Storage NOT Memory
Yes, there is a difference between storage and memory!
All data - sound, text, images, colours, video, games, software progrmas - is converted into binary because a computing device only understands 2 states - we can think of this as being a switch that is on or off or a magnet that is north or south.
Data that we want to store because we want it to use it again is stored on a hard drive inside the device. We can also store it on external pieces of hardware to transfer it from device to device.
|
Create a Powerpoint on the 3 different storage media: magnetic, optical and solid state storage.
Start with notes on magnetic hard drives. |
You should include: how it works, where each type of media is used, the advantages and disadvantages of each.
You MUST NOT COPY AND PASTE but write in your own words. You will not have Google in the exam! |
|
|
An SSD is a secondary storage device similar to a hard disk drive (HDD). It supports reading and writing data and maintains stored data in a permanent state even without power. Internal SSDs connect to a computer like a hard drive and external SSD hard drives can connect by a USB port.
While SSDs serve the same function as hard drives, their internal components are very different. Unlike hard drives, SSDs do not have any moving parts (which is why they are called solid state drives). Instead of storing data on magnetic platters, SSDs store data using chips called NAND Flash. These are made of special transistors arranged in grids. If the transistors are charged, allowing current to flow, this represents a 1. If the transistors are not charged, this represents a 0. Watch the video below & add to your notes.
|
Since SSDs have no moving parts, they don't have to "spin up" while in a sleep state and they don't need to move a drive head to different parts of the drive to access data. Therefore, SSDs can access data faster than HDDs. |
CDs are made from an original "master" disc. The master is "burned" with a laser beam that etches bumps (called pits) into its surface. A pit represents the number 0, so every time the laser burns a bump into the disc, a 0 is stored there. The lack of a bump (which is a flat, unburned area on the disc, called a land) represents the number 1. Once the master disc has been made, it is used to stamp out millions of plastic duplicates—the discs that you buy and put into your music player or computer. Once each disc is pressed, it's coated with a thin aluminum layer (so it will reflect laser light),
The laser (red for CD and DVD; blue for Bluray) flashes up onto the shiny (under) side of the CD, bouncing off the pattern of pits (bumps) and lands (flat areas) on the disc. The lands reflect the laser light straight back, while the pits scatter the light. Every time the light reflects back, a sensor detects it, realizes it's seen a land, and sends a burst of electric current to an electronic circuit that generates the number 1. When the light fails to reflect back, the light sensor realizes there is no land there and doesn't register anything, so the electronic circuit generates the number 0. |
|
|
Cloud storageCloud storage is secondary storage using remote servers. You upload and download your data from those servers. Many services will automatically synchronize your data so you always have an up to date backup.
The advantages of cloud storage are:
Virtualisation is any process that looks different to what it actually is. In this case, you will have a folder, perhaps called Google Drive, or Dropbox and this folder looks like all your other folders, but in fact, your data is actually stored on a remote server and not locally like your other files. What's in the Cloud? iDEA badge --> |