Storage Devices

A storage device is a hardware device capable of storing information. There are

two storage devices used in computers; a primary storage device such as
computer RAM and a secondary storage device such as a computer hard drive.

Types of Storage Devices

1. Magnetic Storage Devices are capable of storing data with a surface material
coated with magnetic oxide. The hard disk and diskette are two of the most
popular magnetic storage media.

Kinds of Magnetic Storage Devices:

a. Hard Disk- Alternatively referred to as a hard disk

drive and abbreviated as HD or HDD, the hard drive is
the computer's main storage media device that
permanently stores all data on the computer. The hard
drive consists of one or more hard drive platters inside
of air sealed casing. Most computer hard drives are in
an internal drive bay at the front of the computer and
connect to the motherboard using either ATA, SCSI, or
a SATA cable and power cable. Although most hard
drives are internal hard drives, many users also
use external hard drives to backup data on their
computer and expand the total amount of space available
to them.

b. A Floppy Disk Drive, or FDD or FD for short, is

a computer disk drive that enables a user to save
data to removable diskettes. Although 8" disk
drives were first made available in 1971, the first
real disk drives used were the 5 1/4" floppy disk
drives, which were later replaced with 3 1/2"
floppy disk drives. Today, because of the limited
capacity and reliability of floppy diskettes many
computers no longer come equipped with floppy disk
drives and are being replaced with CD-R, other
writable discs, and flash drives.

25
Storage Devices

c. Zip Drive - Hardware data storage device developed

by Iomega that functions like a Standard 1.44" floppy
drive. What makes the Iomega zip drive unique is its
capability to hold up to 100 MB of data or 250 MB of data
on new drives. Iomega Zip Drives became very popular in
late 1990s, however, became less popular as users needed
larger storage capabilities. This drive was later replaced by
larger and cheaper CD-R and CD-RW drives and discs.

2. Optical Storage Devices are storage devices that are readable with beams of
laser light. This is how data are stored in compact metal disk.

Compact Disc are often referred to as CD, is a flat, round optical storage
medium that is originally developed for storing digital audio.

Types of Compact Disk

a. CD-R - Alternatively referred to as CD-WO (Write once) or WORM (Write

Once Read Many) drive. CD-R is short for CD-Recordable and is a writable
disc and drive that is capable of having information written to the disc once
and then having that disc read many times after that.

CD-Rs are a low cost solution for backing up software and are capable of
holding up to 650 MB (74 minutes of music) or 700MB (80 minutes of
music).

b. CD-RW - Compact Disc-Rewritable, This type of CD is an erasable

multisession disc you can write on multiple times. To write on a CD-RW,
you must have CD-RW Software and CD-RW drive.

c. Mini-CD – Mini Compact Disc is a small version of the CD, it is very

portable because of its small size, 80mm in diameter. It can only hold small
amount of data compared to a regular CD.

d. DVD – Digital Versatile Disc is a high capacity optical storage medium that
can hold large amount of data compared to a compact disc (CD)

Types of Digital Versatile Disc (DVD)

1. DVD-R. Short for Digital Versatile Disc-Recordable,

DVD-R is similar to the idea behind CD-R, where
the drive is capable or recording once to a disc and

26
Storage Devices
then read many times after it has been created. DVD-R drives are
capable of recording to DVD-R discs.

2. DVD-RW (DVD-R/W). Short for Digital Versatile

Disc-Read/Write, DVD-RW is a technology that
enables a user to read and write to a DVD-RW or
DVD-R disc several times. DVD-RW drives are.
capable of recording to DVD-R and DVD-RW
discs.

3. DVD+R. Short for Digital Versatile Disc-

Recordable, DVD+R is a technology that enables a
user to read and write to a DVD+RW or DVD+R
disc several times. DVD+RW drives are capable of
recording DVD+R discs.

4. DVD+RW. Short for Digital Versatile Disc-

Read/Write, DVD+R is a technology that enables a
user to read and write to a DVD+RW or DVD+R
disc several times. DVD+RW drives are capable of
recording DVD+R and DVD+RW discs.

5. DVD+R DL (DVD+R9). Short for Digital Versatile

Disc-Recordable Dual Layer, DVD+R DL almost
doubles the capacity of a DVD when compared with
the DVD+R or DVD+RW discs.

6. DVD-RAM. Short for Digital Versatile Disc-

Random Access Memory, DVD-RAM drives enable
users to read and write to a disc several times.
Note: Unlike competing standards of DVD
recordable discs, DVD-RAM discs cannot be read in
the majority of stand-alone DVD players and
computer DVD-ROM drives.

27
Storage Devices

e. Blu-Ray–or Blu-ray Disc, BD or BD-ROM, is

an optical disc jointly developed by thirteen consumer
electronics and PC companies such as Dell, Hitachi,
Hewlett Packard, LG, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Sony,
and TDK. The Blu-ray is capable of storing up to 25
GB on a single-layer disc and 50 GB on a dual-layer
disc, each disc being the same size as a standard CD.
Today, Blu-ray is backed by Apple,
Dell, Philips, Pioneer, Sony, Sun, TDK and other companies mentioned
above and beat out HD DVD in the high-definition disc format wars on
February 19, 2008 after HD DVD called it quits.

CD/DVD-ROM Drive Interfaces

Below are the different interfaces that allow a CD-ROM/DVD-ROM and

other disc drives to connect to the computer.

