Introduction to IT

Computer Storage
Lecturer: Baitullah Paktin
 Objectives

• Types of Hard Disks

• Types of Hard Disk Interfaces
• Components of a Hard Disk
• Different Types of Partitions
• Different types of Formatting
• Troubleshooting of Hard Disks
• Different File Systems
 Types of Storage

Secondary/Auxiliary Memory

HDD CD Floppy Disk DVD Blue-Ray

SATA PATA SCSI SSD

 HDD
• Storage Devices can be of two types:
• Magnetic Storage (Hard Disks)
• Optical Disks (CD, DVD, Blue-Ray)
• Hard Disk is the secondary or Auxiliary storage device that
stores the Operating System, Users Data and the software
programs permanently
• HDD Characteristics:
• Capacity: (from few MB to Thousands of GB)
• Cost: (can be expensive or cheap)
• Performance: (data access time)
• Reliability: (Data must be retrieved as per the need of user)
• RPM: (Revolutions Per Minute)
 Types of HDD

I. Standard Drives (IDE/PATA(Parallel ATA)) (PATA)

II. Serial Advance Technology Attachment(SATA)
III. SCSI (Small Computer System Interface)
IV. SSD (Solid State Drive)
V. External HDD (USB 2.0/USB 3.0/ Fire wire 400)
VI. Wireless HDD
 I-PATA
• Data is transferred between the disk and the system using
the method of parallel data transfer using various lines.
• Also called IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) and EIDE
• PATA transfers data between the HD and the system using
16-bits with the speed of up to 133MBps.
• You can connect two disks using a single cable to a single
controller on the system (we need to specify Master &
Slave)
• It uses (40pin/80pin) Ribbon cable with the max length of
45cm to connect to the system
 Types of IDE Interfaces
The HDD interface is actually the port through which the
data is send to or received from the system.
• ATA-3: Standard
• ATA-4: up to 33 MBps
• ATA-5: up to 66MBps (16-bits data width)
• ATA-6: up to 100MBps (16-bits data width)
• ATA-7: up to 133MBps (16-bits data width)
 II-SATA

• The data is transferred between the disk and the

system using the method of serial data transfer
through a single line
• It uses a 7-wires cable with the max length of 1m
• A single cable can connect a single drive to the
system
• No need of the Masters and Slave jumper settings
• Hot swap capability
 Types of SATA

• SATA 1.5 Gbits/second (150MBps)

• SATA 3.0 Gbits/second (300MBps)
• SATA 6.0 Gbits/second (600MBps)
• eSATA (External SATA, USB 2.0/ Fire wire 400)
 III-SCSI

• Its mostly used in Servers

• Can support up to 15 devices on a single port.
• SCSI is used with RAID to combine two or more than two HDDs to
work as a single HDD logically.
• RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disk)
• RAID allows faster data access and prevents the data loss when an
HDD crashes.
 IV- SSD

• Are similar to HDD but have no moving parts

• Are created base on the technology of flash memory.
• Are much more faster than HDD
• Uses less power.
• Are not crashed when u drop them
• They don’t make noise
• Are ten times expensive than HDD
• Are used in portable computers (Laptops)
 HDD Components
 Platters :
 Are round disks made up of glass or metal.
 They are stacked over each other.
 The size of the platter determines the size of the disk
 Read/write Head:
 Its used to read and write the data on the disk
 while writing, head converts data from binary into
magnetic pulse.
 While reading, head converts the electrical pulse into
binary data
 HDD Components

 Spindle Motors:
 Its used to spin the disk platters
• 80 Tracks
• 18 Sectors /Track
• 512 bytes/Sector
 HDD Partitions

• Partition enables the user to install many OSes

on different drives
• Better management of the data.
• You can perform the partition while the
installation of the OS or later using the OS
utilities (Disk Management)
• You can have the Max of 4 primary partitions and
many other logical partitions .
 Types of Partitions

• Primary Partition:
• An HD can have the Max of 4 primary partitions
• Only one primary partition can be active at a time
• Active partition contains Master Boot Record (MBR) for starting the system.
• You can have the Min of one primary partition.
• Logical Partition:
• We may have many logical partitions for the better management of the data.
 Formatting of HD

• Formatting erases all the data from the HD.

• It removes the virus which cant be removed using the
Anti-Virus.
• There are two types of formatting:
• Low Level Formatting
• High Level Formatting
 Low Level Formatting
• Its also called physical formatting
• System creates tracks and sectors using low level
formatting
• This formatting is performed at the manufacturer’s
factory
• Earlier, users could perform low level formatting to
repair bad sectors but new HDDs don’t allow us to do
so.
• Low level formatting could be performed using some
options that were available in old versions of BIOS.
 High Level Formatting

• Its also called logical formatting

• It creates the file system structure on the HD
• This formatting can be performed by the user while
the installation of the OS or later using the OS utilities
(Disk Management)
 HDD Troubleshooting
1. System does not start:
1. Check boot options on CMOS
2. Check cable connections
3. Ensure that jumper setting is correct
4. Connect HDD using a diff interface to the system.
5. Install HDD on a diff system
6. Format disk and reinstall the OS
 HDD Troubleshooting
2. HD does not display the correct formatting size:
1. Scan the system for virus
2. Use the scan disk utility for the system errors
3. Check BIOS settings
4. Check jumper settings for size restrictions
5. Backup the data and format the disk from CMD
 File Systems

• In computing, a file system (or file system) is used to control

how information is stored and retrieved. Without a file
system, information placed in a storage area would be one
large body of information with no way to tell where one
piece of information stops and the next begins.
• File system can be chosen while performing formatting or
partition on a disk
 Types of File System
• There are two main types of file system in windows:
• FAT(File Allocation Table)
• FAT12
• FAT16
• FAT32
• NTFS (New Technology File System)
• FAT12 Supports up to 32MB drive size, FAT16 Supports up to 2GB
drive size, FAT32 Supports up to 8TB drive size and NTFS supports up
to 256TB drive size.
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