Chapter 3: S torage Capacity & Storage Media Abbey Clark & Susan Holl

What’s in a Byte?! Size Character Equivalent 1 Byte 1 alphanumeric character 1 Kilobyte About 1,000 characters 1 Megabyte About 1 million characters 1 Gigabyte About 1 billion characters A byte is a unit of storage created by on-off pulses in a computer.

Types of Storage Floppy Disk Floppy Disk Mylar disk inside plastic shell Mylar disk inside plastic shell Holds up to 1,444,000 bytes (1.44 megabytes) Holds up to 1,444,000 bytes (1.44 megabytes) Getting a little dated; some computers no longer include floppy disk drives Getting a little dated; some computers no longer include floppy disk drives Hard Disk Hard Disk Permanently mounted inside the computer Permanently mounted inside the computer Storage ranges but is typically multiple gigabytes (billions of bytes) or data Storage ranges but is typically multiple gigabytes (billions of bytes) or data Usually designated the C drive  is the primary mass storage area for both programs and data Usually designated the C drive  is the primary mass storage area for both programs and data

Removable Media Portable disks and cartridges that can be added to a computer Cartridges vary in size from 250 megabytes to 1 gigabyte A portable hard disk is a self-contained disk and drive that plugs into a computer port Portable hard disks can vary from a few to hundreds of gigabytes in capacity Very convenient for transporting large multimedia files Examples: USB flash drive, floppy disk, CD/DVD

CD-ROM Holes and flat areas are read by a laser mounted in a CD drive. CD-ROMs are read only, making them a one-way storage, unlike disks. (ROM= Read Only Memory) CD-R CD-Rs are special CDs that can be written on once and read multiple times. They require a recordable drive to create them but can be read by any CD drive. CD-RW CD-RWs are CDs that are rewritable but require a CD-RW drive to store and erase data. CD-RWs can be read my most CD drives. CDs can store up to 650 megabytes Often used for multimedia because of their large capacity for storing audio, video, and text.

DVD-ROM DVD-ROM DVDs are optical media that can store up to 17 gigabytes of data. DVDs are optical media that can store up to 17 gigabytes of data. DVD-ROMs are read-only. After initial recording, data cannot be stored on them. DVD-ROMs are read-only. After initial recording, data cannot be stored on them. DVD-Rs DVD-Rs Are recordable but require a DVD writer Are recordable but require a DVD writer Three competing formats are available: DVD- R/W and DVD-RW. DVD RAM offers other features but is incompatible with some players. Three competing formats are available: DVD- R/W and DVD-RW. DVD RAM offers other features but is incompatible with some players. DVD-Rs and DVD-RWs can record up to 2 hours of quality video. DVD-Rs and DVD-RWs can record up to 2 hours of quality video.

Works Cited Lever-Duffy, McDonald Mizell. Teaching and Learning With Technology, Second Edition. Lever-Duffy, McDonald Mizell. Teaching and Learning With Technology, Second Edition. c/fall2005/ch03.ppt#296,13,how computerswork c/fall2005/ch03.ppt#296,13,how computerswork