Storage Devices Essay

1037 Words5 Pages
Name: Storage Device | Size | Description | Advantages | Disadvantages | Hard Disk | 120gb – 1 terabyte | The hard disk is the main storage device in your computer. It is a bit like a filing cabinet: all of your data files and applications software are stored on it. | * necessary to support the way your computer works * large storage capacity * stores and retrieves data much faster than a floppy disk or CD/DVD * Stored items are not lost when you switch off the computer * Cheap on a cost per megabyte compared to other storage devices | * Far slower to access data than ROM or RAM chips * Hard disks can crash which stop the computer from working * Regular crashes can damage the surface of the disk, leading to loss of data in that sector * The disk is fixed inside the computer and cannot easily be transferred to another computer. | Floppy Disk | A floppy disk can store up to 1.44 Mb of data which is equivalent to around 300 pages of A4 text | Floppy disks are one of the oldest types of portable storage devices still in use, having been around since the 1980s. However, they are gradually becoming obsolete and some manufacturers are now starting to build their PCs without floppy disk drives. | * Portable - small and lightweight * Inexpensive * Useful for transferring small files between home and school * Security tab to stop data from being written over * Can be used many times | * Not very strong - easy to damage * Data can be erased if the disk comes into contact with a magnetic field * Quite slow to access and retrieve data when compared to a hard disk * Can transport viruses from one machine to another * Small storage capacity * Many new computers don't have floppy disk drives | Zip Drive | They can store around 100Mb of data - 70 times more than a floppy disk. | Zip disks are pretty much obselete now. However,

More about Storage Devices Essay

Open Document