Introduction to Storage

Devices

Outline

What is Storage Device

Types Of Storage Devices
Disk based Devices
Access based devices
Flash Drives
Array Devices
Tape Devices
Storage Lab Visit
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Storage Devices

What is storage device

Device which holds data or program

Device capable of storing data
It is a hardware device which is designed to store the
information
Example: Hard disk, CD, Floppy or memory chips such as
memory sticks, Compact flash memory etc
Usually this term is used while referring to mass storage
devices such as Disk Drives or tape drives
Classification of Storage Devices: Storage devices can be
classified (one of the way) based on
Availability of information
Type of data storage or accessing method
Connectivity
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Types of Storage Devices

Based on Availability of information

Volatile (RAM): Device which loses the information when electrically

not powered on. Also referred as RAM or main memory. Example: Main
memory

Non-volatile devices (NVM or NVRAM or EPPROM) : Device which

does not loose information when powered off. Data is permanently
stored or is persistent on the device. Example Hard disk, Floppy, CD,
Memory sticks etc

Based on data Storing/Accessing type

Sequential: Device where data can be read/written in a sequential

manner. Example: Tape Device

Random Access: Device where the data can be accessed at any

order, i.e. at random. Example: Main memory

Types of Storage Devices

Classification based on device connectivity:
1.

Primary Storage: Main memory directly accessible to the CPU.

2.

Secondary Storage: Not directly accessible by the CPU. The

computer usually uses its input/output channels to access secondary
storage and transfers desired data using intermediate area in primary
storage. Example: Hard Disk

3.

Tertiary Storage: System where a robotic arm will mount (insert) and
dismount removable mass storage media into a storage device
according to the system's demands. It is primarily used for archival of
rarely accessed information. Example: Tape Library

4.

Off-line Storage: a computer data storage on a medium or a device

that is not under the control of a processing unit . The medium is
recorded, usually in a secondary or tertiary storage device, and then
physically removed or disconnected. Example: Optical discs, flash
memory, external hard disk drives, magnetic tape

Type of Devices - Disk Based

Hard Disk
Non-volatile Random Access
device used to store data.
Hard disks use multiple platters,
stacked on a spindle. Each
Platter has two read/write heads,
one for each side.
Interface: IDE, USB, SCSI, FC,
SAS
Capacity: 20- 3TBGB
Data Transfer Rate: Over
100MB/s
Manufacturer: Seagate,
IBM, Maxtor, Western
Digital
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Type of Devices - Disk Based

IDE/ATA/Parallel-ATA Disk:
Advanced Technology Attachment
(ATA) is a standard interface for
connecting storage devices such
as hard disks and CD-ROM drives
inside personal computers.
Serial ATA (SATA) Disk: Advantages
- Thinner cables that let air cooling work
more efficiently
- Faster transfers
- Support for hot swapping
External USB Hard Disk (Advantages)
- Can connect externally to the computer
- Portable
- Can store much larger quantities of data
than USB pens, CD-R or even writeable
DVDs
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Type of Devices Access Based

NVRAM: Stands for Non-Volatile RAM (Random Access Memory). NVRAM is

manufactured with a built in battery which keeps power applied to the memory after
power has been removed from the product. The primary advantage of an NVRAM is
speed.
Flash Memory: is non-volatile computer memory that can be electrically erased and
reprogrammed. It is a technology that is primarily used in memory cards, and USB
flash drives (thumb drives, handy drive, memory stick, flash stick, jump drive) for
general storage and transfer of data between computers and other digital product

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NVRAM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_memory
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Type of Devices Flash drives

Flash drive : A flash drive, is a storage device that uses flash memory rather than
conventional spinning platters to store data. Unlike a USB flash drive, flash drives
tend to physically imitate conventional hard drives in size, shape, and interface so
that they may act as a replacement for hard drives.
USB flash drive: USB flash drives are NAND-type flash memory data storage
devices integrated with a USB (universal serial bus) interface. They are typically
small, lightweight, removable and rewritable and are more reliable
due to their lack of moving parts. USB flash drives offer potential advantages over
other portable storage devices (floppy disk).

