What are the types of storage devices for computers? The two main types of storage devices for computers are:
• The primary storage systems
• The secondary storage systems
Primary storage systems
These are the fastest types of storage devices for computer systems. They include the cache memory and the Random Access Memory (RAM). They only hold data which is being process after which the specific data is returned to its original location or where it’s to be stored. For example, if a word document is to be edited, taking for instance it was in the flash disk, it will be loaded to the RAM for editing after which the edited document will be transferred to the flash disk.
Secondary storage systems
These types of storage devices for computer systems have the ability to store data until the stored data is deleted. The secondary storage systems can either be classified as sequential or direct depending on how data can be accessed from the storage media.
The sequential types of storage devices for computer systems consist of magnetic tapes which are economically friendly besides being compact, reliable and faster data retrieval and storage. They are mostly preferred for full backup. Currently, they are mainly used with the mainframe computers.
The direct access type of storage devices for computer systems is made up of optical disks, memory storage devices and the magnetic disks.
The memory storage devices
The flash drives and memory cards are the only available memory storage devices. They are portable and compact. Both come in different sizes. The memory cards come with their adaptors while the flash drives are connected to the computer system through USB ports.
Other types of storage devices for computer systems which also come in variety of forms are the optical disks which include; DVD / CD –ROM, DVD / CD –RW and DVD /CD –R.
These optical disks can either be classified as Read Only Memory where the data contained and never be erased instead it can only be read. They store large amounts of data but at a very low cost compared to other medium.
Another type of optical disks is the Write Once Read Many. The users can write data into the optical disk but once the data is written it can only be read and not changed.
The third type of optical– the erasable optical disks. Users can write and erase data as many times as possible. It uses the magnetic optical technology which makes the whole process possible.
The third types of storage devices for computer systems are the magnetic disks which are also divide into floppy disks and hard disks.
Floppy disk is available in two sizes that are the 5.25 inches which is the largest and the 3.5 inches which is the smallest. They have a small memory of 1.44MB as compared to the modern storing devices thus not mostly used device. In fact, flash disks have completely taken over.
Hard disk forms the major types of storage devices for computer systems. There are external and internal hard disks. Unlike the floppy disks, internal hard disks cannot be removed as it sores all the essential programmes for computer operations.