Digital Storage

Notes

7
DIGITAL STORAGE

You have been creating and saving various types of files in different software such
as Word Processing, Spreadsheet, Presentation etc. Have you ever thought why
do you save a document, what happens when you don’t save it and on saving where
is it stored? How are you able to access the web? Where are the web pages stored?
You must realize that storage is immensely important to ensure future retrieval of
data and for efficient searching and display of data. This lesson introduces you to
digital storage alternatively referred to as storage media or storage device.

Objectives
After reading this lesson, you will be able to:
z define digital storage;
z list digital storage devices;
z differentiate between online and offline storage.

7.1 What is Digital Storage?

The process of storing data and information in a storage medium is known as data
storage. When data is electronically stored on storage medium in digital devices
such as desktop computer, laptop, smartphones, etc., it is known as Digital
Storage. Storage medium generally is any hardware that can store data permanently
or temporarily.
Digital Storage can be broadly classified into two forms: temporary memory
(Primary Storage) and permanent memory (Secondary Storage). You have already
learned about the difference between the two in your previous lesson. Let us now

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learn about the various types of digital storage that were used and the advancements
that are being used now.
Notes
Features of a Digital Storage
In terms of memory hierarchy, the digital storage can be categorized as:
z Internal Memory: Processor registers and cache.
z Main Memory: The system Random Access Memory (RAM) and controller
cards.
z On-line Mass Storage: Secondary storage.
z Off-line Bulk Storage: Tertiary and Off-line storage.
Tertiary storage provides large storage capacity at low cost such as optical discs.
Offline storage implies any storage that is not currently connected to the computer
whereas online storage implies that the storage is currently connected to the
computer.
It is represented as storage hierarchy as shown in Fig. 7.1.

Size: Small
Capacity: Small Memory Type: Register Memory
Access: Very Fast

Size: Small
Capacity: Small
Access: Very Fast Memory Type: Processor Cache
Cost: Very Expensive

Size: Medium
Capacity: Medium
Access: Fast Memory Type: RAM
Cost: Affordable

Size: Small
Capacity: Large
Access: Slower Memory Type: Flash/USB Memory
Cost: Very Cheap

Size: Large
Capacity: Very Large
Access: Slow Memory Type: Hard Drives
Cost: Very Cheap

Size: Large
Capacity: Very Large
Memory Type: Magnetic Tapes
Access: Very Slow
Cost: Affordable

Fig. 7.1: Storage Hierarchy

Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_hierarchy#/media/File%3
AComputerMemoryHierarchy.svg

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In order to differentiate among various storage technologies in the storage

hierarchy (Fig. 7.1), the following core characteristics are evaluated and measured:
Notes
z Volatility: Whether the information is stored even after the system is turned
off?
z Mutability: Does it allow only reading, writing, or both, or overwriting of
stored information?
z Accessibility: Can it access any information from anywhere in the same
amount of time or due to sequential (one after another) storage of information
the time to access information is dependent on the last accessed information.
z Addressability: What type of addressing does it use to access stored
information?
z Capacity: What is the total amount of information that the storage medium
can hold?
z Performance: What is the size of largest chunk of data, access time and the
rate at which data can be read from or written to the device?
z Security: Does it store encrypted data?
z Energy Use: Is it energy efficient?

Intext Questions 7.1

1. State True or False
(a) Secondary memory is an example of temporary storage.
(b) Capacity is not a requirement when you are deciding on a digital storage
device.
2. Match the columns:

A B
(i) Random Access Memory (a) Small Size, Large Capacity
(ii) Tape Backup (b) Medium Size, Medium Capacity
(iii) Flash Memory (c) Large Size, Very Large Capacity

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7.1.1 Various Digital Storage Devices

Notes In earlier times data was stored as a punch card using punching machines as shown
in Fig. 7.2. Then came the era of magnetic storage such as Tapes, Hard disk, Floppy
Disk, etc., out of them Hard disk is the most extensively used digital devices.

Punch Card in Punch Card Machine

Fig. 7.2: Punching Machine

With the advancement in technology data is now stored on optical storage

devices such as Blu-ray disc, CDs and DVDs and on USB Flash Drives as shown
in Fig. 7.3.

Hard Disk Drive

Compact Disc (CD)
SanDisk Ultra Flair
128 GB USB Flash Drive

Fig. 7.3: Storage Devices

To store data on a digital storage of your choice you need to specify where you
would want to store your information by selecting the appropriate drive or location
in your digital system. By default, the data is stored in the largest storage device
the hard drive or Secondary Storage Device (SSD). Computers that are networked

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may access larger storage devices. However, networked computers may also have
access to larger storage with large magnetic tape storage, cloud storage or
Notes
Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices as shown in Fig. 7.4.