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_disk
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_flash_drive
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Array Devices JBOD

JBOD (just a bunch of disks) refers to hard disks that can be combined to
Act as a single larger volume. It doesnt has any storage controller
intelligence or data redundancy capabilities

JBOD can combine hard disks of different sizes into a single unit without
loss of any capacity. If a drive in a JBOD set dies then it may be easier to
recover the files on the other drives
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Array Devices RAID

RAID combines physical hard disks into a single logical unit and
replicate data among multiple hard drives for increased reliability and
performance either by using special hardware or software. Hardware
solutions often are designed to present themselves to the attached
system as a single hard drive, and the operating system is unaware of
the technical workings. Advantages are Higher Data Security, Fault
Tolerance, Improved availability, Increased & Integrated Capacity and
Improved Performance
Three key concepts in RAID are Mirroring- the copying of data to more
than one disk, striping-the splitting of data across more than one disk
error correction-the storage of redundant data is to detect and
possibly fix the problem (known as fault tolerance). Different RAID
levels use one or more of these techniques, depending on the system
requirements.

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RAID controllers and Arrays

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RAID Arrays

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RAID Device Single RAID Levels

Level 0: Provides data striping (spreading out blocks of each
file across multiple disks) but no redundancy. This improves
performance but does not deliver fault tolerance.
Level 1: Provides disk mirroring.
Level 2: Bit-level striping with Hamming code ECC.
Level 3: Same as Level 0, but also reserves one dedicated
disk for error correction data. It provides good performance
and some level of fault tolerance.
Level 4: Block-level striping with dedicated parity.
Level 5: Provides data striping at the byte level and also
stripe error correction information. This results in excellent
performance and good fault tolerance.
Level 6: Block-level striping with dual distributed parity.
Level 7: Asynchronous, cached striping with dedicated
parity.
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Tape Devices
Windows server with
Qlogic / Emulex HBAs

LINUX Servers with Qlogic

/ Emulex HBAs

SunFire V240
with Qlogic HBAs

McData / CNT switch

Brocade SAN Switch (3200) FC-SAN

Tape Drive
StorageTek /
HP/IBM

Tape Library
StorageTek /
IBM/Adic

Brocade SAN Switch (3800)

IBM FastT200

LSI ProFibre JBOD

Serial ATA
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Tape Drives
Basic Storage Devices
A tape drive is a data storage device that reads and writes data stored
on a Magnetic tape It is typically used for archival storage of data stored
on hard drives . Tape media generally has a favorable unit cost and long
archival stability.

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Tape Drives
Interfaces: SCSI, FC etc
Cartridge Capacity: 20 - 200 GB
Native Data Transfer Rate: 10 35 MB/s
Archival Life: 15 30 years
Manufacturers: IBM, HP, SONY, QUANTUM
Instead of allowing random access to data as hard disk tape
drives only allow for sequential-access of data. As a result, tape
drives have very slow average seek times.
Despite the slow seek time, tapes drives can stream data to
tape very quickly. For example, modern LTO drives can reach
continuous data transfer rates of up to 80 MB/s, which is as fast
as most 10,000 rpm hard disks
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Tape Library
Composite Storage Devices Tape Library
Tape library (sometimes called a tape silo or tape jukebox) is a storage
device which contains one or more tape drives, a number of slots to hold
tape cartridges, a barcode reader to identify tape cartridges and an
automated robot for loading tapes.
Capacity: Up to 90PB
Number of cartridge slots: Up to 30 - 30,000
Number of drives: 2 - 2,048
Manufacturers: SUN, IBM, HP, QUANTUM etc.
Libraries provide large storage capacity at a very cheap rate. They have
slow access time( varies from seconds to minutes), which usually involves
mechanical manipulation of tapes..
Tape libraries are primarily used for backups and as the final stage of
digital archiving

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Tape Library
Composite Storage Devices Tape Library

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THANK YOU

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