Data Storage Devices

There are three types of internal storage devices mainly optical, semi conductor and magnetic storage. Compact disk is an example of magnetic storage whereas silicon chip is an example of a semi conductor storage device.

There are several. The Hard Drive is probably the most robust as it does the majority of storage of data. Any internally installed plate based drive uses magnets as opposed to laser to read and write data (laser read/write drives are CD, DVD, Blu-Ray).

In addition, the computers memory card functions as a short term hard drive though I think these are not magnet based, ie putting a memory card up to a magnet will not delete all of the data.

There is no single format. Binary code is merely the representation of numeric information encoded in binary. Humans use the symbols 0 and 1 to symbolise the binary digits (bits), but computers have no notion of a number let alone the intelligence to interpret the difference between a 1 or a 0. However, binary information can be encoded in many different ways.

In the early days of computers, the computer was programmed through a front panel of switches. The computer had several modes of operation which could be configured by turning these individual switches on or off. Once a configuration was set it could be committed to the computer's memory, which effectively copied the state of these switches to a much larger set of switches laid out in a large array, where each element in the array represented a separate instruction. Once all instructions were stored, they could be executed by copying them one after the other to the instruction register, another series of switches that actually set the mode of operation. By rapidly switching from one mode to the next, the computer was able execute a sequence of very simple instructions extremely quickly.

In order to encode these instructions so that the programmer could configure the input switches correctly, the instructions were encoded in binary notation using 1s and 0s, where a 1 meant the switch was on while a 0 meant the switch was off. The early computers didn't have many instructions -- they were only capable of a handful of very simple operations -- so there were very few switches. With 4 switches we can configure the machine in exactly 16 different ways:

0000 0001 0010 0011

0100 0101 0110 0111

1000 1001 1010 1011

1100 1101 1110 1111

Each additional switch doubles the number of configurations thus if the computer has 17 to 32 instructions we would use at least 5 switches while 33 to 64 instructions would require at least 6 switches, and so on.

Each binary digit (bit) represents an increasing power of 2 where the least significant bit represents 2^0, followed by 2^1, 2^2, 2^3 and so on. This is no different to decimal notation where each digit represents an increasing power of 10 (10^0, 10^1, 10^2, 10^3 and so on). Knowing this we can easily convert from binary to decimal, such that 1101 means (from least significant to most significant digit):

1 = 1x(2^0) = 1x1 = 1

0 = 0x(2^1) = 0x2 = 0

1 = 1x(2^2) = 1x4 = 4

1 = 1x(2^3) = 1x8 = 8

1+0+4+8 = 13

Thus 1101 is the binary equivalent of 13 decimal.

If we say that 1101 represents a specific machine instruction, then we really mean instruction 13. What that instruction means to the machine depends on the machine itself -- it is a machine code and machine codes are always machine-dependent (only machines of the same type will understand what instruction 13 means). Since it represents a specific machine instruction then we call it an operation code, or an opcode for short.

Opcode 13 may require operands (one or more inputs). For instance, if opcode 13 were one of the machine's move instructions, it will need two operands: a source and a destination. These must also be encoded in binary and these codes will either represent a memory address or a CPU register, depending on the operand types expected by the opcode.

CPU registers are a bank of switches that are used to specify the inputs and outputs required by the instruction register (which is also a CPU register). Two special registers are used to keep track of the current and the next instruction. Normally, the next instruction is the one that immediately follows the current instruction in memory. However, if the current instruction is a jump instruction, the encoding in the next instruction register may change, thus allowing the computer to a make decision and possibly jump to the appropriate instruction code when the next instruction becomes the current instruction.

Of course, today, we do not program machines through a series of front panel switches. But just as we can encode the state of these switches from a numeric binary notation, we can also convert to any other binary encoding. On magnetic media we use the flux transitions between positively and negatively charged particle clusters upon a ferromagnetic material. These transitions can be "read" by a computer and decoded into a series of alternating electrical impulses which can then be encoded within an array of accumulators with high or low electrical charges each of which can be maintained by a transistor that can also independently switch the state of the accumulator.

There are no actual numbers inside a computer, of course, they are all merely the encoded representations of numbers that must be encoded, decoded and shunted from one location to another according to the machine's current opcode. For humans it is obviously easier to record the machine's "state" using numeric binary values, but this is merely an abstraction. The machine has no more concept of a number than it does of a what a human is. It is a machine -- it has no actual intelligence. It simply has a number of modes that we can configure, nothing more and nothing less. But because its native "language" is binary, we use numeric binary notation as a human convenience. It allows us to instruct the computer in the only language it knows -- including the instructions necessary to translate binary encoded information into information we can understand, whether it is decimal numbers, written words, a picture, a movie or a sound.

