ROM or Read Only Memory is memory whose contents cannot be altered The ROM stores a small program that

has the job of loading the operating system This program is called the bootstrap loader and the process of retrieving the operating system is called booting up ROM basically stores all processes that follow a standard pattern such as a washing machine processing, etc.

RAM i.e Random Access Memory, also known as Main Memory or volatile memory, stores all the data & softwares when the PC is in use so that changes can be made by the user. When the computer system is switched off, all data in the RAM is lost.

Magnetic Tape

Magnetic tape is a medium for magnetic recording made of a thin magnetizable coating on a long, narrow strip of plastic film Magnetic tape is widely used, particularly for long term storage of archive material The disadvantage of magnetic tapes is that the data stored in them has to be accessed sequentially However, it can hold large volumes of data and is very portable.

Places where it is used

Magnetic Hard Disk

A Magnetic hard disk or Hard Disk drive (HDD) is a data storage device used for storing and retrieving digital information using rapidly rotating disks (platters) coated with magnetic material Data is read in a random-access manner and the basic unit of storage is called a block or sector Although portable HDDs are available, they are more likely to be mounted inside the chassis of the computer, and are used as secondary storage devices

 Optical

storage media use reflections of a laser from the pitted surface of the disc to read information.

Large

quantities of data can be stored on the surface of these discs and they are one of the most portable storage devices Types of optical storage medium include:
CD/DVD-ROM CD/DVD-RW CD/DVD-R

 CD

and DVD ROMs are used to store files or data that must not be changed, i.e. edited or deleted after they are written to the disc during manufacture. For e.g. audio CDs, computer games, movies, etc. As the ROM says, data is in read only format and cannot be altered.

CD/DVD-RW are discs whose contents can be re-written as the RW suggests This makes them particularly useful for transporting, backing up or archiving data Its sensible to use a RW medium for back-up copies of files as the changes need to be constantly recorded

 As

the R suggests, these discs are read-only and only allow data to be written once Once data has been written it cannot be altered, although the disc may be written to a number of times until all capacity is used

Solid State Technology

Solid state technology

stores data on a circuit which reacts in the same way as a primary storage and hence provides a fast access to the data Modern computers are increasingly making use of this technology in form of Solid State Drives or SSD to replace the hard disk in place of the secondary storage

DVD-RAM
A DVD-RAM Disc is very

like a DVD-RW Disc but the data is stored in a different way The data is stored in concentric tracks rather than in the traditional spiral pattern

Features of DVD Ram

The surface can be written to far more often than the

surface of a DVD-RW disc Access to the data and reading time is faster Reading and writing can take place simultaneously However they are more expensive than most optical media They are incompatible with ordinary DVD players.

Blu-Ray Disc
Blu-ray is an optical

storage technology which became commercially available around 2008 Blu-Ray Discs uses a shorter wavelength of light for the laser used which allows more data to be squeezed onto the surface

Features of Blu-ray disc

A much larger storage capacity than other optical

storage devices Provide high speed data transfers These two advantages allow to be used for recording and playing back high definition video which require a lot of data However its cost is a major disadvantage as it is much higher than standard DVDs both for the discs and the player-recorder unit

Comparison of backing storage media

All storage media have different types of characteristics. Some can store enormous amounts of data, and some can store not more than a word document The basic categories of comparison in storage media are:
Data Volume Access Times Portability Robustness Cost
o

Volume of Data Held

Very large Capacity
Fixed Hard disks
Portable Hard disks Magnetic Tapes DVD-RAM discs Blu-ray discs

Large Capacity
DVD-ROM
DVD-RW DVD-R Memory sticks or USB drive Flash Memory Cards

Limited Capacity
CD-ROM
CD-RW CD-R

Access Times
Very Fast Access
DVD-RAM Discs Flash Memory cards Memory sticks or USB drive

Fast Access
Fixed Hard disks External Hard disks Optical Media Blu-ray discs

Slow Access
Magnetic Tape

Portability
Very Portable
Optical Media Blu-ray discs Flash Memory Cards Memory sticks or USB drive

Less Portable
Magnetic Tapes External Hard disks

Not Portable
Fixed Hard disks

Robustness
Very Robust
Flash Memory Cards Memory sticks or USB drive Magnetic Tapes

Robust
Optical Media DVD-RAM Blu-ray Discs

Not Robust
Fixed Hard disks External Hard disks

Cost
Cheap
Optical Media Blu-ray discs Memory sticks or USB drive

Medium cost
DVD-RAM discs Flash Memory Cards Magnetic Tapes

Expensive
Fixed Hard disks External Hard disks

Common uses of Storage Media

Magnetic tape is used for archiving huge amounts of data when the access time does not matter SSDs are used to store personal files and are a good medium to transfer data due to the large storage capacity HDDs are used to store software and user data files for users who always use the same machine CD/DVD-ROM are used to store software for selling to people so that its contents cannot be altered and piracy is prevented

There is a continual exchange of data between the primary and the secondary storage When the processor requires the data, it must be transferred from the secondary to the primary When user wants to save data its necessary for the data to be transferred to the secondary storage from the primary storage

Data is saved onto the secondary storage using a buffer Buffer is a small amount of memory used as a temporary storage First, the primary storage sends the data to the buffer and the buffer empties the data into the secondary storage, thereby saving the data However, if the data does not occupy the full buffer space then the storage device it sends an interrupt to the processor This interrupt informs the processor to fill up the buffer space and carry on with what it is doing