Discuss secondary storage device in detail.

Q. Discuss secondary storage device in detail.

Answer :-

Secondary storage devices are used to store a large amount of data permanently, which is not possible by using the primary or main memory. The amount of data a disk can hold is defined as Disk Capacity, which is measured in terms of bytes, kilobytes (KB), megabytes (MB), and so on. Some of the common secondary storage devices are as follows:

(a) Hard Disk:- A hard disk is a non-volatile, high capacity storage device ranging from 1 GB to several terabytes. It consists of solid rounded disks, packed on one another, made up of a magnetic material and sealed inside a case. It does not get lost or damaged by mishandling. as a hard disk is generally fixed inside the computer.

(b) Blu-ray Disk:- A Blu-ray Disk (BD) is a high-capacity optical disk medium developed for recording, rewriting and playing back high definition video. It can store large amounts of data and was designed to supersede the DVD. Blu-ray disks support higher resolutions and more advanced video and audio formats as compared to DVDs.

(c) Compact Disk (CD):- It is a thin optical disk which is commonly used to store audio and video data. The capacity of standard 120mm CD is 700MB. Transfer speed is mentioned as a multiple of 150 KB/s, for example, 4X means 600 KB/s.

(d) Magnetic Tapes:- In this, magnetic coatings are stored as data on a thin tape. Earlier, this medium was used for archival purposes.

(e) DVD:- Digital Versatile Disc or Digital Video Disc is an optical disc storage device. It can be recorded on single side or on double side. Its capacity may range from 4.7 GB to 8.5 GB.

(f) USB Pen Drive:- It is a small, portable memory which can be plugged into a DVD computer with USB Port. Its capacity is less than that of a hard disk but much more than a floppy or a CD. Also called a pen drive, it is more reliable.

(g) Memory Cards: These are data storage devices mainly used with digital cameras, computers, mobile phones, music players, video game console, etc. Memory cards offer high recording ability with power-free storage.