Chapter 4: Storage Devices and Media

Vocabulary flashcards covering the concepts, operations, applications, advantages, and disadvantages of storage media, storage devices, and magnetic tape.

Storage media

The hardware where data is stored.

Storage device

The hardware that read from or write to the storage media.

Three types of storage media

Magnetic, optical, and solid-state, each storing data in a different way.

Magnetic tape

A thin strip of plastic coated in a magnetic layer where data is stored as magnetised or demagnetised areas.

Magnetised area

An area on a magnetic tape that represents $1$.

Demagnetised area

An area on a magnetic tape that represents $0$.

Magnetic tape drive

Hardware used to read from or write to magnetic tapes using serial access.

Serial access

A method of access where each record is accessed in sequence until the correct record is found, taking a long time and making it useless in real-time or online applications.

Batch processing applications

A use of magnetic tape that includes examples such as clearing bank cheques and payroll processing.

Backup media (Magnetic tape)

A use of magnetic tape enabled by its ability to store vast amounts of data.

Archiving long-term data (Magnetic tape)

A use of magnetic tape made possible because the media is very stable and suitable for long-term storage.

Advantages of magnetic tape

Provides huge storage capacity and is cheaper than a hard disk drive.

Disadvantages of magnetic tape

Features slow data access time and can be corrupted by strong magnetic fields, such as the magnet in a loudspeaker.