Chapter Four

Secondary Storage Media

Khalid Rabaya’h

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Overview
This chapter covers:
• Overall characteristics of storage systems
• How magnetic disk systems work
• How optical disc systems work
• What flash memory systems are and how
they are used
• Other types of storage systems
• How to evaluate storage alternatives for PCs
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Primary Vs. Secondary Storage
 Primary Storage: Small capacity, Volatile
 Secondary Storage: High capacity,

Permanent
Why secondary storage is needed?
 Backup or alternative storage in place of

(volatile) RAM
 Cheaper, mass storage for long term use
 Secondary memory devices (and media) are

distinguished by their capacities, speed, and 4

cost.
Types of mass storage devices and media:

Magnetic Storage

Optical Storage
Mass Storage

Electronic Storage

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Cloud Storage
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Magnetic Storage
media
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Magnetic Disk Systems
• Magnetic disks: Record data using magnetic spots
on disks made of flexible plastic or rigid metal
• Most widely used storage medium on today’s
computers (hard drives)
• Disks are divided into tracks, sectors, and clusters
• Data written and read using read/write heads
• Common types
• Floppy disks (common removable storage
medium in the past; not widely used today)
• Hard disks (included on nearly all PCs today) 6
Characteristics of Hard Disk:
Several platters (disks) where data can be recorded on both sides
of each platter. With 4 platters, there 8 surfaces for recording.
Example: 4 platters = 8 surfaces, data stored in 8 surfaces.
Flying read/write heads for each surface mounted on access arms.
The flying heads are so close to the surface that a particle of smoke
will not fit between the head and the surface. Access arms works
together. They move as a one unit.

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Magnetic Disk Organization:
Data and programs are stored on magnetic disks and hard disks in similar way.
The surface is formatted as follows:
Tracks are concentric (circles with the same center). The number of tracks varies from
one disk to another. It can be as few as 80 tracks for diskettes and in thousands for hard
disks.
A cylinder is the same-numbered tracks on each recording surface
Tracks are divided into sectors. The sector is the smallest unit that can be accessed on a
disk.
The number of sectors depends on the density of the disk. Typically, the storage capacity
of
each sector in a track is 512 bytes. A bad sector is a sector that can’t be accessed.
A cluster is a number of adjacent sectors. Typically the cluster size ranges from 8 to
64 sectors. For 512-bytes sectors, the size of a cluster ranges from 4096 bytes = 4 Kbytes
to 32,768 bytes = 32 Kbytes.
The cluster is the smallest unit of disk space that can be allocated to a file. Therefore,
every file
saved to the disk takes up one or more clusters

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Each cluster has a number or address. The number of the first cluster allocated to a file is the disk
address of the file. The address gives the physical location of the file on the disk. In general, more
than one cluster is allocated to the same file (depends on the size ofthe file). Clusters allocated for the
same file need not be adjacent but must be linked. When write to a file, the write head points to the
disk address of the file and writes the first cluster, then it searches for another cluster that is not
allocated to other files, records the address of the next cluster at the end of the first one and so on
until the all file is written. To read the file, the read head, controlled by the program, points to the disk
address of the file and reads the first cluster and the address of the next cluster allocated to the file
then it points to the address of the second cluster. The process is continued until the last cluster,
which shows that no more clusters are allocated to the given file. Sometimes, the operating system
marks a cluster as being used even though it is not assigned to any file (usually as a result of power
interruption). Such a cluster is called lost cluster. There are utilities that search for lost clusters and
mark them for use. You can try Scandisk in windows: start – accessories – system tools – scan disk

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Magnetic Disk Systems

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Fixed Hard Disk

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read/write
platter head

sides 11
11
cylinder
Sample Hard Disk Characteristics

Advertised capacity 500 GB

Platters 4
Read/write heads 8
Cylinders 16,383
Bytes per sector 512
Sectors per track 63
Sectors per drive 973,773,168
actual
Revolutions per minute 7,200 disk
capacity
Transfer rate 300 MB per
second
Access time 8.5 ms
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 Files

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Disk vs. File Organization
 Data is stored in
blocks
 Blocks occupy

sectors
 Sectors on tracks
 Files have names
 Files vary in size
 Files may be

updated (in part or

whole) 13
Files
• Data is stored on the media as files.
• File is a collection of information that has a
name called file_name and each file name
has an extension that distinguishes the file
type.
• File_name.Extension_name
• Example: aauj.txt

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Types of files: (most popular file types)
• ASCII file (Text file): a file that consists of ASCII
characters, no images, no equations and no special
format. Example: *.txt (Notepad program)
• Data file: That contains data organized into records.
Example: *.mdb (MS-Access program)
• Document file: That contains text, images and other
formatted text. Example: *.doc (MS-Word
program)
• Spread sheet file: That contains rows and columns
of data. Example: *.xls (MS-Excel program)
• Web file: That can be opened by internet browsers. 16

Example: *.htm (Internet explorer program)

