iPedia Free Information Center

Information about Physical And Logical Storage

Enlarge picture
Many different consumer electronic devices can store data.
Enlarge picture
Edison cylinder phonograph ca. 1899. The Phonograph cylinder is a storage medium. The phonograph may or may not be considered a storage device.
Enlarge picture
A reel-to-reel tape recorder (Sony TC-630). The magnetic tape is a storage medium. The recorder is data storage equipment using a portable medium (tape reel) to store the data.
Enlarge picture
Crafting tools such as paint brushes can be used as data storage equipment. The paint and canvas can be used as data storage media.
Enlarge picture
RNA might be the oldest data storage medium [1], now replaced by DNA in most organisms.
A data storage device is a device for recording (storing) information (data). Recording can be done using virtually any form of energy. A storage device may hold information, process information, or both. A device that only holds information is a recording medium. Devices that process information (data storage equipment) may either access a separate portable (removable) recording medium or a permanent component to store and retrieve information.

Electronic data storage is storage which requires electrical power to store and retrieve that data. Most storage devices that do not require visual optics to read data fall into this category. Electronic data may be stored in either an analog or digital signal format. This type of data is considered to be electronically encoded data, whether or not it is electronically stored. Most electronic data storage media (including some forms of computer storage) are considered permanent (non-volatile) storage, that is, the data will remain stored when power is removed from the device. In contrast, electronically stored information is considered volatile memory.

With the exception of barcodes and OCR data, electronic data storage is easier to revise and may be more cost effective than alternative methods due to smaller physical space requirements and the ease of replacing (rewriting) data on the same medium. However, the durability of methods such as printed data is still superior to that of most electronic storage media. The durability limitations may be overcome with the ease of duplicating (backing-up) electronic data.

Terminology

Devices that are not used exclusively for recording (e.g. hands, mouths, musical instruments) and devices that are intermediate in the storing/retrieving process (e.g. eyes, ears, cameras, scanners, microphones, speakers, monitors, projectors) are not usually considered storage devices. Devices that are exclusively for recording (e.g. printers), exclusively for reading (e.g. barcode readers), or devices that process only one form of information (e.g. phonographs) may or may not be considered storage devices. In computing these are known as input/output devices.

An organic brain may or may not be considered a data storage device. [2]

All information is data. However, not all data is information.

Data storage equipment

Any input/output equipment may be considered data storage equipment if it writes to and reads from a data storage medium. Data storage equipment uses either:
  • portable methods (easily replaced),
  • semi-portable methods requiring mechanical disassembly tools and/or opening a chassis, or
  • inseparable methods meaning loss of memory if disconnected from the unit.
The following are examples of those methods:

Portable methods

Semi-portable methods

Inseparable methods

Recording medium

A recording medium is a physical material that holds data expressed in any of the existing recording formats. With electronic media, the data and the recording medium is sometimes referred to as "software" despite the more common use of the word to describe computer software. With (traditional art) static media, art materials such as crayons may be considered both equipment and medium as the wax, charcoal or chalk material from the equipment becomes part of the surface of the medium.

Some recording media may be temporary either by design or by nature. Volatile organic compounds may be used to preserve the environment or to purposely make data expire over time. Data such as smoke signals or skywriting are temporary by nature. Depending on the volatility, a gas (e.g. atmosphere, smoke) or a liquid surface such as a lake would be considered a temporary recording medium if at all.

Ancient and timeless examples

Enlarge picture
The Gutenberg Bible displayed by the United States Library of Congress, demonstrating printed pages as a storage medium.

Modern examples by energy used

Enlarge picture
Graffiti on a public wall. Public surfaces are being used as unconventional data storage media, often without permission.
Enlarge picture
Photographic film is a photochemical data storage medium
Enlarge picture
A floppy disk is a magnetic data storage medium
Enlarge picture
Hitachi 2.5 inch laptop hard drive. A hard drive is both storage equipment and a storage medium
Enlarge picture
Four major types of memory cards (from left to right: CompactFlash, MemoryStick, Secure Digital, and xD.

