Introduction to ICT

• Storage
• Data access methods
• Magnetic disk, hard disk, optical disc
• Flash storage
• Cloud storage
• Disk partition
 Storage
• Storage is used to store data, information and
programs permanently and is also known as
secondary storage.
• It is non-volatile as its contents remain safe if
computer is turned off.
• Storage is required for the following reasons
– Main memory is a temporary memory.
– The capacity of main memory is limited
 Storage Device
• A storage device is a hardware unit used to
store and retrieve data to and from a storage
medium.
 Storage Device
• Two important functions of a storage device
are reading and writing.
• Reading is the process of copying data and
instructions from the storage medium to the
storage device.
• Writing is the process of copying data and
instructions from the storage device to storage
medium.
 Storage Device
• A storage device can be compared on the
basis of following characteristics
• Capacity: it is the maximum amount of data
that can be stored. It is usually measured in
gigabytes or terabytes.
• Speed: speed is measured by access time and
data transfer rate.
 Storage Device
• Access time is the time in which a device
locates an item on a storage medium and is
measured in milliseconds (ms).
• Transfer rate is the speed with which data can
be transferred to and from a device. It is
measured in kilobytes/second (KBps),
megabyte/second(MBps), gigabyte/second
(GBps).
 Basic units of data storage
• Basic units of data storage are as follows
– Bit: Computer works with binary digits. These
digits are in the form of 0’s and 1’s. A binary digit
is called bit. One bit takes one storage location in
memory. It is the smallest unit for data storage.
– Byte: A collection of eight bits is called byte. It is
used to store single character. The capacity of the
memory or the storage is expressed in terms of
bytes.
 Basic units of data storage
• Kilobyte: A kilobyte consists of 1024 bytes. It
is denoted by KB.
• Megabyte: A megabyte consists of 1024
kilobytes. It is denoted by MB.
• Gigabyte: A gigabyte consists of 1024
megabytes. It is denoted by GB.
• Terabyte: A terabyte consists of 1024
gigabytes. It is denoted by TB
Difference between
memory and storage
 Data Access Methods
• Different methods of accessing data from
secondary storage devices are
– Random access method
– Sequential access method
 Data Access Methods
• Random access method
– Random access means that data can be retrieved
directly from any location on the storage medium in
any order.
– Random access devices move directly to a particular
location on the medium when data located at that
location is needed.
– Almost all storage devices used with computers today
are random access devices such as hard drives, CD/DVD
drives and USB flash drives.
– It is also known as direct access method.
 Data Access Methods
• Sequential access method
– Sequential access means that data can be
retrieved in the same order in which it is stored on
the medium.
– The data can not be accessed directly.
– This method reads the data from the beginning
and continues reading data until the required data
is found.
– This is a slow and time consuming method and is
not commonly used.
 Magnetic Disk
• Magnetic disk use magnetic material to store
data, instructions and information on disk surface.
• The data on magnetic disks is stored in tracks and
sectors.
• Tracks form circles on the surface of a magnetic
disk.
• Each track is divided into sectors and each sector
typically stores upto 512 bytes of data.
• Hard disk is the most widely used magnetic disk.
 Hard Disk
• Hard disk is the primary storage device in a
computer to store the programs and data
permanently.
• It is also known as hard disk drive (HDD) or
hard drive (HD).
 Hard Disk
• A hard disk drive is a non-volatile data storage
device.
• It is usually installed internally in a computer,
attached directly to the disk controller of the
computer's motherboard.
• It contains one or more platters, housed inside of
an air-sealed casing.
• Data is written to the platters using a magnetic
head, which moves rapidly over them as they spin.
 Hard Disk
• Internal hard disks reside in a drive bay,
connected to the motherboard using a
SATA cable.
• They are powered by a connection to the
computer's PSU (power supply unit).
• Examples of data stored on a computer's hard
drive include the operating system,
installed software, and the user's
personal files.
 Why does a computer
need a hard drive?
• A computer requires an operating system to allow
users to interact with and use it.
• The operating system interprets keyboard and
mouse movements and allows for the use of
software, like an Internet browser, word processor,
and video games.
• To install a computer operating system, a hard drive
is required.
• The hard drive provides the storage medium where
the operating system is installed and stored.
 Why does a computer
need a hard drive?
• A hard drive is also required for the
installation of any programs or other files you
want to keep on your computer.
• When downloading files to your computer,
they are permanently stored on your hard
drive or another storage medium until they
are moved or uninstalled.
Hard drives in modern computers
• Modern computers often use an SSD (solid-state drive) as
the primary storage device, instead of an HDD.
• HDDs are slower than SSDs when reading and writing data,
but offer greater storage capacity for the price.
• Although an HDD may still be used as a computer's
primary storage, it's common for it to be installed as a
secondary disk drive.
• For example, the primary SSD may contain the operating
system and installed software, and a secondary HDD may
be used to store documents, downloads, and audio or
video files.
 Hard drive components
• A hard drive consists of the following components: the head
actuator, read/write actuator arm, read/write head, spindle, and platter.
• On the back of a hard drive is a circuit board called the disk controller or
interface board. This circuit is what allows the hard drive to communicate
with the computer.
 Hard Drive: Storing Capacity
• The hard drive is often capable of storing more data
than any other drive, but its size can vary
depending on the type of drive and its age.
