A ___ Device Is a Piece of Equipment or Hardware

Storage device

Updated: 08/xvi/2021 past Computer Hope

Alternatively referred to equally digital storage, storage, storage media, or storage medium, a storage device is any hardware capable of holding data either temporarily or permanently. The picture shows an example of a Drobo, an external secondary mass storage device.

There are two types of storage devices used with computers: a primary storage device, such equally RAM, and a secondary storage device, such as a difficult drive. Secondary storage can be removable, internal, or external.

Examples of computer storage

Today, there are iii types of media used to shop reckoner data: magnetic storage, optical storage, and solid-state storage. Below is a full listing of all computer storage used over the evolution of the figurer.

Magnetic storage devices

Today, magnetic storage is 1 of the nearly mutual types of storage used with computers. This technology is constitute more often than not on extremely large HDDs or hybrid difficult drives.

• Floppy diskette
• Hard bulldoze
• Magnetic strip
• SuperDisk
• Tape cassette
• Zip diskette

Optical storage devices

Another mutual type of storage is optical storage, which uses lasers and lights as its method of reading and writing data.

• Blu-ray disc
• CD-ROM disc
• CD-R and CD-RW disc.
• DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, and DVD+RW disc.

Solid-land storage devices

Solid-state storage (flash memory) has replaced virtually magnetic and optical media as it becomes cheaper because information technology'south the more efficient and reliable solution.

• USB flash drive, bound drive, or thumb drive.
• CF (CompactFlash)
• M.two
• Memory card
• MMC
• NVMe
• SDHC Carte du jour
• SmartMedia Card
• Sony Memory Stick
• SD bill of fare
• SSD
• xD-Motion picture Menu

Online and cloud

Storing data online and in cloud storage is becoming popular as people need to access their data from more one device.

• Cloud storage
• Network media

Paper storage

Early computers had no method of using any of the technologies above for storing information and had to rely on paper. Today, these forms of storage are rarely used or found. In the motion picture is an example of a woman entering information to a dial card using a punch card car.

• OMR
• Punch carte

Note

A hard copy is considered a class of newspaper storage, although information technology cannot be hands used to input data dorsum into a reckoner without the aid of OCR.

Why is storage needed in a computer?

Without a storage device, a figurer cannot save or remember whatever settings or information and would exist considered a impaired terminal.

Although a calculator tin run with no storage device, it would only be able to view information, unless it was continued to another computer that had storage capabilities. Even a job, such as browsing the Net, requires data to be stored on your computer.

Why so many unlike storage devices?

As computers advance, the technologies used to store data do too, with college requirements for storage space. Because people need more than and more infinite, desire it faster, cheaper, and desire to take it with them, new technologies have to be invented. When new storage devices are designed, every bit people upgrade to those new devices, the older devices are no longer needed and cease being used.

For instance, when dial cards were first used in early computers, the magnetic media used for floppy disks was non available. After floppy diskettes were released, they were replaced by CD-ROM drives, which were replaced by DVD drives, which were replaced by flash drives. The beginning hard disk drive from IBM cost $l,000, was only 5 MB, big, and cumbersome. Today, we have smartphones that have hundreds of times the capacity at a smaller price that we can comport in our pocket.

Each advancement of storage devices gives a computer the power to store more data, and save and admission data faster.

What is a storage location?

When saving anything on a computer, it may ask for a storage location, which is the location data is saved. By default, near information is saved to your calculator difficult drive. If yous desire to motion the data to some other computer, relieve it to a removable storage device, such every bit a USB flash drive.

Which storage devices are used today?

Well-nigh of the storage devices mentioned above are no longer used with today's computers. Most computers today primarily utilise an SSD to shop information, and the ability to use USB flash drives and access to cloud storage. Most desktop computers and some laptops include a disc drive that is capable of reading and writing CDs and DVDs.

What storage device has the largest capacity?

For nearly computers, the largest storage device is the hard bulldoze or SSD. Even so, networked computers may as well have access to larger storage with large tape drives, deject computing, or NAS devices. Below is a listing of storage devices from the smallest capacity to the largest capacity.

Note

Many storage devices have been bachelor in many different capacities. For example, over the evolution of the hard drive, their storage chapters has increased from five MB to several terabytes in size. Therefore, the list beneath is but meant to provide a general thought of the size difference between each storage device, from smallest to largest storage capacity. There are exceptions to the list.

1. Punch card
2. Punch tape
3. Cassette
4. Floppy diskette
5. Null disk
6. CD
7. DVD
8. Blu-ray disc
9. Flash spring drive
10. Hard drive / SSD
11. Record drive
12. NAS / Cloud Storage

Are storage devices input and output devices?

Storge devices do non directly get input from the user and do not brandish output to the user. So, when thinking about an input device or output device in this way, a storage device is not an I/O device.

Nonetheless, when going deeper into the estimator architecture, an I/O device is whatever device that gets input and output from the computer CPU and retentivity. So, because many storage devices like a hard drive are directly communicating with the CPU and memory, they are considered an I/O devices.

Tip

Nosotros've constitute it'due south less confusing for users to refer to any device capable of storing and reading data as a "storage device," disk, disc, drive, or media and not an I/O device.

How do you access storage devices?

Accessing a storage device on your computer depends on the operating system your estimator uses and how it's beingness used. For instance, with Microsoft Windows, you can use a file manager to access the files on any storage device. Microsoft Windows uses Explorer equally its default file director. With Apple tree computers, Finder is considered the default file manager.

• How to run into all drives available on the estimator.

What is the latest storage device?

Ane of the most contempo storage device technologies to be introduced is NVMe, with SSDs and cloud storage also being recently adult storage devices. Besides, older technologies, similar hard disk drives and tape drives, are always developing new techniques to allow for the devices to store more information.

CD terms, Cloud, Floppy bulldoze terms, Hard drive terms, Hardware terms, I/O Device, IPOS, Retentivity terms, Non-volatile, Optane retention, Permanent storage, Remote storage, SAN, Tape terms