Data Storage, memory allocations and communications in use in computing systems - Assignment Example

1. Assume that you have a hard disk on your computer system, that has unused 100GB. Would it be reasonable to use CDs to store most of the material you have on the drive as a backup? What about DVDs? Explain why you would prefer the one media to the other. 2. Assume that you want to store 100GB of data onto the free space that you have on your hard drive. If data is uploaded to your machine via a phone line with a rate of 28,400 bps, how long would it take to fill the available storage space? Use one of the many sites available on the Internet to investigate the speed of your personal Internet connection. With that speed, how long would it take to store/upload that data? Does it make a difference what kind of files you are transferring (text, images, video)? If so, estimate the range of time it may take to fill up your hard drive. 3. How many cells can be in a computer's main memory if each cell's address can be represented by two hexadecimal digits? What if four hexadecimal digits are used? Explain your answer. 4. Suppose three values (x, y, and z) are stored in a machine's memory. Describe the sequence of events (loading registers from memory, saving values in memory, and so on) that lead to the computation of x + y + z. How about (2x) + y? 5. Suppose a communication line is being used to transmit data serially at 14,400 bps. If a burst of interference lasts .01 second, how many data bits would be affected? Data Storage, memory allocations and communications in use in computing systems. 1. Using a Compact Disc (CD) (Oxford Dictionaries, 2014) as a data backup device for backing up 100GB of data from a personal computer system hard drive should be an acceptable option for use if no alternative was available such as USB Drive or Blu-ray Disc. • CD’s have the ability to store up to 650 - 700 MB of data per disk. Therefore to store 100 GB (102400 MB) of data you would need 158 or 147 CD’s. A Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) (Oxford Dictionaries, 2014) has the ability read and write data much faster than a CD. DVD’s can also to store up to 4.7 GB (4812.8 MB) of data therefore would take 22 DVD’s or a DVD Dual Layer can store up to 8.5 GB (8704) of data therefore would take 12 DVD Dual Layer Disc. (Brookshear, 2011) (Schofield, 2012) 2. If data was uploaded to the machine via a phone line with a rating of 28400 bps it would take significant amount of time to fill up the 100 GB of storage space based on the following: Base Converted to 8 bits 1 Byte 1024 Bytes 1 Kilobyte (KB) 1024 KB 1 Megabyte (MB) 1024 MB 1 Gigabyte (GB) 102400 MB 100 GB Therefore: From Equals 1 GB 8,589,934,592 Bits 100 GB 858,993,459,200 Bits 858,993,459,200 bits 28400 bits per second 30246248.56 bits over bandwidth in 1 second 30246248.56 bits divide by 60 504104.1427 bits per minute 504104.1427 bits divide by 60 8401.735712 bits per hour • Therefore based on 28400 bits per second (bps) it would take 8401 Hours, 44 Minutes and 8 seconds to transfer 100GB. (Tech of the Internets, 2013)   Using the website SpeedTest.net (Ookla, 2014) my current connection speed for broadband internet connection was determined as 2.13 Mbps upload. Byte Bits 1 MB = 1024 kBit 1 MB = 8 Mbit 1 MB over 1 Mbps 8 Seconds GB 102400 x 8 819200 Megabit Mb 819200 div 2.13 384600.939 Megabits 384600.939 div 60 6410.015649 6410.015649 div 60 106.8335942 hours • Therefore 100 GB (102400 MB) data would take 106 Hours, 50 Minutes over my 2.13 Mbps connection There is a difference in what kind of files you are transferring (text, images, and video) examples would be: • Text is typical standard ASCII has each character in a string that takes up exactly 1 byte of space, the space required to express a number as text is not fixed so can be larger than binary files if the data is not previously formatted in text form. Text files sort character by character and have to be converted using 7 or 8 bit to create symbols. It is difficult to randomly access numeric data in text files. ASCII files are slower to read and write data to and from compared to other formats (Brookshear, 2011). Time to transfer the amount of data might be twice the amount of time. • Images and Video are bit or binary files compared to ASCII