with the high capacity
of HDDs. Optical drives can read or write to discs like CDs and Blu-rays.

Hybrid Disk Arrays physically combine multiple SSD and HDD devices into an array
of drives working together to achieve the fast and easy performance of solid-state
and the lower costs and higher capacities of hard-disk. Hybrid Disk Arrays are:
Small, Fast, Have lower setup costs than pure flash, But they also Have
performance concerns, And are complex to manage and maintain. Hybrid Disk
Arrays are best when you want both fast speeds and high capacity.

Direct-attached storage (DAS) is one or more storage units within an external

enclosure that is directly attached to the computer accessing it. A DAS can
contain: hard drives, solid-state drives, and optical disc drives. DAS is best for
small to medium networks with moderately high storage needs. External drives
are portable DAS that connect to your computer via USB. In DAS units and other
storage devices, you can configure storage settings to be Ephemeral or Persistent.
Ephemeral storage deletes saved data on restart. It resets things back to their
original state even if settings, updates, and files are adjusted and saved. It is used
in things like application demos and OS restarts in computer labs. Persistent
storage keeps saved data on restart. It behaves like the storage you’re used to in
your everyday computer. It is used in things like personal computers and network
archives. Most storage drives are configured to use persistent storage.

A Redundant Array of Independent Disks (or RAID) spreads data across multiple
storage drives working in parallel. RAID 0, or Striping, splits data into storage
units called “blocks” and stores those across 2 or more drives in an array. RAID 0
is fast, has 100% usable disk capacity, but not fault tolerant. If 1 drive fails, all data
is lost. RAID 0 is popular with gamers and photographers who need to save large
amounts of data quickly. RAID 1, or Mirroring, copies and stores data twice across
two or more drives. RAID 1 cuts space to 50% usable capacity and if 1 drive fails,
no data is lost. RAID 10 combines RAID 0 and RAID 1. It Stripes or spreads data
across drives that are part of the array. RAID 10 is fast, fault tolerant, and if 3
drives fail, all data is lost. RAID 5, or striping with parity, is the most common form
of RAID. It splits data into blocks and stores those across three or more drives. If
data loss occurs, the computer will recalculate the lost data using error-checking
tags known as parity bits that it has stored across the drives. RAID 5 is fast, fault
tolerant, and if 1 drive fails, no data is lost. RAID devices can use SSDs, HDDs, and
hybrid drives. Companies choose RAID devices for their durability and
performance. Multiple drive failure is rare, but it happens. Maintaining RAID
devices, keeping spare drives handy in case of drive failure, and having a backup
routine will make data loss nearly impossible. In this video, you learned that:
Hybrid disk arrays combine SSDs and HDDs for fast performance, high capacity,
and low costs.

DAS are external storage drives directly attached to a computer for additional
storage capacity, or if you need a different storage interface. Ephemeral storage
deletes saved data on restart. Persistent storage keeps saved data on restart.
RAID devices use multiple drives in different configurations to prevent data loss.