MEMORY STORAGE

PRIMARY STORAGE: Primary Secondary SECONDARY STORAGE:

Very quick because Slower because it is
Primary storage is low-capacity, internal Secondary storage is non-volatile storage used
it is directly accessed not directly accessed
storage that can be directly accessed by the to sav and store data that can be accessed
by the CPU by the CPU
CPU. repeatedly.
Typically, smaller in Typically, larger in
Program instructions and data must be copied capacity capacity Secondary storage is not directly embedded
from the hard drive into RAM to be processed Includes RAM and Non-volatile on the motherboard (and possibly even
by the CPU because primary storage access ROM external) and therefore further away from the
speeds are much faster than secondary Referred to as ‘main Includes magnetic, CPU so it is slower to access than primary
memory’ optical and solid
storage devices like the hard drive. storage.
state storage
RAM ROM Magnetic Storage:
Volatile Non-volatile
Stores all programs Stores the boot VIRTUAL MEMORY: A magnetic hard disk drive (HDD) is the most
that are currently program / BIOS for the common form of secondary storage within
running computer is switched Programs must be stored in RAM to be desktop computers. A read/write head moves
on processed by the CPU. Even if there is nanometers above the disk platter and uses
Stores parts of the The BIOS loads up the insufficient space in RAM for all programs the the magnetic field of the platter to read or edit
operating system to be operating system to computer can use the hard disk drive (HDD) as
accessed by the CPU take over managing data.
an extension of RAM – this is called virtual
the computer
memory. An obsolete (no longer used) type of magnetic
Read/Write Read Only
storage is a floppy disk but these have been
If new data is needed to be stored in RAM, replaced by solid state devices such as USB
Volatile – Storage is temporary, so data is lost then unused data in RAM is moved to the hard sticks which are much faster and have a much
when the power is turned off. drive so the new data can be transferred into higher capacity.
RAM.
Non-volatile – Saves data even when not Another type of magnetic storage that is still
powered. Data can be stored long-term and When required, the data can be moved back used is magnetic tape. Magnetic tape has a
accessed when the computer is on. from virtual memory into RAM. Using virtual high storage capacity, but data must be
memory allows users to run more programs accessed in order (serial access) so it is
simultaneously with less system slow down.
 MEMORY STORAGE

generally only used by companies to back up X – Low CAPACITY: 700MB (CD), 4.7GB (DVD),  The small size of USB sticks and memory
or archive large amounts of data. 25GB (Blu-ray). cards mean they are very PORTABLE and
can fit easily in a bag or pocket.
 - Large CAPACITY and cheaper COST per X – Not DURABLE because discs are very
 Solid State storage has the fastest ACCESS
gigabyte than solid state. fragile and can break or scratch easily.
SPEED because they contain no moving
X – Not DURABLE and not very PORTABLE X – Optical discs have the slowest ACCESS parts.
when powered on because moving it can SPEED.
X – High CAPACITY but more expensive COST
damage the device.
Solid State Storage: per gigabyte than magnetic.
X – Slow ACCESS SPEED but faster than optical
There are no moving parts in solid state UNITS:
storage.
storage.
All computer systems communicate, process
Optical Storage:
SSDs (Solid State Drives) are replacing and store data using binary.
Optical storage uses a laser to project beams magnetic HDDs(Hard Disk Drives) in modern
Binary is a number system consisting entirely
of light onto a spinning disc, allowing it to read computers and video game consoles because
of 0s and 1s.
data from a CD, DVD or Blu-Ray. they are generally quieter, faster and use less
power. Why do computers use binary?
This makes optical storage the slowest of the
four types of secondary storage. A USB flash drive (USB stick) is another type of Computer systems consist of billions of tiny
solid-state storage that is used to transport transistors which are switches that only have
Disc drives are traditionally internal but
files easily because of its small size. two values – on(1) or off(0). Therefore, all data
external disc drives can be bought for devices
must be represented and processed in this
like laptops. Memory cards, like the SD card in a digital
way.
camera or a Micro SD card in a smartphone,
Magnetic Disks are spelled with a k and
are another example of solid-state storage. Everything that a computer needs to process
Optical Discs have a c.
must be converted into binary including text,
 - Usually DURABLE but cheap USB sticks
 - Discs are thin and very PORTABLE. Also, images, videos and audio.
can snap or break.
very cheap to buy in bulk.
 MEMORY STORAGE

Units of Data Storage: Image Storage: Colour depth (also known as bit depth) is the
number of bits that are used to represent
All data in a computer system is made up of Bitmap images are made of pixels – single
each pixel’s colour.
bits. colour squares – arranged on a grid.

A single bit is 0 or 1. Each pixel is assigned a binary value which

represents the colour of that pixel.
4 bits is called a nibble.
The quality of a bitmap image depends on the
8 bits is called a byte – it can store a single
total amount of pixels, this is known as the
character.
image resolution.
1000 bytes is called a kilobyte – it can store a
Because it is made of pixels, scaling a bitmap
short email.
image up will result in a visible loss of quality.
1000 kilobytes are called a megabyte – it can Most images on computers are bitmaps e.g.
store about a minute of music. photos and screenshots.

