Secondary storage - information and useful tips

Essay by InfinithHigh School, 10th grade July 2004

download word file, 2 pages 5.0

1) The main function of secondary storage is to store programs and data when they are not being used.

2) secondary storage is used to store data that is not being used

3) The most widely used form of secondary storage is magnetic disks because they are nonvolatile.

4) They are portable, inexpensive, lightweight, nonvolatile, and easily accesible.

5) It must be formatted, formatting defines the disk surface and erases any pre-existing data. It also scans the disk for any defects.

6) 1, the recording density. 2, the number of tracks on the disk.

7) Access time is the time required to access and retrieve data. This time is made up of three functions, seek time - the time taken for the read\write head to get in place. Rotational delay - Time taken for the part of disk with required info to spin under the head. Data transfer rate - tim taken for data to get from the disk to the main memory.

8) 8 inch floppy disks, 5 inch floppy disks, 3.5 inch floppy disks - all three have a plastic outer casing with a thin mylar disk coated with an oxide. HD (high density) 3.5 inch floppy disks can store more data (1.44MB). Floptical disks use both optical and magnetic technology to store much larger amounts of data (approx 2 GB)

9) Floppy disks have a plastic casing containing a single disk as opposed to a rigid platter containing several.

10) Hard disks have easier access and larger and faster storage capacity than diskettes.

11) RAIDis a system that has, faster access. Zip drive, portable. Memory button, easy to use

12) Data compression reduces storage size by substituting codes for repeating patterns. It is used so less memory on your computer is used.

13) To prevent the loss...