Types of storage devices

Storage devices are used to store data and instructions permanently. Storage devices are also called secondary storage devices / backing storage devices / external storage devices or auxiliary storage devices. Examples of storage devices include Hard Disk, CD and DVD etc.

1. Magnetic  2. Optical  3. Solid state

1.1 Magnetic Tape:- Magnetic tape is the oldest storage device. It is made of plastic coated with magnetic material. Data is stored on magnetic tape in the form of magnetic spots. Tape drive is used to read and write data on tape. Magnetic disk is sequential access device. It is slower device than magnetic disk or optical disk. Magnetic tapes are used in reels of different lengths, for example 200, 600, 1200 feet etc.

1.2 Magnetic Disk:-A magnetic disk is a thin circular metal or plastic disk coated with magnetic material. Data is stored in the form of magnetic spots. Magnetic disk is random access device. It is faster than magnetic tape. There are three main types of magnetic disk:

a. Hard Disk b. Floppy Disk c. Zip Disk.

1.3 hard Disk:-The hard disk is also called fixed disk. It consists of one or more metal plates. The plates are fixed in the drive. Metal plates are coated with magnetic material to store data. A motor rotates disks. There is also an access arm and read / write heads to read and write data on disks. 

Following are major characteristics of hard disk:

- The storage capacity of hard disk is much greater than floppy disk. 

- Now a days hard disks of size 40 GB, 80 GB or more are available. 

- Hard disk is covered in a hard jacket and there are less chances of disk damage due to dust and mishandling.

- Now days Operating system and application programs are installed on hard disk.

- Before using a magnetic disk we use operating system to format the disk. Operating system divides the disk into circles called tracks. Each track is divided into pie-shaped areas called sectors. Data is stored in sectors. Each sector can store 512 bytes.

Floppy Disk:-Floppy disk is a small plastic plate coated with magnetic material. Data is stored in magnetic spots. Main advantage of floppy disk is that it is used to transfer data from one computer to another. Floppy disk drive is used to read and write data on floppy disk.

Floppy disk is available in two sizes:

· 3 ½ INCH Floppy Disk

It is also called micro floppy disk. Its diameter is 3½ inch. It is covered in a hard plastic cover. Read/Write window is covered with a metal shutter. When disk is inserted into disk drive then shutter is automatically opened. It can be write protected by a notch. Storage capacity of micro floppy is 1.44 MB.

· 5¼ Inch floppy disk.

It is a 5¼ inch diameter plastic plate coated with magnetic material. Its storage capacity is 1.2 MB. It is not used in modern computers.

2. Optical Disk

LASER technology is used to read and write data on Optical disk. LASER stands for Light Amplification through Emission of Radiation. Laser beam writes on the surface of optical disk by creating very small holes. The presence of hole represents a One and absence of the hole represents a Zero. There are following main types of optical disk.

1.CD-ROM, 2. CD-R or WORM, 3. CD-RW

4.DVD-ROM, 5. DVD-R, 6. DVD-RW

2.1 CD-ROM:-CD-ROM stands for Compact Disk-Read Only Memory. The data stored on Cd-Rom can only be read. It cannot be deleted or changed. It is a portable storage device. Data can be easily transferred by CD Rom from one computer to another. Commonly it can store 650 MB / 700 MB/ 750 MB data. It is used to store large amounts of data like Software or audio/video data.We purchase Software, movies, dramas, lectures, books, wallpapers and other data on Cd-Rom. There are many Advantages of Compact Disk.

2.2 CD-R (CD Recordable) Or WORM (Write Once Read Many):-CD-R stands for Compact Disk -Recordable. Initially, it is a blank disk. User can store data on it only once. This is why it is also called WORM(Write Once Read Many) disk too. Because we can write data on it only once and later we can read many times. The devices to store data on CD-R are called CD Writers or CD Burners. We can write data on CD-R only once, but can read data many times. Because of this write once read many quality, CD-R is often known as WORM(write once read many).

2.3 CD-RW ( CD Rewritable ):-CD-RW stands for Compact Disk Rewritable. This is a special type of CD. User can write data on it, if there is an error in writing data, he may erase the contents and rewrite again. CD-Writers are used to store data on CD-RW.

2.4 DVD - Digital Video Disk (DVD-ROM):- DVD stands for Digital Video Disk. A laser beam with a short wave length is used to create very very small holes on the surface of disk. So there are much more tiny holes on the surface of DVD as compared to that of CD. Therefore, storage capacity of DVD is much larger than CD. It can store up to 17 GB or more data. DVD-ROM is pre recorded and it can contain data like movies, videos and software etc. User cannot change or delete data from DVD-ROM. It is read only. There are several Benefits of using Digital Video Disk or DVD.

here is also DVD-RW  that stands for Digital Video Disk Rewritable. User can write data on disk many times by erasing the old data.

3.Solid-state storage

Solid-state storage (sometimes abbreviated as SSS) is a type of non-volatile computer storage that stores and retrieves digital information using only electronic circuits, without any involvement of moving mechanical parts. This is entirely different from the traditional electromechanical storage that records data using rotating or linearly moving media coated with magnetic material.

Solid-state storage devices typically store data using electrically programmable non-volatile flash memory, although some devices use battery-backed volatile random-access memory (RAM). As a result of having no moving mechanical parts, solid-state storage is much faster than the traditional electromechanical storage; as a downside, solid-state storage is significantly more expensive and suffers from the write amplification phenomenon.

To satisfy the requirements of applications in various types of computer systems and appliances, solid-state storage devices come in various types, form factors, storage space sizes, and interfacing option.

3.1 USB Flash Drives:-Universal Serial Bus (USB) is a type of socket or port in computer systems that allow USB type devices to connect to it. One of which is the USB Flash Drive - sometimes called pen drive. 

USB Flash drives come in various sizes from 120 MB up to and over 160 GB. They are very useful and a simple way way of backing up and transporting data. Because of the USB connection they will work on any computer with a USB port and have really replaced floppy discs as a method of moving files from one computer system to another.

3.2 Memory Cards:- Like USB Flash drives, these solid state devices come in various sizes, from 64MB to over 32 GB. They connect differently and need a card reader to 'read' their contents. 

Commonly, they are used in digital cameras to store photographs and are similar to SIM cards used in phones
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