Chapter 3 (Storage)
Q1. Name two types of access methods and differentiate between
them.
A. Serial access: To access data it is necessary to start at the beginning
and then access each piece of data in turn until the required information is
found. e.g magnetic tapes, utility bills, producing pay slips and clearing bank
cheques etc. this method of access is slow.
Direct access: The computer uses a key field to calculate where the data
has been stored, then able to access data directly from the calculated
position. E.g. real time process control systems, online systems etc. this
method of access is fast. Direct access is used with magnetic disks, optical
media and solid state media.
Q2. Why we take backup of our data?
A. To safe guard against loss of data due to secondary storage device failure.
To safe guard against damage caused by hackers.
If the files need to be used elsewhere backups are required.
Q3. Name the three Storage Media.
There are three types of storage media,
1) Magnetic storage media
Internal/External hard drives (HDD)
Magnetic tape
2) Optical Storage media
CD-ROM (Compact disk read only memory)
CD-R (Compact disk recordable)
CD-RW (Compact disk rewritable)
DVD-ROM
DVD-R
DVD-RW
DVD-RAM
Blu-ray disc
3) Solid state storage media
SSD (Solid state drive)
USB/flash drives/data travelers/ memory sticks
Muhammad Zubair Taufiq
Chapter 3 (Storage)
Q4. What is the use of DVD-RAM?
A. It is used in camcorders to store movies
Used in recording devices such as satellite receivers to allow simultaneous
recording and play back.
Q5. Differentiate between DVD and Blu-ray disc.
DVD Blu-ray disc
Red laser beam/light Blue laser beam
Storage capacity is 4GB to 16 GB Huge amount of storage capacity up
to 100 GB
Use a sandwich of two 0.6 mm thick 1.1 mm thick polycarbonate disk.
discs.
No secure encryption system Secure encryption system
Distance between tracks is 0.74µm Distance between tracks is 0.30µm
Q6. What is Blu-ray disk?
A. Blu-ray Disks is an example of optical storage medium. It has the largest
capacity of all the optical media available and go up to 100 Gbyte.
Q7. What are the uses of Blu-ray disk?
A. Home video consoles
PC’s can use this technology for storing and playing back movies
Data storage or backing up hard drives
Movies footage can be stored using blu-ray disc
Q8. What is SSD?
SSD stands for solid state drive. It Contains no moving parts and data is
stored onto flash memory(non-volatile). Non-magnetic and largely
unsusceptible to damage.
Muhammad Zubair Taufiq
Chapter 3 (Storage)
More expensive per MB than a hard disk.
Does not require constant source of power as only needed when in use.
More than 20% faster access speed than HDD.
Q9. Differentiate between the following.
CD DVD
Compact disk Digital versatile disk
700 MB of storage capacity 4 GB to 16 GB od storage capacity
CD-R CD-RW
Compact disk recordable Compact disk re-writable
Data can be recorded / saved once Data can be recorded multiple times
only. After recording data more data until or unless the storage device
can not be stored even if space is gets destroyed, if space is available
available more data can be added.
Q10. What is a file allocation table (FAT)?
It maps the location in which files and folders are stored the disk.
Q11. Differentiate between a Storage device and storage medium.
Storage device Storage medium
The device or machine that lets you The material or the mechanism used
read / write data using any storage to store data.
medium.
Example:
Example:
magnetic storage medium, solid
Hard disk, CD, DVD, blu-ray disk, state storage medium, optical
SSD storage
Muhammad Zubair Taufiq
Chapter 3 (Storage)
Q12. Differentiate between HDD and SSD.
HDD SSD
It stands for Hard disk drive It stands for solid state drive
It uses magnetic storage medium It uses solid state storage medium
Old technology New technology
Slower than SSD 10 times faster as compared to HDD
It has mechanical moving parts It doesn’t have any mechanical
moving parts
Consumes more power as compared Consumes very less power supply
to SSD
Cheap as compared to SSD Very expensive
Q13. Write similarities between HDD and SSD.
Q Both are storage devices
Q Both have large storage capacities
Q Both have faster data access time
Q Both are reliable and portable
Q Both need power / current from the computer continuously
Q14. Differentiate between a combo and super drive.
Combo drive Super drive
It acts as a combination of It acts as a combination of
CD-R, CD-RW and DVD-R CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R and DVD-RW
Muhammad Zubair Taufiq
