CHAPTER 3

DIGITAL STORAGE
LEARNING OBJECTIVE
• List at least 5 types of storage devices
• Differentiate among storage medium and storage device
• Define the meaning of reading and writing
• Identify uses of external hard disks and RAID
• Differentiate among various types of memory cards and USB flash
drives
• Discuss the benefits and uses of cloud storage
• Identify characteristics among types of optical discs
• Identify types of enterprise storage

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 Storage

A storage medium is the physical material on

which a computer keeps data, information,
programs, and applications

Cloud storage keeps information on servers on

the Internet, and the actual media on which
the files are stored are transparent to the user

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 Storage
• A storage device is the hardware that records and/or retrieves items to
and from storage media
Reading is the process
of transferring items
from a storage medium
into memory

Writing is the process of

transferring items from
memory to a storage
medium

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 Storage

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Figure 8-1
 Storage Media vs Storage Device
Storage Media Storage Device
• Anything that can record/store • What uses the media and
data for reading later. provides a physical interface.

• What holds the information

Example: Example:
CD ROM, DVD ROM, DAT tape, DLT DVD reader or writer, the drive unit
tape, disk drives, SSD, flash drive,
Compact Flash, Cassette Tape

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 Storage
• Capacity is the number of bytes a storage medium can hold

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Table 8-1
 Storage
• Access time measures:
• The amount of time it
takes a storage device to
locate an item on a
storage medium
• The time required to
deliver an item from
memory to the processor

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Figure 8-3
 Hard Drives
• A hard disk, also called a hard disk drive (HDD)
contains one or more inflexible, circular platters that
use magnetic particles to store data, instructions, and
information

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Figure 8-4
 Hard Drives
• Formatting is the process of dividing the disk into tracks
and sectors

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Figure 8-5
 Hard Drives
• Characteristics of a hard disk include:

Tracks Sectors Platters

Read/write Revolutions
Form factor
head per minute

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 Track - a circular path on the surface of a disk or diskette on which
information is magnetically recorded and from which recorded
information is read.

Sector - a subdivision of track on a magnetic disk or optical disk. Each

sector stores a fixed amount of user-accessible data, traditionally 512
bytes for hard disk drives (HDDs) and 2048 bytes for CD-ROMs and
DVD-ROMs.

Platter – is the circular disk on which magnetic data is stored in a hard

disk drive.

Form Factor - is the size of the hard drive and how it connects to
your computer. The most common type of hard drive form factor is
3.5 inch for desktop disks. Laptop hard drives are almost always 2.5
inch form factor.

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plicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or
in part.
Read/Write Head - the small parts of a disk drive which move above
the disk platter and transform the platter's magnetic field into
electrical current (read the disk) or, vice versa, transform electrical
current into magnetic field (write the disk)

Revolutions per minute, RPM is used to help determine the access

time on computer hard drives. RPM is a measurement of how many
revolutions a computer's hard drive makes in a single minute. The
higher the RPM, the faster the data will be accessed

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in part.
 Hard Drives

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Figure 8-6
 Hard Drives
• A head crash occurs when a read/write head touches the surface of a platter
• Always keep a backup of your hard disk

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Figure 8-7
 Hard Drives
• An SSD (solid state drive) is a flash memory storage
device that contains its own processor to manage its
storage
• An SSD (solid state drive) has several advantages over
traditional (magnetic) hard disks:

Faster access Faster transfer Quieter

More durable Lighter weight
times rates operation

Less power Less heat Defragmentatio

Longer life
consumption generation n not required

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CLASS ACTIVITY

Find the differences between SSD and HDD in terms of:

1. Architecture
2. Usage
3. Speed of processing
4. Access time
5. Price

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 Hard Drives
• An external hard disk is a separate freestanding storage device that
connects with a cable to a USB port or other port on a computer or
mobile device

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Figure 8-9
 Hard Drives
• RAID (redundant array of independent disks) is a group of two or
more integrated hard disks or SSDs

