Storage

Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe)

A high-speed interface standard for connecting expansion cards to the motherboard.

What is the fastest PCIe?

PCIe x16

Expansion Cards

Increase the functionality of a computer by adding controllers for specific devices or by replacing malfunctioning parts on the motherboard

What are examples of expansion cards?

advanced graphically processing units (graphics card) or GPUs to a wireless network interface card (WNIC), which is smaller than the graphics card.

All motherboards come with…

Integrated graphics cards that are weaker compared to stand alone

Network Interface Card (NIC)

Provide older desktops internet access

Wireless Network Interface Card (WNIC)

give computers the ability to connect to the internet wirelessly aka Wi-Fi card.

HDD (Hard Disk Drive)

A magnetic storage device that stores data on a disk known as a platter.

How is HDD power measured?

Revolutions per minute: 5,400 or 7,200

SSD (Solid State Drive)

A storage device with no moving parts, resulting in faster data access and higher reliability.

Measured in bits per second (bps)

How the performance of SSDs is measured for data access.

What are connectors for internal storage devices?

SSDs and SATA

Optical Drives / Disk Drives

CDs, DVD’s, and Blu-Rays

Blue-Ray Disks (BD-ROM)

Stores the most data compared to other optical/disk drives

Flash Drives / Thumb Drives

portable ways to store and transfer data via USB. counts as an input and output device

Network Attached Storage (NAS)

A preconfigured device that stores and shares data for multiple computers, accessible remotely.

Local Network Storage

storage mediums that are accessible within your local area network (LAN)

Local Area Network (LAN)

networks of computers spanning a singular building

File Server

A computer with dedicated hardware intended to share files. Files servers usually are more powerful than a NAS

Cloud Storage Service

Enables access to files stored offsite/ off-prem servers, examples include Google Suite and Dropbox.

Bit

Smallest measurement of storage (0 or 1)

Bytes

8 bits

Kilobytes

1000^1 bytes or 1024^1 bytes

Megabytes

1000² bytes or 1024² bytes

Gigabytes

1000³ bytes or 1024³ bytes

Terabytes

1000^4 bytes or 1024^4 bytes

Partitioning Harddrive

Prepping your hard drive by declaring the amount of space that will be used and the purpose

Benefits to Partitioning Hardware

Improves organization and operating system data recovery and management