Secondary Storage

WHAT IS SECONDARY STORAGE  SECONDARY STORAGE IS THE STORAGE THAT IS NON- VOLATILE. RAM IS VOLATILE AND SHORT TERM AND FORGETS EVERYTHING AS SOON AS IT IS TURNED OFF. BECAUSE OF THIS, ALL DEVICES NEED A LONG TERM, NON- VOLATILE STORAGE. THIS IS SECONDARY STORAGE.

TYPES OF SECONDARY STORAGES  SOLID STATE / FLASH  MAGNETIC  OPTICAL

SOLID STATE / FLASH DRIVE SOLID STATE STORAGE IS THE STORAGE THAT HAS NO MOVING PARTS. THIS MEANS IT IS QUICKER, LESS LIKELY TO BREAK, EASILY MOVED AND CAN LAST A LONG TIME. THEY CAN HOLD LOTS OF DATA, BUT COST LOTS MORE THAN THE OTHER TYPES. EXAMPLES OF THIS ARE :  USB STICKS  SD CARDS  SMART CARDS  SIM CARDS

MAGNETIC STORAGE Magnetic storage media and devices store data in the form of tiny magnetised dots. These dots are created, read and erased using magnetic fields created by very tiny electromagnets. EXAMPLES OF THIS ARE :  FLOPPY DISCS  PORTABLE HARD DRIVES  MAGNETIC TAPES  ZIP DISC

OPTICAL STORAGE A LASER IS USED TO READ A SERIES OF DOTS / LUMPS ON A DISC. THE LIGHT IS THEN BOUNCED OFF AND READ. EXAMPLES OF THIS ARE :  CD ROMS  DVD ROMS  BLU RAY  RECORDABLE OPTICAL DISCS

If a student wanted to transport files to school :  He would use flash memory in the form of a usb stick  This would be least likely to break because it has no moving parts  Memory sticks are quite cheap to buy  They can hold lots of files  They are very small and so can therefore be carried easily  They are all compatable with computers

If a school wanted to give out copies of a school show :  They would use an optical disc  It would be very cheap to buy all of the discs  Everyone would have some way to access the footage  It could last a long time

If a company wanted to backup lots of information :  They would use magnetic memory  This would most likely be in the form of an external hard drive  It would be able to hold lots of information  It would be very cheap  It would last a long time