Storage
Devices
GROUP MEMBERS:
NICKOLAI NEWMAN,
SAMUEL SUTHERLAND,
DAVID THOMPSON,
MAKINI THOMPSON,
CHRISTIAN COLYARD
Who is Doing What?
Flash Memory/Solid State - Makini
ROM, Optical Disk - Samuel
Magnetic Media - Nickolai
RAM, Cloud Storage - David
Powerpoint design and Presentation- Christian
Storage Devices
Storage Devices are hardware components which are used to storing, porting
and extracting data. There are four distinctive characteristics that are used to
compare storage devices:
1. Storage Capacity - How much data a device can store
2. Access Speed- The time taken to access a drive on the computer
3. Access Method- How data is written or read from a storage medium. This
can be sequential, index-sequential, direct or random access.
4. Portability- Refers to the ability of a storage device to be transported from
one computer to another.
Types of Storage Devices
There are two types of storage devices used with computers:
● Primary Storage- also known as the internal memory, this is the section
of the CPU that holds a program’s instructions, input data and outputs.
It is generally smaller capacity and has faster access speed than
secondary storage.
● Secondary Storage- storage devices that serve as an addition to the
computer’s main memory, which enable the permanent storage of data.
Primary Storage Devices
RAM - Stands for Random Access Memory. It stores
the current instructions and data that the
computer is using.
● RAM is read-write memory, meaning RAM can
store new data
● RAM is volatile- if the computer is switched off
An image of RAM.
or electricity goes off, the data stored in the
RAM will be lost.
Primary Storage Devices Cont’d
ROM- Stands for Read-Only Memory. It stores
instructions for tasks like booting.
● ROM is read-only, this means instructions can
not be changed.
● ROM is non-volatile, this means if the computer
is switched off or power is lost, the data stored
in ROM will not be lost.
AN image of ROM.
Secondary Storage Devices
There are four main types of secondary storage devices. These include:
1. Magnetic Storage (eg. floppy disks, magnetic tape, hard drives)
2. Optical Storage (eg. CD, DVD, Blu-Ray)
3. Flash Memory/ Solid State Drive (eg. memory card, usb flash drive)
4. Cloud Storage (eg. ICloud, Google Drive, OneDrive)
Magnetic Storage
Magnetic storage is the manipulation of
magnetic fields on a medium in order to
record audio, video or other data. Some
examples are floppy disk, hard drive disk and
magnetic tape.
Access Method: Direct, sequential &
random
Access Speed: Fast
Portability: Highly Portable An image of a magnetic disk.
Capacity: Varying capacity (as low as 800
Kb to over 15 Tb), however, Floppy Disk -
Optical Disk
An optical disk stores data through
microscopic pits burned into a smooth
surface by a laser. These are invisible to
the human eye. Some examples of
optical disks are CD, DVD and Blu-ray.
Access Method: Sequential Access
Access Speed: Slow
Portability: Highly Portable, can be
accessed by any device with a optical
disk drive An image of a DVD.
Capacity: high capacity (500 MB in CD
to 18 GB in DVD)
Flash/Solid-State Memory
Flash memory is an electronically manipulated,
solid-state storage medium. It is faster than
most other secondary storage mediums, is non-
volatile, and has no moving parts. Some
examples are memory cards and USB Flash
drives.
Access Method: Direct Access
Access Speed: Fast, dependent on generation,
interface etc.
Portability: Highly Portable
Capacity: High Capacity - as low as 128MB to An image of a solid state drive (SSD)
2TB or more
Cloud Storage
Cloud storage is a service model in which data
is transmitted and stored on remote storage
systems, where it is maintained, managed,
backed up and made available to users over a
network -- typically, the internet. Some
examples are Google Drive, iCloud, OneDrive.
Access Method: Direct Access
Access Speed: Usually fast (dependent on
internet connection speed)
Portability: accessible on any electronic
An image representing cloud storage.
device with an internet connection.
Capacity: Infinite (Usually free of cost up to a
certain amount)
References
Information Technology for CSEC: CXC study guide. (2019). . OXFORD
UNIV Press.
https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/definition/cloud-storage
https://www.unitrends.com/blog/secondary-storage
https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/difference-between-ram-and-rom/