• Older hard drives had a storage size of several
hundred MB (megabytes) to several GB (gigabytes).
• Newer hard drives have a storage size of several
hundred gigabytes to several TB (terabytes).
• Each year, new and improved technology allows for
increasing hard drive storage sizes.
 External Hard Drives
• Although most hard drives are internal, there are also
stand-alone devices called external hard
drives or portable hard drives that backup data on
computers and expand the available space.
• External drives are often stored in an enclosure that
helps protect the drive and allows it to interface with
the computer, usually over USB, eSATA, or FireWire.
• External hard drives come in many shapes and sizes.
• Some are large, about the size of a book, while others
are about the size of a large smartphone.
 Optical Disk
• Optical disk is a form of removable storage.
• Optical drives use a laser to read and write
data on optical disk.
• The most common types of optical media
are Blu-ray, CDs, and DVDs.
• Computers can read and write to CDs and
DVDs using a CD writer or DVD writer drive,
and a Blu-ray is read with a Blu-ray drive.
 Optical Disk
• A CD drive can only read CDs, a DVD drive can
only read DVDs and CDs, and a Blu-ray drive
can read CDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray discs.
• CDs can store up to 700 megabytes (MB) of
data, and DVDs can store up to 8.4 GB of data.
• Blu-ray discs, which are the newest type of
optical media, can store up to 50 GB of data.
 Optical Disk
• With the popularity of streaming
content and downloading content from the
Internet, the popularity of all optical media
has greatly reduced.
• Also, the reduced price of USB flash
drives that store a lot more data have made
optical media a less popular storage solution.
 Flash Memory
• Flash memory is a non volatile memory.
• It does not need continuous power to retain
the data and is more expensive than magnetic
storage.
• Data stored on flash memory storage can be
erased and new data can be written.
• Flash memory is widely used with cell
phones, digital cameras, PDAs, solid-state
drives and tablets.
 Flash Memory: USB Flash Drive
• USB flash drive is a flash memory storage device that
is connected to a USB port in computer or mobile
device.
• It is very easy to use because it is light in weight and
small in size.
• It is commonly used to transfer documents, photos,
music and videos from one computer to other.
• It is available in different shapes, sizes and
capacities.
• It can store up to 256 GB of data or more.
 Cloud Storage
• Cloud storage is a service for the computer
and mobile users to store their data online.
• This service is provided and managed by cloud
storage service provider in data centers that
may consist of hundreds of servers to store
data.
• The data center can be located anywhere in
the world, and users can also access their data
from anywhere in the world using internet.
 Cloud Storage
• Some service providers, provides storage for
specific media such as photos while other
allows users to store any type of data and
provide backup services.
• Cloud storage also allow users to share data
with other people.
• Some important examples are DropBox, Apple
iCloud, Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive.
 Cloud Storage
• OneDrive:
– It is a cloud storage service provided by Microsoft.
– It can be used to store any type of data.
– The files are stored by their type and can be searched
easily.
– This service can be accessed from computer and mobile
devices.
– One must signup for a Microsoft account to use One
Drive.
– It provides 15GB of free space for storing file and more
space can be purchased if required.
 Cloud Storage
• DropBox:
– It is a popular cloud storage service that is reliable and
easy to use.
– Users can store and access their files at any time using
DropBox's website, desktop application or mobile
application.
– Any type of file can be stored and service automatically
synchronizes the files across all devices.
– It provides 2 GB free space on signup and user can also
buy more space if required.
– There is no limit on file size.
 Cloud Storage
• Google Drive:
– It is a cloud storage service from Google.
– Any user with a google account can access this
service using Google drive website as well as
desktop or mobile application.
– It provides different services such as word
processor, spreadsheet application and
presentation builder.
– It provides 15 GB of free space and maximum file
size can be up to 10 GB.
 Disk Partition
• The process of partitioning a hard drive into
separate logical areas is known as disk partitioning.
• It is a disk management technique.
• Physical capacity of a hard drive is divided into
separate logical areas known as partitions.
• Partitions work as independent hard drives and are
also known as logical drives.
• Each partition is labelled such as C Drive, D Drive, E
Drive.
 Disk Partition
• Many new personal computers come with teo
partitions, C drive is usually for operating
system and D drive is used to store other
applications and data.
• Multiple partitions can be used to install two
different operating systems on the same hard
dtive such as windows and Linux.
 Disk Partition
• Storing data files on separate partition makes
it easier to search them.
• It also enables the users to back up all data
files easily by backing up the entire partition
containing data.
• Formatting a partition must be done carefully
as deleting a partition erases all data on that
partition.
 Disk Partition
• Windows usually creates two basic types of
partitions: primary partition and secondary
partition.
 Disk Partition
• Primary Partition is a type of partition that can
be uses as system partition.
• It contains hardware specific files required to
load windows.
• A primary partition can be created to occupy
the entire hard disk or a portion.
• The primary partition should be formatted as a
single logical drive only, it cannot be divided
into multiple logical drives
 Disk Partition
• Extended Partition is a type of partition that can be
divided into sub-partitions known as logical drives.
• A hard disk can have only one extended partition.
• Extended partition can be formatted to create
drives.
• Any number of drives can be created on an
extended partition unlike primary partition and each
of these drive can be designated by an alphabet.