Types of files (Cont.):
6.Source program file: That contains program
instructions. (source code of program) Example: *.cpp
(C++ program)
7.Executable program file: To execute (run) a computer
program. Example: *.exe , *.com
8.Graphics file: That contains digitized images (the binary
code of the image). Example: *.bmp , *.gif
9. Audio file: That contains digitized sound. Example:
*.wav , *.mp3
10.Video file: That contains digitized video frames and
when played produced motion video. Example: *.avi ,
*.mpeg 17
Fragmentation vs.
Defragmentation
• Fragmentation: refers to the condition of a disk in
which files are divided into pieces scattered
around the disk.
• Fragmentation occurs naturally when you use a
disk frequently, creating, deleting, and modifying
files.
• Fragmentation slows down computers, and can
be solved by defragmentation.
• Defragmentation: means putting related blocks
(belong to the same file) in adjacent places and
releasing the free blocks. 18
• Another Def. (rearranging clusters to enhance
performance). Sec#3
Backup methods
 a backup or the process of backing up refers to
making copies of data so that these additional
copies may be used to restore the original after a
data loss.
 Full backup:
copies all files on the HD to the table.
 Selective backup:
copies only user selected files.
 Modified files backup:
copies the modified files only. 19
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Optical media
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Optical Media
• They call it optical because it uses the optical properties
of the material to store and read data.
• It uses light reflection and detectors to read data from
media.
Types of optical media
• Compact Disc–Read Only Memory (CD-ROM)
• Compact Disc–R/W (CD-RW)
• Digital Versatile Discs (DVD)

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How optical media works

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How DVD works

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 Rewritable Discs
• Can be recorded on, erased, and overwritten
just like magnetic discs

• Most common formats: CD-RW, DVD-RW, BD-

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RE and DVD+RW discs
• HD DVD-RW discs are expected to be
available soon

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Electronic Storage
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Flash memories
• Electronic non-volatile computer storage medium
that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed.

• Developed from EEPROM (Electrically Erasable

Programmable Read-Only Memory)

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• There are two main types of flash memory, which
are named after the NAND and NOR logic gates.

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Flash memories
• The NAND type is primarily used in main
memory, memory cards, USB flash drives,
solid-state drives, and similar products, for
general storage and transfer of data.
• The NOR type is used as a replacement for

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the older EPROM and as an alternative to
certain kinds of ROM applications.

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Applications of flash memory
• personal computers,
• PDAs,
• digital audio players,
• digital cameras,
• mobile phones,

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• video games,
• scientific instrumentation,
• industrial robotics,
• medical electronics, 28

• … sec #2
Flash Memory Systems
• Use flash memory media
• No moving parts so more resistant to shock and
vibration, require less power, makes no sound

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• Solid-state storage system
• Most often found in the form of:
• Flash memory cards
• USB flash drives
• Solid-state drives
• Hybrid hard drives
• Very small and so are very appropriate for use with
digital cameras, digital music players, handheld PCs, 29

notebook computers, smart phones, etc.

Flash Memory Systems

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Flash Memory Cards

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Characteristics of Flash memories
• Non volatile, retains data even when power
is switched off
• Have fast read access time

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• Have slower write access time
• Have mechanical shock resistance
• Have high durability,
• Being able to withstand high pressure,
temperature, immersion in water.
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Solid-State Drives (SSDs) and Hybrid Hard Drives (HHDs)

• Solid-state drives (SSDs)

• Use flash memory instead of spinning platters and
magnetic technology

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• Prices have fallen significantly, though SSDs are currently
more expensive than conventional drives
• Hybrid hard drives (HHDs)
• Combine a large flash memory cache with a magnetic
hard drive

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Solid-State Drives (SSDs) and
Hybrid Hard Drives (HHDs)

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Cloud Storage
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Cloud Storage
• Is a model of storage where data is stored on a
remote server that can be accessed by the Internet.
• Hosting companies operate large data centers, and
people who require their data to be hosted buy or
lease storage capacity from them.
Advantages

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• Paying for the storage they use.
• Access data any where any time via Internet
• data protection is guaranteed.
• Backup
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• Transferring files to others or to another PC
• Sharing files with others (online photo sites, etc.)
Smart Cards
• A smart card is a plastic card about the size of
a credit card, with an embedded microchip
that can be loaded with data,
• provide identification, authentication, data
storage and application processing.
• A smart card contains more information than a

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magnetic stripe card and it can be
programmed for different applications.
• Some cards can contain programming and data
to support multiple applications and some can
be updated to add new applications after they 37

are issued.
 Holographic storage
• Store data as holograms
• Emerging type of 3D storage technology
• Uses two blue laser beams to store data in three

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dimensions
• Potential initial applications for holographic data
storage systems include:
• High-speed digital libraries
• Image processing for medical, video, and military
purposes
• Any other applications in which data needs to be stored
or retrieved quickly in large quantities but rarely
changed 38
Storage Systems for Large Computer Systems and Networks

• Usually use a storage

server: a hardware device
containing multiple high-

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speed hard drives
• Businesses have to
storage tremendous
amounts of data
• Business data
• Employee and
customer data
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RAID

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• RAID (redundant arrays of independent discs): Method of storing
data on two or more hard drives that work together to do the job
of a larger drive.
• By placing data on multiple disks, I/O (input/output) operations
can overlap in a balanced way, improving performance.
• It uses either striping or mirroring
• Striping is the process of dividing a body of data into blocks and
spreading the data blocks across several partitions on several hard
disks. 40

• Mirroring: store the same data on two different disks

Evaluating Your Storage Alternatives
• Factors to consider:
• Speed
• Compatibility

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• Storage capacity
• Portability
• Most users require:
• Hard drive
• CD or DVD drive
• Flash memory card reader and USB
port for flash memory drive
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