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Figure 8-10
 Portable Flash Memory Storage
• A memory card is a removable flash memory storage device that you insert
and remove from a slot in a computer, mobile device, or card reader/writer

SDHC SDXC miniSD microSDHC microSDXC

xD Picture Memory Stick

CF M2
Card PRO Duo

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 Portable Flash Memory Storage

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Figure 8-11
 Portable Flash Memory Storage

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Figure 8-12
 Portable Flash Memory Storage
• USB flash drives plug into a USB port on a computer or mobile device

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Figure 8-13
 Cloud Storage
• Cloud storage is an Internet service that provides storage to computer or
mobile device users

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Some advantages of cloud storage
• To access file on the internet from any computer or device that has
Internet access
• To store large audio, video, and graphics files on the Internet
instantaneously
• To store off-site backups of data
• To provide data center functions, relieving enterprises of this task
• To allow others to access their files on the Internet.

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 Optical Discs
• An optical disc consists of a flat, round, portable disc made of metal,
plastic, and lacquer that is written and read by a laser

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Figure 8-14
 Optical Discs

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Figure 8-15
 Optical Discs
• Optical discs commonly
store items in a single
track that spirals from
the center of the disc to
the edge of the disc
• Track is divided into
evenly sized sectors

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Figure 8-16
 Optical Discs
A CD-R is an optical disc on
A CD-ROM can be which users can write
read from but not once, but not erase.
written to WORM (write one read
• Single-session disc only)
multisession

A CD-RW is an
erasable
multisession disc
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 Optical Discs

A DVD-ROM is a high-capacity optical disc on which users

can read but not write on or erase

A DVD-R or DVD+R are competing DVD-recordable WORM

formats, on which users can write once but not erase

DVD-RW, DVD+RW, and DVD+RAM are competing DVD-

rewritable formats that users can write on multiple times

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 Enterprise Storage
• Enterprise hardware allows large organizations to manage and store data and
information using devices intended for heavy use, maximum efficiency, and
maximum availability

RAID
Network attached storage (NAS)
Storage area network (SAN)
Tape

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Figure 8-18
 Enterprise Storage
• Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) duplicates data,
instructions, and information to improve data reliability

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 Enterprise Storage
• Network attached storage (NAS) is a server that is placed on a
network with the sole purpose of providing storage to users,
computers, and devices attached to the network

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Figure 8-19
 Enterprise Storage
• A storage area network (SAN) is a high-speed network with the sole purpose
of providing storage to other attached servers

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Figure 8-20
 Enterprise Storage
• Tape is a magnetically
coated ribbon of plastic
capable of storing large
amounts of data and
information
• A tape drive reads and
writes data and
information on a
magnetic tape

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Figure 8-21
 Other Types of Storage
• A magnetic stripe card has a magnetic stripe that contains information
• A smart card stores data on an integrated circuit embedded in the card

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Figures 8-22 – 8-23
 Other Types of Storage
• The Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) is the use of
radio waves to read and capture information stored on a
tag attached to an object. A tag can be read from up to
several feet away and does not need to be within direct
line-of-sight of the reader to be tracked.
• RFID tag consists of an antenna and a memory chip that
contains the information to be transmitted via radio waves
• An RFID reader reads the radio signal
and transfers the information to a
computer or computing device

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Figure 8-24
 Other Types of Storage
• A Near Field Communication (NFC) is a set of communication
protocols that enable two electronic devices, one of which is
usually a portable device such as a smartphone to establish
communication by bringing them within 4 cm (1​1⁄2 in) of each
other.
• NFC enabled device contains an NFC chip
• An NFC tag contains a chip and an antenna that contains
information to be transmitted
• Most NFC tags are self-adhesive.

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Figure 8-25
 Summary
Characteristics of
Storage capacity
Variety of storage hard disks, SSDs,
and storage access
options external hard
times
drives, and RAID

Advantages and
Portable flash Characteristics of
various uses of
memory storage optical discs
cloud storage

Magnetic stripe
Enterprise storage cards, smart cards,
options RFID tags, and NFC
chips and tags
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