Systems Architecture, Chapter 5: Data Storage Technology

Flashcards covering key vocabulary and concepts related to data storage technology.

Storage Medium

A device or substance on which data is stored, such as a flash drive or magnetic disk.

Read/Write (R/W) Mechanism

A device used to access (read) and store (write) data values on a storage medium.

Volatility

A measure of whether data can be held for long periods; nonvolatile devices retain data without constant power, while volatile devices lose data.

Access Time

The elapsed time required to complete one read or write operation.

Data Transfer Rate

The speed at which data can be read from or written to a storage medium.

Areal Density

The surface area of a storage medium used to store one bit, typically measured in bits per area unit.

Fragmentation

A condition where sectors of a file become scattered across random disk locations, reducing read/write performance.

Solid-State Drive (SSD)

A secondary storage device that uses flash memory with no moving parts, designed to mimic a traditional disk drive.

Magnetic Storage

Storage technology that converts electrical signals into variations in a magnetic field on a magnetic medium.

Optical Disk Storage

A storage medium that uses laser technology to read and write data through variations in reflectivity.