Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Data storage is the recording (storing) of information in a storage medium. Handwriting , phonographic recording, magnetic tape , and optical discs are all examples of storage media. Biological molecules such as RNA and DNA are considered by some as data storage.
Computer data storage or digital data storage is a technology consisting of computer components and recording media that are used to retain digital data. It is a core function and fundamental component of computers. [1]: 15–16 The central processing unit (CPU) of a computer is what manipulates data by performing computations.
Magnetic storage uses different patterns of magnetisation in a magnetizable material to store data and is a form of non-volatile memory. The information is accessed using one or more read/write heads. Magnetic storage media, primarily hard disks, are widely used to store computer data as well as audio and video signals.
For example, some data can be stored in RAM while other data is stored on a hard drive (e.g. in a swapfile), functioning as an extension of the cache hierarchy. This offers several advantages. Computer programmers no longer need to worry about where their data is physically stored or whether the user's computer will have enough memory.
Hard disk drives store data in the magnetic polarization of small patches of the surface coating on a disk. The maximum areal density is defined by the size of the magnetic particles in the surface, as well as the size of the "head" used to read and write the data. In 1956 the first hard drive, the IBM 350, had an areal density of 2,000 bit/in 2.
Data at rest in information technology means data that is housed physically on computer data storage in any digital form (e.g. cloud storage, file hosting services, databases, data warehouses, spreadsheets, archives, tapes, off-site or cloud backups, mobile devices etc.). Data at rest includes both structured and unstructured data. [1]
Disk storage is now used in both computer storage and consumer electronic storage, e.g., audio CDs and video discs (VCD, DVD and Blu-ray). Data on modern disks is stored in fixed length blocks, usually called sectors and varying in length from a few hundred to many thousands of bytes. Gross disk drive capacity is simply the number of disk ...
Physical media refers to the physical materials that are used to store or transmit information in data communications. These physical media are generally physical objects made of materials such as copper or glass. They can be touched and felt, and have physical properties such as weight and color. [1]