Modern examples by shape

A typical way to classify data storage media is to consider its shape and type of movement (or non-movement) relative to the read/write device(s) of the storage apparatus as listed: Bekenstein (2003) foresees that miniaturization might lead to the invention of devices that store bits on a single atom.

See also

References

  • Bekenstein, Jacob D. (2003, August). Information in the holographic universe. Scientific American.
1. ^ Gilbert, Walter (Feb 1986). "The RNA World". Nature 319: 618. DOI:10.1038/319618a0. 
2. ^ Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, 1950, 1953 pp:150-152, ISBN 0345342968
3. ^ Aaron P. Nelson and Susan Gilbert, Harvard Medical School Guide to Achieving Optimal Memory, Mar 2005, page 66
4. ^ Gilbert, Walter (Feb 1986). "The RNA World". Nature 319: 618. DOI:10.1038/319618a0. 

Bibliography

[4]

External links

 •  • [ e]
Audio format
Analog
Phonograph cylinder (1877) • Gramophone record (1895) • Wire recording (1898) • Reel-to-reel tape (1940s) • SoundScriber (1945) • Gray Audograph (1945) • Dictabelt (1947) • Microgroove record (1948) • RCA tape cartridge (1958) • Fidelipac (1959) • Stereo-Pak (1962) • Compact Cassette (1963) and cassette single (1982) • Stereo 8 (1964) • PlayTape (1966) • Mini Cassette (1967) • Microcassette (1969) • Steno-Cassette (1971) • Elcaset (1976) • Picocassette (1985)
Digital
Soundstream (1976) • 3M (1979) • X80/ProDigi (1980) • DASH (1982) • Compact Disc (1982) • Digital Audio Tape (1987) • ADAT (1991) • MiniDisc (1991) • Digital Compact Cassette (1992) • Extended Resolution Compact Disc (1995) • High Definition Compatible Digital (1995) • 5.1 Music Disc (1997) • Super Audio CD (1999) • DVD-Audio (2000)
energy (from the Greek ενεργός, energos, "active, working")[1] is a scalar physical quantity that is a property of objects and systems of objects which is conserved by nature.
..... Click the link for more information.
The visual system is the part of the nervous system which allows organisms to see. It interprets the information from visible light to build a representation of the world surrounding the body.
..... Click the link for more information.
An analog or analogue signal is any time continuous signal where some time varying feature of the signal is a representation of some other time varying quantity. It differs from a digital signal in that small fluctuations in the signal are meaningful.
..... Click the link for more information.
A digital system is one that uses discrete values (often electrical voltages), representing numbers or non-numeric symbols such as letters or icons, for input, processing, transmission, storage, or display, rather than a continuous range of values (ie, as in an analog system).
..... Click the link for more information.
An encoder is a device used to change a signal (such as a bitstream) or data into a code. The code may serve any of a number of purposes such as compressing information for transmission or storage, encrypting or adding redundancies to the input code, or translating from one code
..... Click the link for more information.
A semiconductor is a solid that has electrical conductivity in between that of a conductor and that of an insulator, and can be controlled over a wide range, either permanently or dynamically.[1] Semiconductors are tremendously important in technology.
..... Click the link for more information.
Computer data storage, computer memory, and often casually storage or memory refer to computer components, devices and recording media that retain digital data used for computing for some interval of time.
..... Click the link for more information.
Volatile memory, also known as volatile storage or primary storage device, is computer memory that requires power to maintain the stored information, unlike non-volatile memory which does not require a maintained power supply.
..... Click the link for more information.
barcode (also bar code) is a machine-readable representation of information (usually dark ink on a light background to create high and low reflectance which is converted to 1s and 0s).
..... Click the link for more information.


Optical character recognition, usually abbreviated to OCR, is the mechanical or electronic translation of images of handwritten or typewritten text (usually captured by a scanner) into
..... Click the link for more information.
backup refers to making copies of data so that these additional copies may be used to restore the original after a data loss event. These additional copies are typically called "backups." Backups are useful primarily for two purposes.
..... Click the link for more information.
The hands (med./lat.: manus, pl. manūs) are the two intricate, prehensile, multi-fingered body parts normally located at the end of each arm (medically: "terminating each anterior limb/appendage") of a human or other primate.
..... Click the link for more information.
mouth, also known as the buccal cavity or the oral cavity, is the orifice through which an organism takes in food and water.

