Lesson 4: Storage - part 1 | part 2 | part 3
Flash memory | Hard disk | ||
Optical storage | Flash memory This is the newest kind of memory. It uses the very latest technology. Because there are no moving parts as there are with hard and floppy disks, data stored on flash memory is much harder to destroy. Flash memory is not only used in your computer, but also in your PDA - personal digital organizer - your mobile phone and many other gadgets. Most computers need a reader attached to a USB port to read flash memory. Here are some of the more common types of external storage: SD - are keys with flash memory and readers built in, so they can be put into the USB port of any modern computer and laptop. Hard disk This is a hard disk drive, or HDD. It is called a hard disk drive because it is not floppy! Originally these data storage devices were called Winchesters after a successful early model. The first hard drives cost thousands of pounds and held about 10mb of data. Most modern hard drives cost under £200 and hold can hold hundreds of gigabytes. internal hard disk external hard disk Optical storage Optical storage is when a plastic disk is marked, and a reader can translate those marks into 1s or 0s (bits) Optical storage is better than magnetic storage (hard disks) because it cannot be destroyed by electricity or magnetism. In fact with a ROM - read only memory - disk, the only way to destroy the data is to destroy the disk. CD-ROM CD-RW DVD Network storage Sometimes you do not want to have your data on one computer, but to have it on a central computer. Then wherever you are, you can contact that computer and ask it to send your data to you. This can happen on a proivate network on in 'the cloud'. (see below) Server NAS Internet 'The Cloud' |
Network storage | |