1000 megabyte are called a gigabyte – it can Vector images are drawn by the computer
store about 500 photos. following precise mathematical instructions to
The RGB(Red, Green, Blue) colour model uses
create lines and objects.
1000 gigabytes are called a terabyte – it can 3 bytes (a byte of 256 red shades, a byte of
store about 500 hours of films. Vectors are usually smaller in file size 256 green shades and a byte of 256 blue
compared to bitmaps because each pixel in a shades) that together can represent 16.7
1000 terabyte are called a petabyte – it can bitmap is stores as an individual binary value. million different colours.
store about 1.5 million CDs.
Vectors can be scaled up without any loss of Metadata:
quality and are typically used for logos and
Meta data is additional data about a file.
animations.
Common image metadata includes:
File size = Resolution x Colour depth height/width in pixels, colour depth,
resolution, geolocation, date created, last
Resolution = Width in pixels x Height in pixels
edited, file type, author details.
 MEMORY STORAGE

The higher the sample rate, the better the Therefore, the quality is often higher as the
audio quality as the digital data more closely wave more closely resembles an analog wave.
Metadata is important, e.g. the dimensions
resembles an analogue wave.
must be known so the image can be displayed The file size will also be larger if the bit depth
correctly. However, higher sample rates result in larger is higher, as each sample stores additional bits.
file sizes because more data is stored for each
Sound Storage: Sound file size = Sample rate x Bit depth x
individual sample.
Duration
Converting Analogue Sound to Binary –
A low sample rate will result in a low-quality
Analogue sound waves must be digitally Compression:
sound because the digital does not closely
recorded and stored in binary.
resemble the original analog wave. To compress a file means to make its size
To record the sound, the amplitude (height) of smaller.
the analogue sound wave is measured and
Benefits of compression include:
recorded in binary at specific intervals.
 Files take up less storage space(so more
Sampling an Analogue Sound Wave – Digital
files can be stored).
sampling is discrete (separate) and not
 Files can be transferred quicker(because
continuous like analogue waves.
they are smaller).
To get the highest quality sound, many  Files can be read from or written to
samples are taken to recreate the analogue A higher sample rate will result in a higher- quicker.
wave as closely as possible. quality sound because the digital data more
closely resembles the original analog wave. There are two methods that are used to
Sample Rate: compress files: Lossy and Lossless.
Bit Depth:
The sample rate (sampling frequency) is the
number of times per second the amplitude of The bit depth is the number of bits available
the sound wave is measured. It is measured in to represent each sample. A common bit
kilohertz (kHz). depth is 16 bits.

The higher the bit depth, the more bits are

available to be used for each sample.
 MEMORY STORAGE

Lossy Compression:

Lossy compression uses an algorithm (set of Lossless compression is used with files that A character set is a table that matches
instructions) to analyse and remove data that would not work if data was removed, e.g. together a character and a binary value.
cannot be heard or seen by humans, to reduce executable files (programs and games) or
Each character in a character set has a unique
the size of the file. word documents.
binary number matched with it.
Further lossy compression will remove data Number Storage:
Character sets are necessary as they allow
that humans can see/hear.
Denary (also known as decimal) is a base 10 computers to exchange data and humans to
Lossy compression removes the data number system, so there is 10 possible values. input characters.
permanently, so the file can never return to its
Hexadecimal is a base 16 number system, so Two common character sets are ASCII and
original form.
there is 16 possible values. Hex is used as a Unicode:
This form of compression is often used with shorthand for binary because it uses fewer
ASCII (American Standard Code for
images, audio and video. characters to write the same value. This makes
Information Interchange):
hexadecimal less prone to errors when reading
or writing it, compared to binary. It does not take much memory space, ASCII
Lossless Compression: uses 1 byte (8 bits) which only gives 256
Hexadecimal only uses single-character values.
possible characters. This is enough for the
Lossless compression reduces the size of a file
An overflow error occurs when a binary value English language.
without permanently removing any data.
is too large to be stored in the bits available.
Because of this, the file is returned to its Unicode:
original form when decompressed, so no With a byte(8 bits) the largest number that
Unicode is more popular because it uses 2
quality is lost. can be held is 255. Therefore, any sum of
bytes (16 bits) that allow 65,536 possible
binary numbers that are greater than 255 will
A file that is compressed with a lossless characters.
result in an overflow error as it is too large to
algorithm is usually larger than a file
be held in 8 bits.
compressed with a lossy algorithm because no
data has been permanently removed.
 MEMORY STORAGE

The extra byte allows many different

languages to be represented, as well as
symbols and emojis.

However, Unicode requires more memory to

store each character than ASCII as it uses an
extra byte.

File size of a text file = bits per character x

number of characters