Chapter 3:Chapter 3:SStorage Capacity & torage Capacity &

Storage MediaStorage Media

Abbey Clark & Susan Holl Abbey Clark & Susan Holl

What’s in a What’s in a ByteByte?!?!

SizeSize Character Character EquivalentEquivalent

1 Byte1 Byte 1 alphanumeric 1 alphanumeric charactercharacter

1 Kilobyte1 Kilobyte About 1,000 About 1,000 characterscharacters

1 Megabyte1 Megabyte About 1 million About 1 million characterscharacters

1 Gigabyte1 Gigabyte About 1 billion About 1 billion characterscharacters

A byte is a unit of storage created by on-off pulses in a computer.

Types of Types of StorageStorage

Floppy DiskFloppy Disk Mylar disk inside plastic shellMylar disk inside plastic shell Holds up to 1,444,000 bytes (1.44 Holds up to 1,444,000 bytes (1.44

megabytes)megabytes) Getting a little dated; some computers no Getting a little dated; some computers no

longer include floppy disk driveslonger include floppy disk drives Hard DiskHard Disk

Permanently mounted inside the computerPermanently mounted inside the computer Storage ranges but is typically multiple Storage ranges but is typically multiple

gigabytes (billions of bytes) or datagigabytes (billions of bytes) or data Usually designated the C drive Usually designated the C drive is the is the

primary mass storage area for both primary mass storage area for both programs and dataprograms 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-ROMDVD-ROM DVDs are optical media that can store up to 17 DVDs are optical media that can store up to 17

gigabytes of data.gigabytes of data. DVD-ROMs are read-only. After initial DVD-ROMs are read-only. After initial

recording, data cannot be stored on them.recording, data cannot be stored on them.

DVD-RsDVD-Rs Are recordable but require a DVD writerAre recordable but require a DVD writer Three competing formats are available: DVD-Three competing formats are available: DVD-

R/W and DVD-RW. DVD RAM offers other R/W and DVD-RW. DVD RAM offers other features but is incompatible with some players.features but is incompatible with some players.

DVD-Rs and DVD-RWs can record up to 2 DVD-Rs and DVD-RWs can record up to 2 hours of quality video.hours of quality video.

Works CitedWorks Cited Lever-Duffy, McDonald Mizell. Lever-Duffy, McDonald Mizell.

Teaching and Learning With Teaching and Learning With TechnologyTechnology, Second Edition., Second Edition.

www.courseweb.unt.edu/www.courseweb.unt.edu/rhondac/fall2005/rhondac/fall2005/ch03.ppt#296,13,howcomputersch03.ppt#296,13,howcomputersworkwork