tiles binary files require no conversation and have smaller disk footprint and can be streamed at higher speeds thus better for transferring. (National Instruments Corporation, 2010) 3. The number of cells in a computers main memory that can address and be represented in two hexadecimal digits or four hexadecimal digits are. Hexadecimal is a base 16 digit numbering system (0 to 9) and (A to F) 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,A,B,C,D,E,F the letters A to F represent decimal number 10 to 15 (MathsIsFun.com, 2014) therefore based on this: (Brookshear, 2011) • Two hexadecimals memory cells would be represented from 0x0 through to FxF this would equal 0x0 through to 16x16 or (162) = 256 cells of memory available in two hexadecimals. • Four hexadecimals memory cells would be represented from 0x0x0x0 through to FxFxFxF this would equal 0x0x0x0 through to 16x16x16x16 or (164) = 65536 cells of memory available in four hexadecimal. (Washington State University, 2003) (Computer Hope, 2014) 4. The sequence of events that would calculate the sum of three values (x + y + z) in a machines memory would be as follows: a. Get value x from memory and place it in the register. b. Get value y from memory and place it in another register. c. Get value z from memory and place it in another register. d. Activate the addition circuit with the registers holding the values and use them as inputs. e. Hold the result in another register. f. Store the result in memory. g. Stop. For (2x) + y the sequence would be as follows: a. Get value x from memory and place it in the register. b. Get value y from memory and place it in another register. c. Read the values in the registers (a) and (b). If they are zero JUMP to (i). d. Place the number 2 in another register e. Activate the multiplication circuit using the registers in (a) and (d) as inputs. f. Hold the result in another register. g. Activate the addition circuit using the registers in (b) and (f) as inputs. h. Store the result in memory. i. Stop. 5. If a communication line that is transmit data serially at 14,400 bps has in interference that lasts 0.01 second (one one hundred of a second) there would be. • 14400 * 0.01 = 144 bits lost in the second outage References Brookshear, J. G., 2011. 1.3 Mass Storage. In: M. Horton & M. Hirsch, eds. Computer Science: An Overview. 11th ed. s.l.:Addison-Wesley - Pearson. Brookshear, J. G., 2011. 1.4 Representing Information as Bit Patterns. In: Computer Science an Overview. s.l.:Addison-Wesley-Pearson, pp. 34-46. Brookshear, J. G., 2011. Bits and Their Storage. In: M. Horton & M. Hirsch, eds. Computer Science: An Overview. 11 ed. s.l.:Addison-Wesley - Pearson, p. 25. Computer Hope, 2014. Binary and hexadecimal conversions. [Online] Available at: http://www.computerhope.com/binhex.htm [Accessed 14 04 2014]. Etisalat, 2014. Etisalat About Us. [Online] Available at: http://www.etisalat.ae/en/aboutus/about.jsp [Accessed 14 04 2014]. MathsIsFun.com, 2014. A Hexadecimal Number is based on the number 16. [Online] Available at: http://www.mathsisfun.com/hexadecimals.html [Accessed 14 04 2014]. National Instruments Corporation, 2010. Storing Measurement Data. [Online] Available at: http://metrology.hut.fi/courses/S-108.3030/LabVIEW%20File%20IO.pdf [Accessed 15 04 2014]. Ookla, 2014. OOKLA SPEEDTEST: BECAUSE SPEED MATTERS. [Online] Available at: http://www.speedtest.net/about.php [Accessed 13 04 2014]. Oxford Dictionaries, 2014. Definition of compact disc in English. [Online] Available at: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/compact-disc [Accessed 15 04 2014]. Oxford Dictionaries, 2014. Definition of DVD-ROM in English. [Online] Available at: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/DVD-ROM [Accessed 15 04 2014]. Schofield, J., 2012. CD, DVD or SD: what's best for backups?. [Online] Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/askjack/2012/feb/23/ask-jack-backup-data-storage [Accessed 16 04 2014]. Tech of the Internets, 2013. File Transfer Time Calculator. [Online] Available at: http://techinternets.com/copy_calc?do [Accessed 12 04 2014]. Washington State University, 2003. Number Systems, Base Conversions, and Computer Data Representation. [Online] Available at: http://www.eecs.wsu.edu/~ee314/handouts/numsys.pdf [Accessed 14 04 2014]. Read More