The capacity of the most ubiquitous floppy is 1.44 MB. Floppies in other capacities have also been made.

The standard types, just like with the CD format, are:

[ by Format type ]

DVD-ROM (pre-recorded from the factory, OR the "most standard" standard)

DVD-R (the standard blank write-once media)

DVD+R (supposed to offer superior data protection)

DVD-RW (-R rewriteable)

DVD+RW (+R rewriteable)

DVD-RAM (multiple-write sort-of like hard drive/pagefile, supported by certain DVD burners)

DVDs on a PC can be burned either all to DVD-ROM (the default option), or to "physical media type" (DVD-R, DVD+R etc.) - the availability of this latter option depends on the writer hardware and used software.

[ by Content type ]

DVD-Video

DVD-Audio

DVD-Data

[ by Physical Media type (storage space/video or audio length capability etc.) ]

Single-Side, Single-Layer (SSSL, default) - 4.7 GB

Single-Side, Double-Layer (SSDL) - 2x 4.7 GB

Dual-Side, Single-Layer (DSSL) - 2x 4.7 GB

Dual-Side, Double-Layer (DSDL) - 4x 4.7 GB

Also, note that the "video length" and similar information provided on DVDs applies and conforms to reality only, when DVD-Video (or DVD-Audio) format is used, as this forces a pre-defined encoding/compression of information (DVD-Data can store any type of information in any file format).

extended partition

some adavatages are that they are * Relitvly large in space * Removable/portable * you can find manny placces to insert them (Camras,coumputers exe..) Dissadavages are: * They Brake easy * they are not the fastest

flash memory,floppy disc,usb,pendrive,RAM,hardisk

the main role of memory is to let OS copy in it.. means when we start PC, 1st OS gets copied on ram.. it also important for software or program..

1981 by a group of scientists who found out the properties of a disc magnet

3 1/2 inch

5 1/4 inch

8 inch

Solid state Flash drives

USB Hard disks drives

Tape remains a viable alternative to disk in some situations due to its lower cost per bit. This is a large advantage when dealing with large amounts of data. Though the areal density of tape is lower than for disk drives, the available surface area on a tape is far greater. The highest capacity tape media are generally on the same order as the largest available disk drives (about 5 TB in 2011). Tape has historically offered enough advantage in cost over disk storage to make it a viable product, particularly for backup, where media removability is necessary.

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in general, a HDD or a tape casette. HDD tend to be used for normal computers and for servers, tape casettes tend to be used for the backup of servers (they're the things that you see spinning on computers in old fashioned movies

The brain.

Assuming that you have the three most common ones, they would be: Floppy Disk Drive (Usually A: drive) Hard Drive (Usually C: drive) CD-Rom Drive (varies by manufacturer) However, it could be any number of other drives, depending on your computer.

the 3 benefits of computer are:

1.) Increased productivity

2.) Information management

3.) Improve communication

January bernaldez

A DVD holds around six times as much as a CD. Also, some USB drives and almost all hard drives hold WAY more than a CD.

Theres a number of different speeds

Older drives spin at 5400RPM
The average drive spins at 7200RPM
Newer, 1TB SATA drives spin at 10,000RPM
Hight performance drives (File Servers, Web Hosting ec) spin at 15,000RPM

CD & DVD work in practically the same manner. Both store data as a series of reflective marks on the surface of the disc. The thin plastic or metal foil layer of the disc gets hit by the laser beam of the writing drive. The laser energy thus produced creates tiny bumps in a spiral pattern similar to that of a long-playing album.

A few years ago, before there were CDs and USB flashdrives, data to be stored on removable media was stored on "floppies" the most recent of these was square three and a half inches on an edge (hence the 3.5 name) about one tenth of an inch thick stiff plastic case surrounding a flimsy (hence the name "floppy") magnetically covered mylar disc. These were most commonly formatted to hold 1.44Mb (there are a huge number of formats, sizes etc. for removable media look it up on Wikipedia)

Formerly they had, but nowadays when compared to pendrives they have a small storage capacity, do not surpassing 700 MB. The tendency of storing devices is directed to pendrives due to their inumerous advantages.

RAM