STORAGE DEVICES

What is a storage device? Secondary and Primary Storage Devices

A storage device refers to a computing hardware used to store information permanently or temporarily. The device can be external or internal to a computer, server, and other computing systems. Storage devices are also known as storage medias or storage medium. There are two types of storage device: secondary storage device and primary storage device.

Primary storage device

A primary storage device is quite smaller in size and it’s designed to capture or hold data for a temporary period. Most primary storage devices are found inside the computer, and they have the fastest access to data. Examples of Primary devices include Cache memory and RAM.

 

Secondary storage device

A secondary storage device has a larger storage capacity and can store data permanently. The device can be both external and internal to a computer and includes; compact disk, USB drive, hard disk, etc.

Why is storage needed in a computer?

Without a storage device, a computer can not saveor remember any settings or information and would be considered a dumb terminal.

Although a computer can run with no storage device, it would only be able to view information unless it was connected to another computer that had storage capabilities. Even a task such as browsing the Internet requires information to be stored on your computer.

Why so many different storage devices?

As computers advance so do the requirements for storage space and the technologies used to store data. Because people need more and more space, want it faster, cheaper, and want to take it with them new technologies have to be invented. When new storage devices are designed, as people upgrade to those new devices the older devices are no longer needed and stop being used.

For example, when punch cards were first used in early computers the magnetic media used for floppy disks was not available. After floppy diskettes had been released, they were replaced by CD-ROM drives, which were replaced by DVD drives, which have been replaced by flash drives. The first hard disk drive from IBM cost $50,000, was only 5 MB, was big, and cumbersome. Today, we have smartphones that have hundreds of times the capacity at a much smaller price that we can carry with us in our pocket.

Each advancement of storage devices gives a computer the ability to store more data, save data faster, and access the saved data faster.

What is a storage location?

When saving anything on a computer, it may ask you for a storage location, which is the area in which you would like to save the information. By default, most information is saved to your computer hard drive. If you want to move the information to another computer, save it to a removable storage device such as a flash drive.

What storage devices are used today?

Most of the storage devices mentioned earlier are no longer used with today's computers which primarily use a hard disk drive or SSD to store information and have the options for USB flash drives and access to cloud storage. Desktop computers with disc drives typically use a disc drive that is capable of reading CD's and DVD's and writing CD-R and other recordable discs.

What storage device has the largest capacity?

For most computers, the largest storage device is the hard drive or SSD. However, networked computers may also have access to larger storage with large tape drives, cloud computing, or NAS devices. Below is a list of storage devices from the smallest capacity to the largest capacity.

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