1. IDE/ATA - One of the most commonly used interfaces for disc drives.
2. Parallel - Interface used with old external CD-ROM drives.
3. PCMCIA (PC Card) - Interface sometimes used to connect external disc
drives to laptop computers.
4. SATA - Replacing IDE as the new standard to connect disc drives.
5. SCSI - Another common interface used with disk and disc drives.
6. USB - Interface most commonly used to connect external disc drives.

3. Miniature Mobile Storage Memory allows mobile users to easily transport

digital images, music, or documents to and from computers and other devices.
Many desktop computers, notebook computers, tablet PCs, PDAs, digital
cameras, audio players, and smart phones have built-in ports or slots to hold
miniature mobile storage media.

Kinds of Miniature Mobile Storage Media:

a. Flash Memory Card - Alternatively referred to as a flash memory card,

a memory card is a type of storage media that is most commonly used
in digital cameras, digital camcorders, handheld
computers, MP3players, PDAs, cell phones, game consoles, and printers, to
store pictures, videos, music, and other data.

28
Storage Devices

There are a handful of different types of memory cards on the market, each
varying in size, compatibility, and storage capacity. The most commonly
used memory cards are listed below.

1. Compact Flash (CF)

2. MicroSD
3. MMC
4. SD Card
5. SDHC Card
6. SmartMedia Card
7. Sony Memory Stick
8. xD-Picture Card

b. Universal Serial Bus (USB) Flash Drive.

Alternatively referred to as a USB flash
drive, data stick, pen drive, keychain
drive and thumb drive, a jump drive is
a portable drive that is often the size of your
thumb that connects to the computer USB port.
Today, flash drives are available in sizes such
as, 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, 64GB, 128GB, 256GB
and 512GB and are an easy way
to transfer and store information.

29
Storage Devices

c. Smart Card is a plastic card about the size of a credit card, with an
embedded microchip that can be loaded with data, used for telephone
calling, electronic cash payments, and other applications.

Storage Capacity

It is the maximum amount of data that can be stored on a storage device. Computer data
storage provides one of the core functions of the modern computer, that of information
retention.

The computer recognizes only the digits 0 and 1. These digits are called bits. A Byte is
composed of eight bits. Each character, including the spaces, entered into the computer
occupies a byte of memory.

Unit of Approximate Exact Equivalent in Bytes

Measure Number of
Bytes
Kilobyte (KB) 1 Thousand 1,024
Megabyte (MB) 1 Million 1,048,576
Gigabyte (GB) 1 Billion 1,073,741,824
Terabyte (TB) 1 Trillion 1,099,511,627,776
Petabyte (PB) 1 Quadrillion 1,125,899,906,842,624
Exabyte (EB) 1 Quintillion 1,152,921,504,606,846,976
Zettabyte (ZB) 1 Sextillion 1,180,591,620,717,411,303,424
Yottabyte (YB) 1 Septillion 1,208,925,819,614,629,174,706,176

Approximations

Megabyte (MB)

• 873 pages of plaintext (1,200 characters)

• 4 books (200 pages or 240,000 characters)

30
Storage Devices

Gigabyte (GB)

• 894,784 pages of plaintext (1,200 characters)

• 4,473 books (200 pages or 240,000 characters)
• 341 digital pictures (with 3MB average file size)
• 256 MP3 audio files (with 4MB average file size)
• 1 650MB CD

Terabyte (TB)

• 916,259,689 pages of plaintext (1,200 characters)

• 4,581,298 books (200 pages or 240,000 characters)
• 349,525 digital pictures (with 3MB average file size)
• 262,144 MP3 audio files (with 4MB average file size)
• 1,613 650MB CD's
• 233 4.38GB DVD's
• 40 25GB Blu-ray discs

Petabyte (PB)

• 938,249,922,368 pages of plaintext (1,200 characters)

• 4,691,249,611 books (200 pages or 240,000 characters)
• 357,913,941 digital pictures (with 3MB average file size)
• 268,435,456 MP3 audio files (with 4MB average file size)
• 1,651,910 650MB CD's
• 239,400 4.38GB DVD's
• 41,943 25GB Blu-ray discs

Exabyte (EB)

• 960,767,920,505,705 pages of plaintext (1,200 characters)

• 4,803,839,602,528 books (200 pages or 240,000 characters)
• 366,503,875,925 digital pictures (with 3MB average file size)
• 274,877,906,944 MP3 audio files (with 4MB average file size)
• 1,691,556,350 650MB CD's
• 245,146,535 4.38GB DVD's
• 42,949,672 25GB Blu-ray discs

31
Storage Devices

Zettabyte (ZB)

• 983,826,350,597,842,752 pages of plaintext (1,200 characters)

• 4,919,131,752,989,213 books (200 pages or 240,000 characters)
• 375,299,968,947,541 digital pictures (with 3MB average file size)
• 281,474,976,710,656 MP3 audio files (with 4MB average file size)
• 1,732,153,702,834 650MB CD's
• 251,030,052,003 4.38GB DVD's
• 43,980,465,111 25GB Blu-ray discs

Yottabyte (YB)

• 1,007,438,183,012,190,978,921 pages of plaintext (1,200 characters)

• 5,037,190,915,060,954,894 books (200 pages or 240,000 characters)
• 384,307,168,202,282,325 digital pictures (with 3MB average file size)
• 288,230,376,151,711,744 MP3 audio files (with 4MB average file size)
• 1,773,725,391,702,841 650MB CD's
• 257,054,773,251,740 4.38GB DVD's
• 45,035,996,273,704 25GB Blu-ray discs

32