Sometimes, it is referred to in other ways as storage devices, digital storage media or storage medium storage devices are device that is capable of storing information , either permanently or for a short period of time. The picture is an illustration of the Drobo which is an external storage device for mass storage.
There are two kinds of storage devices that are used by computers they are the first storage device, for instance, RAM and an additional storage device, like the hard disk. Secondary storage could include portable, internal external, or internal external.
Computer storage examples
There are currently three kinds of media that are used to store data on computers: magnetic storage, optical storage as well as Solid-state storage. Below is a complete list of the various computer storage options that have been used in the development of computers.
Magnetic storage devices
Nowadays, magnetic storage is among the most popular kinds of storage that is used by computers. It’s typically on huge HDDs and hybrid hard drives..
- Floppy diskette
- Hard drive
- Magnetic strip
- SuperDisk
- Tape cassette
- Zip diskette
Optical storage devices
Another type of storage that is popular can be described as optical storage that uses lasers and light sources for reading or writing down data.
- Blu-ray disc
- CD-ROM disc
- CD-R and CD-RW discs.
- DVD-R, dvd+R, CD-RW, DVD+RW and DVD-RW discs.
Solid-state storage devices
Storage that is solid-state (flash memory) has replaced a lot of optical and magnetic media, as it’s the most reliable and efficient solution.
- Flash drive USB, Jump drive as well as thumb drive.
- CF (CompactFlash)
- M.2
- Memory card
- MMC
- NVMe
- SDHC Card
- SmartMedia Card
- Sony Memory Stick
- SD card
- SSD
- xD-Picture Card
Cloud and Online
The idea of storing data online and in cloud storage is becoming more popular because people want to access their data on multiple devices.
- Cloud storage
- Network media
Storage for paper
The first computers did not have the capability to use any of the above technologies for storage of information. They were dependent on paper. Nowadays, these types of storage are not employed or are located. In the image is an illustration of a woman transferring data into punch card through the punch card device.
- OMR
- Punch card
Hard copy paper copy is considered to be a type of paper storage, however it is not able to enter data into computers without the help with OCR.
Why is storage important in computers?
In the absence of a device for storage computers cannot keep track of or keep any information or settings and is considered to be to be a computer that is not a smart device.
While a computer is able to run without storage but it would be able view data in the event that it was connected to a different computer that was equipped with storage. Any task like browsing the Internet requires data to be saved in your personal computer.
Why are there so many storage devices?
As computers develop and technology improves, the methods for storing data change as well, and with greater demands in terms of storage capacity. Since people require more and more space, need it quicker, less expensive and would like to carry it along with them, new technologies must be created. As new devices for storage are developed when people upgrade to these new devices, the old ones are not needed anymore and cease to be used.
For instance when punch cards first appeared in the beginning of computers the magnetic media used to create floppy disks was not readily available. When floppy diskettes became available in the late 1990s, they were replaced by CD-ROM drives. These was replaced with DVD drives, and then became flash drives. In the beginning, the first hard drive made by IBM cost $50, and was just 5 MB in size large, heavy, and bulky. Nowadays today, we can have smartphones that can hold many times as much capacity, at a lower cost that we can fit in our pockets.
Each new generation of storage devices grants computers the capacity to store more information, save data and retrieve data more quickly.
How do you define a store space?
While saving any information on your computer, it might require the file location and this is where the location data is stored. The majority of information is saved to the computer’s hard drive. If you’d like to transfer the information to a different computer, you can save it to an external storage device like an USB flash drive.
What storage devices are in use currently?
A majority of the storage gadgets mentioned previously are not used by modern computers. Today, most computers rely on an SSD for storing data as well as the capability to use USB flash drives as well as access the cloud storage. The majority of desktop computers as well as some laptops have disc drives that are capable of writing and reading DVDs and CDs.
Which storage device has most capacity?
The largest storage device is a SSD, also known as a hard disk as well as the SSD. But, networked computers can access storage via massive tape drives, cloud computing and devices known as NAS devices. Below is the list of storage devices, ranging from the smallest capacity up to the most powerful capacity.
- Punch card
- Tape to punch
- Cassette
- Floppy diskette
- Zip disk
- CD
- DVD
- Blu-ray disc
- Flash jump drive
- Hard drive / SSD
- Tape drive
- NAS / Cloud Storage
Storage devices are input and output devices?
Storge devices don’t directly receive input from the user and they do not show results for the user. When you are thinking of the idea of an output device or output device in this manner it is important to remember that a storage device is not an input device.
If you look into the architecture of computers the definition of I/O devices are I/O device is any device that receives both output and input from the processor as well as memory. Also, since a lot of storage devices, such as hard drives memory stick are directly connected to both memory and CPU, they can be thought of as an I/O device.
How do you get access to storage devices?
The ability to access a storage device on your computer is dependent upon the OS that your computer runs and the way it’s utilized. For instance when using Microsoft Windows, you can make use of an software called a file administrator to access data on your storage devices. Microsoft Windows uses Explorer as the primary file management system. On Apple computer systems, Finder is considered to be the preferred file manager.
- How do I view every drive available on the computer.
What is the most up-to-date storage device?
One of the latest technology for storage devices to be launched are NVMe which is a new storage device, which includes SSDs as well as cloud storage also being developed as recent storage devices. In addition, older technology like tape and hard disk drives, are continually creating new methods to allow the storage devices to store more information.
