Local
Storage Options
1. External Hard Drive
These are hard drives similar to
the type that is installed within a desktop computer or laptop computer. The
difference being that they can be plugged in to the computer or removed and
kept separate from the main computer. They typically come in two sizes.
Desktop External Hard drive: Uses a 3.5 inch hard
drive similar to that used in desktop computers.
Portable External Hard drive: Uses a
2.5 inch hard drive similar to that used in laptops.
Desktop External Hard Drives are
generally cheaper than Portable External Hard Drives for the same storage
space. Desktop External Hard Drives and usually faster and more robust.
Capacity: 160GB to 3TB (approx. 3000GB)
Connection: Most common connections to the
computer are through a USB 2.0 or USB3.0 connection. May also be available in a
SATA or eSATA connector
Advantages:
- Very good option for local backups of large amounts of data.
- The cheapest storage option in terms of dollars per GB. Very
reliable when handled with care
Disadvantages:
- Can be very delicate. May be damaged if dropped or through
electrical surge
2. Solid State Drive (SSD)
Solid State Drives look and
function similar to traditional mechanical/ magnetic hard drives but the
similarities stop there. Internally, they are completely different. They have
no moving parts or rotating platers. They rely solely on semiconductors and
electronics for data storage making it a more reliable and robust than
traditional magnetic. No moving parts also means that they use less power than
traditional hard drives and are much faster too.
With the prices of Solid State
Drives coming down and is lower power usage, SSD’s are used extensively on
laptops and mobile devices. External SSD’s are also a viable option for
data backups.
Capacity: 64GB to 256GB
Connections: USB 2.0/3.0 and SATA
Advantages:
- Faster read and write performance
- More robust and reliable than traditional magnetic hard drives
- Highly portable. Can be easily taken offsite
Disadvantages:
- Still relatively expensive when compared to traditional hard drives
- Storage space is typically less than that of traditional magnetic
hard drives.
3. Network Attached
Storage (NAS)
NAS are simply one or more
regular IDE or SATA hard drives plugged in an array storage enclosure and
connected to a network Router or Hub through a Ethernet port. Some of
these NAS enclosures have ventilating fans to protect the hard drives from
overheating.
Advantages:
- Very good option for local backups especially for networks and
small businesses.
- As several hard drives can be plugged in, NAS can hold very large
amounts of data
- Can be setup with Redundancy (RAID) increasing the reliability and/
or read and write performance. Depending on the type of RAID level used,
the NAS can still function even if one hard drive in the RAID set fails.
Or two hard drives can be setup to double the read and write speed of
single hard drive.
- The drive is always connected and available to the network making
the NAS a good option for implementing automated scheduled backups.
Disadvantages:
- Significantly more expensive than using single External Hard Drives
- Difficult to bring offsite making it very much a local backup hence
still susceptible to some events like theft and floods, fire
etc
4. USB Thumb Drive or
Flash Drive
These are similar to Solid State
Drives except that it is much smaller in size and capacity. They have no moving
parts making them quite robust. They are extremely portable and can fit on a
keychain. They are Ideal for backing up a small amount of data that need
to be brought with you on the go.
Capacity: 4GB to 64GB
Advantages:
- The most portable storage option. Can fit on a keychain making it
an offsite backup when you bring it with you.
- Much more robust than traditional magnetic hard drives
Disadvantages:
Relatively expensive per GB so
can only be used for backing up a small amount of data
5. Optical Drive (CD/ DVD)
CD’s and DVD’s are ideal for
storing a list of songs, movies, media or software for distribution or for
giving to a friend due to the very low cost per disk. They do not make good
storage options for backups due to their shorter lifespan, small storage space
and slower read and write speeds.
Capacity CD: 650MB to 900MB
Capacity DVD: 4.7GB to 17.08GB
Advantages:
- Low cost per disk
Disadvantages:
- Relatively shorter life span than other storage options
- Not as reliable as other storage options like external hard disk
and SSD. One damaged disk in a backup set can make the whole backup unusable.
Remote
Storage Options
6. Cloud Storage
Cloud storage is storage space on
commercial data center accessible from any computer with Internet access. It is
usually provided by a service provider. A limited storage space may be provided
free with more space available for a subscription fee. Examples of
service providers are Amazon S3, Google Drive and Sky Drive etc.
Advantages:
- A very good offsite backup. Not affected by events and disasters
such as theft, floods, fire etc
Disadvantages:
- More expensive than traditional external hard drives. Often
requires an ongoing subscription.
- Requires an Internet connection to access the cloud storage.
- Much slower than other local backups
Q.2 Buses: Connecting I/O to Processor and Memory.
Input/output
Buses: Connecting
I/O to Processor and Memory
- A bus is a shared communication link
- It uses one set of wires to connect multiple
subsystems
Sometimes
shared bus with memory, sometimes a separate I/O bus
Advantages
- Versatility:
- New devices can be added easily
- Peripherals can be moved between computer
Systems that use the same bus standard
- Low Cost:
- A single set of wires is shared in multiple ways
Disadvantages
- It creates a communication bottleneck
- The bandwidth of that bus can limit the maximum I/O throughput
- The maximum bus speed is largely limited by:
- The length of the bus
- The number of devices on the bus
- The need to support a range of devices with:
- Widely varying latencies
- Widely varying data transfer rates
Delegating I/O Responsibility from the CPU: DMA
- Direct Memory Access (DMA):
- External to the CPU
- Act as a maser on the bus
- Transfer blocks of data to or from memory without
CPU intervention
Block Diagram of a DMA Controller
Sequence of operations - Input:
1. CPU loads registers - Address, Count and
Device
2. CPU Sets Status to Input
3. Controller asks for bus
4. Gets bus - does read from device, puts
Address on the bus, does write to memory and decrements count.
Repeat 4 until count=0
5. Interrupt CPU to signal end of transfer
Output
is similar but status is set to Output and data is read from memory and written
to the output device.
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