Videos
Share Music
CLOUD
STORAGE
Pictures Documents
Contacts Files

Fig. 7.4: Magnetic Tape Cloud Storage and NAS Devices

The need to access data anywhere, anytime in the world, independent of the device
brought to the fore the idea of cloud storage. Cloud storage is an online storage
that requires internet connectivity. It allows unlimited storage. It can be thought
of as very large online data storage on the web. If you want to access the file
anytime, anywhere you can just login into cloud storage and get the file. It is not
needed to carry all your files in flash drives or CDs etc. It has the undermentioned
benefits.

Usability and Accessibility

It allows user to upload, download and organize data in folders. It can be accessed
anytime and anywhere with internet connectivity.

Recovery
It can be used as a backup device thus ensuring the availability of files even if they
are deleted or corrupted on your local system.

Security
The data on cloud storage is safeguarded against any type of hardware failure and
can be accessed only after the identity of the user is assured through login and
password.

Cost Saving
It frees the owner from the additional cost of maintaining hardware and software
to store data.

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Easy Sharing

Notes It allows sharing of data with other users. It allows to set permissions like read only,
read and write etc.

Data Backup
Cloud storage can perform automatic backups, which is very easy to schedule for
one, many or all of the drive data.

Collaboration
It allows multiple people to work on a document at the same time thus allowing
collaboration. These multiple users can be at anyplace in the world. They would
just need an internet connection.

Case Study
Let us assume that Ramanujan is working as an Office Assistant and thus has
been provided with a computer system by his employer. He is very careful and
thus always saves his work in an organised manner to ensure easy retrieval of
the files. But one day when Ramanujan came to his office, he found that his
system was not working and he had to urgently rework a document created by
him. The non-availability of the system had increased his workload and stress
as the document needed to be urgently shared with his senior.

Such kind of situations highlights the importance of anytime, anywhere and

secured access of files and resources. Using cloud storage addresses all the above
concerns. It also supports a variety of file types such as text documents, pictures,
videos, audio files etc. Few examples of cloud storage are shown in Fig. 7.5.

Fig. 7.5: Examples of Cloud Storage

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Have you already been using Cloud Storage?

The answer might be yes for most of you. Below is a checklist that will help you Notes
find out whether you been using cloud storage.
z Do you have an email id through which you access your mails?
z Have you used any of the video sharing website such as YouTube or Vimeo
to view or upload videos?
z Have you used social networking services such as WhatsApp, etc.?
If the answer to any one of the questions above is Yes, then you have already been
accessing the Cloud Services indirectly without owning a personal digital space.
Let us now create our own personal workspace that allows us to store, organize
and share our files. For this purpose, we can use any of the service providers listed
in Fig. 7.6. Here we are using Google Drive to help you understand the various
steps involved in accessing, using and collaborating using Google Drive.

Steps to Use Google Drive

Step 1: Go to drive.google.com
Type drive.google.com in your browser. You’ll see “My Drive,” which has:
z Files and folders, you upload or sync
z Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Forms you create

Step 2: Upload or Create Files

You can upload files from your computer or create files in Google Drive by right
clicking at any white space in your drive. You will get a context menu that gives
you the options as given at Fig. 7.6.

Fig. 7.6: Creating Files in Google Drive

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Step 3: Share and Organize Files

Notes You can share files or folders, so other people can view, edit, or comment on them
by either clicking on share option by right clicking the file and selecting share as
shown in Fig. 7.7.

Fig. 7.7: Sharing the Files in Google Drive

Note: You can set permissions while sharing the file with other users. To see files
that other people have shared with you, go to the ‘Shared with me’ section.

Intext Questions 7.2

1. Which of the following is an optical storage device?
(a) Hard Disk (b) Tape
(c) Blu ray Disk (d) Punch card
2. Write full forms of:
(a) SSD (b) NAS
3. Fill in the blanks
(a) By default, the data is stored in the largest storage device the ....................
or SSD.
(b) .................... is an online storage that requires internet connectivity.

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What You have Learnt Notes

z The process of storing data and information in a storage medium is known as
data storage.
z When data is electronically stored on storage medium in digital devices such
as a desktop computer, laptop, smartphones etc., it is known as Digital
Storage.
z Digital storage can be broadly classified into temporary memory (Primary
Storage) and permanent memory (Secondary Storage).
z Hard disk has been the most extensively used digital devices.
z Computers that are networked may access larger storage devices.
z Cloud storage can be thought of as huge online data storage on the web.

Terminal Exercise
1. Define digital storage.
2. Explain features of a digital storage.
3. Differentiate between online and offline storage.
4. Name any two large size, large capacity digital storage devices that are
affordable.
5. Write advantages of using cloud storage.
6. Explain the importance of collaboration feature of cloud storage with an
example.

Answers to Intext Questions

7.1
1. (a) False (b) False
2. (i) (b) (ii) (c) (iii) (a)

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7.2

Notes 1. (c) Blu Ray Disk

2. (a) Secondary Storage Device
(b) Network Attached Storage
3. (a) Hard drive
(b) Cloud storage

Key Learning Outcome

z Able to store and retrieve the data on/from cloud.

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