Storge device of computer - Essay Example

STORAGE DEVICE OF COMPUTER Computer is a programmable electronic device that uses given a set of instructions in well-defined way and execute prerecorded instructions (a program). For computers to be function effectively, there are individual concerns that should be dealt with, and that is the issue of storing devices. Storage Devices are the data storage mediums that are used in the computers to store the data. Without a storage device, in the computer, the computer may not be able to save information or any settings hence would be portrayed a dumb terminal.

Likewise, a storage device can be considered as any computing hardware that is required for storing, extracting data files and objects and porting. It can hold or store information both permanently and temporarily, and can be external or internal to a computer or any similar computing medium. The computer is a multipurpose electronic device and as such has many kinds of data storage devices. Broadly, some of these devices may be classified as the removable data Storage Devices while others as the non- removable data Storage Devices.

There two classes of computer storage devices; one is the primary storage devices, and the other one is the secondary storage devices. The primary memory is the volatile memory while the secondary memory is the non -volatile memory. The volatile memory is the type of the memory that is easily erasable and the non -volatile memory is the type where the contents may be erased. Primary storage also referred to as internal memory or main memory, is the only memory directly accessible to the CPU. The CPU thus a reads instruction stored there and performs them as required.

All data actively operated on is likewise stored there in a uniform manner. Primary computer storage devices are smaller in size, are internal to the computer and are developed to hold data temporarily. Primary computer storage devices have the fastest data access speed. Examples in this class of primary computer storage devices include random-access memory (RAM) and cache memory. Random-access memory (RAM) for instance are small in size but quite expensive.Secondary storage can also be known as auxiliary storage or external memory, differs from primary storage in that it is never directly accessible by the CPU.

These usually have large storage capacity, and they store data permanently. They can both external or internal to the computer. The computer often uses its output/ input channels to access secondary computer storage devices and channel the desired data using intermediate region in primary storage.. Secondary storage is necessary since primary storage or memory, can be used only temporarily. There are always different kinds of secondary storage devices, each one of them suitable for a various purpose.

It is worth noting that mainly differ in the following aspects (Capacity of data they hold, technology used to store data, size of storage device, access time to stored data and portability of storage device). Currently, the most common types of computer secondary storage device are Floppy disks, hard disks, magnetic tapes, optical disks and Solid State Devices. Understanding the features of each of them may help choose the most appropriate storage device to hold a given data..Work citedIntroduction to Computer Science.

New Delhi, India: Dorling Kindersley, 2011. Internet resource.