In computer storage Computer data storage, often called storage or memory, refers to computer components, devices, and recording media that retain digital data used for computing for some interval of time. Computer data storage provides one of the core functions of the modern computer, that of information retention. It is one of the fundamental components of all, removable media refers to storage media which is designed to be removed from the computer without powering the computer off.
Some types of removable media are designed to be read by removable readers and drives. Examples include:
- Optical discs In computing, an optical disc drive is a disk drive that uses laser light or electromagnetic waves near the light spectrum as part of the process of reading or writing data to or from optical discs. Some drives can only read from discs, but recent drives are commonly both readers and recorders. Recorders are sometimes called burners or writers (Blu-ray discs Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the standard DVD format. Its main uses are for storing high-definition video, PlayStation 3 video games, and other data, with up to 25 GB per single-layered, and 50 GB per dual-layered disc. Although these numbers represent the standard storage for Blu-ray Disc drives, the, DVDs DVD-RAM is a disc specification presented in 1996 by the DVD Forum, which specifies rewritable DVD-RAM media and the appropriate DVD writers. DVD-RAM media have been used in computers as well as camcorders and personal video recorders since 1998, CDs A Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store sound recordings exclusively, but later it also allowed the preservation of other types of data. Audio CDs have been commercially available since October 1982. In 2010, they remain the standard physical storage medium for audio)
- Memory cards A memory card or flash card is an electronic flash memory data storage device used for storing digital information. They are commonly used in many electronic devices, including digital cameras, mobile phones, laptop computers, MP3 players, and video game consoles. They are small, re-recordable, and they can retain data without power (CompactFlash card CompactFlash is a mass storage device format used in portable electronic devices. For storage, CompactFlash typically uses flash memory in a standardized enclosure, Secure Digital card Secure Digital is a non-volatile memory card format developed by Matsushita, SanDisk, and Toshiba for use in portable devices. Today it is widely used in digital cameras, digital camcorders, handheld computers, PDAs, media players, mobile phones, GPS receivers, and video games. Standard SD card capacities range from 1 MB to 4 GB (according to the, Memory Stick Memory Stick is a removable flash memory card format, launched by Sony in October 1998, and is also used in general to describe the whole family of Memory Sticks. In addition to the original Memory Stick, this family includes the Memory Stick PRO, a revision that allows greater maximum storage capacity and faster file transfer speeds; Memory Stick)
- Floppy disks A floppy disk is a data storage medium that is composed of a disk of thin, flexible magnetic storage medium encased in a square or rectangular plastic shell / Zip disks The Zip drive is a medium-capacity removable disk storage system, introduced by Iomega in late 1994. Originally, Zip disks launched with capacities of only 100 MB, but later versions increased this to first 250 MB and then 750 MB
- Magnetic tapes Magnetic tape has been used for data storage for over 50 years. In this time, many advances in tape formulation, packaging, and data density have been made. Modern magnetic tape is most commonly packaged in cartridges and cassettes. The device that performs actual writing or reading of data is a tape drive. Autoloaders and tape libraries are
- Paper data storage Paper data storage refers to the storage of data on paper. This includes writing, illustrating, and the use of data that can be interpreted by a machine or is the result of the functioning of a machine. A defining feature of paper data storage is the ability of humans to produce it with only simple tools and interpret it visually (punched cards A punched card is a piece of stiff paper that contains digital information represented by the presence or absence of holes in predefined positions. Now almost an obsolete recording medium, punched cards were widely used throughout the 19th century for controlling textile looms and in the late 19th and early 20th century for operating fairground, punched tapes Punched tape or paper tape is a largely obsolete form of data storage, consisting of a long strip of paper in which holes are punched to store data. It was widely used during much of the twentieth century for teleprinter communication, and later as a storage medium for minicomputers and CNC machine tools)
Some removable media readers and drives are integrated into computers, others are themselves removable.
Removable media may also refer to some removable storage devices, when they are used to transport or store data. Examples include:
- USB flash drives A USB flash drive consists of a flash memory data storage device integrated with a USB 1.1 or 2.0 interface. USB flash drives are typically removable and rewritable, and much smaller than a floppy disk. Most weigh less than 30 g (1 oz). Storage capacities in 2010 can be as large as 256 GB with steady improvements in size and price per capacity
- External hard disk drives An external hard disk drive is a type of hard disk drive which is connected to a computer by a USB cable or other means. Modern entries into the market consist of standard SATA, IDE, or SCSI hard drives in portable disk enclosures with SCSI, USB, IEEE 1394 Firewire, eSATA client interfaces to connect to the host computer
See also
- Disk enclosure A disk enclosure is essentially a specialized chassis designed to hold and power disk drives while providing a mechanism to allow them to communicate to one or more separate computers. Drive enclosures provide power to the drives therein and convert the data sent across their native data bus into a format usable by an external connection on the
- Secure Digital card Secure Digital is a non-volatile memory card format developed by Matsushita, SanDisk, and Toshiba for use in portable devices. Today it is widely used in digital cameras, digital camcorders, handheld computers, PDAs, media players, mobile phones, GPS receivers, and video games. Standard SD card capacities range from 1 MB to 4 GB. The capacity
References
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