Location

In all mammals, the mouth is forward-facing in the face. Non-mammals have mouths in other locations (e.g.
..... Click the link for more information.
A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified with the purpose of making music. In principle anything that, produces sound, and can somehow be controlled by a person playing it, can serve as a musical instrument.
..... Click the link for more information.
Eyes are organs of vision that detect light. Different kinds of light-sensitive organs are found in a variety of organisms. The simplest eyes do nothing but detect whether the surroundings are light or dark, while more complex eyes can distinguish shapes and colors.
..... Click the link for more information.
EARS may mean:
  • DARPA's Effective Affordable Reusable Speech-To-Text project.
  • The Liberal Democrats' Election Agents Record System.
  • Extended Action Request System used in Fujitsu's Employee to deal with any fault calls.

..... Click the link for more information.
camera is a device used to capture images, as still photographs or as sequences of moving images (movies or videos). The term as well as the modern-day camera evolved from the camera obscura
..... Click the link for more information.
In computing, a scanner is a device that analyzes images, printed text, or handwriting, or an object (such as an ornament) and converts it to a digital image. Most scanners today are variations of the desktop (or flatbed) scanner.
..... Click the link for more information.
microphone, sometimes referred to as a mike or mic (both IPA pronunciation: [maɪk]), is an acoustic to electric transducer or sensor that converts sound into an electrical signal.
..... Click the link for more information.
This article or section needs copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone and/or spelling.
You can assist by [ editing it] now. A how-to guide is available, as is general .
This article has been tagged since February 2007.
..... Click the link for more information.
display device, also known as an information display is a device for visual or tactile presentation of images (including text) acquired, stored, or transmitted in various forms.
..... Click the link for more information.
Projectors are used for displaying an image on a projection screen or similar surface for the view of an audience.
  • Video projectors
  • LCD projector

..... Click the link for more information.
A computer printer, or more commonly a printer, produces a hard copy (permanent human-readable text and/or graphics) of documents stored in electronic form, usually on physical print media such as paper transparencies.
..... Click the link for more information.
A barcode reader (or barcode scanner) is an electronic device for reading printed barcodes. Like a flatbed scanner, it consists of a light source, a lens and a photo conductor translating optical impulses into electrical ones.
..... Click the link for more information.
Edison cylinder phonograph ca. 1899]] The phonograph, or gramophone, was the most common device for playing recorded sound from the 1870s through the 1980s.

Terminology

Usage of these terms is not uniform across the English-speaking world (see below).
..... Click the link for more information.
computing is synonymous with counting and calculating. Originally, people that performed these functions were known as computers. Today it refers to a science and technology that deals with the computation and the manipulation of symbols.
..... Click the link for more information.
An input device is a hardware mechanism that transforms information in the external world for consumption by a computer. Often, input devices are under direct control by a human user, who uses them to communicate commands or other information to be processed by the computer, which
..... Click the link for more information.
An output device is any piece of computer hardware equipment used to communicate the results of data processing carried out by an information processing system (such as a computer) to the outside world.
..... Click the link for more information.
In animals, the brain or encephalon (Greek for "in the skull"), is the control center of the central nervous system, responsible for behavior. The brain is located in the head, protected by the skull and close to the primary sensory apparatus of vision, hearing,
..... Click the link for more information.
For other uses, see Data (disambiguation).


Debt, AIDS, Trade in Africa (or DATA) is a multinational non-government organization founded in January 2002 in London by U2's Bono along with Bobby Shriver and activists from the Jubilee 2000 Drop
..... Click the link for more information.


This article is copied from an article on Wikipedia.org - the free encyclopedia created and edited by online user community. The text was not checked or edited by anyone on our staff. Although the vast majority of the wikipedia encyclopedia articles provide accurate and timely information please do not assume the accuracy of any particular article. This article is distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License.
Herod_Archelaus


page counter