Storage & Connectivity Devices. Internal / External Hard Drive Also known as hard disks Internal drive stores the operating system software, application

Storage & Connectivity


Devices


Internal / External Hard Drive

• Also known as hard disks• Internal drive stores the operating system software,

application software and the user’s documents• External drives come in various sizes and is connected via a

USB cable and has an external power source• Prices vary depending on size• Is portable


Solid State Drive• A high-performance plug-and-play storage device that

contains no moving parts• SSD components include either DRAM or EEPROM memory

boards, a memory bus board, a CPU, and a battery card• Because they contain their own CPUs to manage data

storage, they are a lot than conventional hard disks


Magnetic Tape• Use as external drive for storing large amounts of data on a

magnetized medium• Typically used by organisations for backing up vast amounts

of data• Can be set up to do this automatically

• Sturdy and durable for long term use• Slow to retrieve and search for data


Optical Storage Device• Read and written to by laser• CDs holds 650-800MB of data• DVDs holds up 17GB of data. Comes in different forms:

• DVD-ROM: Read only• DVD-R: Record• DVD-RW: Re-writable

• Blue-ray disks holds up to 25GB of data (single layer) or 50GB (dual layer)• Used mainly for large and high quality content


Memory Sticks and Cards• Used for storing and transferring files• Connected via USB• Small, lightweight to carry around and cheap• Large storage capacity for their size• Easy to lose / damage• Now can get encrypted so more secure


Cloud Storage• Storage capacity accessed through the internet or a wide area

network (WAN) connection• Purchased on an as-needed basis

• Users can expand capacity almost without limit


Connectivity Devices


Network Interface Card (NIC)

• Allow user to connect to networks via Ethernet cable or Wi-Fi• Nowadays integrally fitted into the motherboard• Most modern computers will include wireless network facility

in addition to the cabled connection


Modem• Enables a computer to transmit data over, for example,

telephone or cable lines• Computer information is stored digitally, whereas

information transmitted over telephone lines is transmitted in the form of analogue waves

• A modem converts between these two forms


Routers• Typically small, box-like pieces of equipment that multiple

computers can connect to• Joins together multiple local area networks (LANs) with a

wide area network (WAN or the Internet)


Hubs and Switches• Hubs connects multiple computers together in a network

• Allows each device to talk to the others• Anything that comes into one port is sent to all the

others (computers)• Switches are more efficient than hubs sometimes called

(intelligent hubs”• Only sends data to where it should go rather than all

ports

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:4_port_netgear_ethernet_hub.jpg

Documents

Storage & Connectivity Devices. Internal / External Hard Drive Also known as hard disks Internal drive stores the operating system software, application