Auxiliary Memory Organization

The main memory construction is costly.

Therefore, it has to be limited in size. The main memory is used to store only those instructions and data which are to be used immediately.

However, a computer has to store a large amount of information. The bulk of information is stored in the auxiliary

memory.

This is also called backing storage or secondary storage.

They include hard disk, floppy disks, CD-ROM, USB flash drives, etc.

When the electricity supply to the computer is off, all data stored in the primary storage is destroyed.

On the other hand, this is not true for secondary storage.

The data stored in secondary storage can be stored for the desired time

Auxiliary Memory Devices

Magnetic media
Tape Disks

Optical Media
Compact Discs CD-R, WORM (Write Once, Read Many) CD-RW DVD DVD-R DVD-RW

The important characteristics of any device are its

access mode, access time, transfer rate, capacity,

&

cost.

Access Mode
There are Many Types of Storage Devices those are based on the Sequential and Random Access Means the data which is Stored into the Secondary Storage devices can be Read either from the First Location which is also known as the Sequential Access or Sequential Manner and the Data can be Read from these Disks and also from any Locations. So if any Disk provides this Utility then this is called as the Direct Access Mechanism. There are Many Storage Devices those are either based on the SASD or Some are DASD.

The average time required to reach a storage location in memory and obtain its contents is called

the access time.

The transfer rate

is the number of characters or words that the device can transfer per second, after it has been positioned at the beginning of the record

Capacity
The amount of data it is possible to store on a medium

Cost
How much it costs per megabyte

Magnetic Media

Magnetic Tape
Magnetic tape is a medium for magnetic recording generally consisting of a thin magnetically coating on a long and narrow strip of plastic. Nearly all recording tape is of this type, whether used for recording audio or video or for computer data storage.

 Devices that record and playback audio and video using magnetic tape are generally called tape recorders and video tape recorders respectively. A device that stores computer data on magnetic tape can be called a tape drive, a tape unit, or a streamer.

Pros and Cons of Magnetic Tape

Inexpensive to store large amounts of information. A reel of tape could store as much as 225 MB in the early 1980s. No other storage technology could compare to the price of tape Sequential access Slow access Tapes are highly susceptible to magnetic fields and changes in temperature and humidity

Tapes are also susceptible to physical damage Tape miss-feeds Magnetic particle instabilities Substrate deformation

Magnetic Tape Uses Today Today, tape based systems are usually used for backup purposes only.

Hard Disks
Today, most people use Hard Disks for secondary storage The basic technology used in hard disks is similar to that of magnetic tape Magnetic material is layered onto a high-precision aluminum disk The disk head can move to any point on the platter almost instantly compared to tape Tape moves at approx 5 cm/s. Disk platters move at up to 7500 cm/s (272 km/h!)

Hard Disks
To increase capacity, a hard disk will usually contain several platters

Hard Disks
The heads never touch the platters, but they are very close. This makes hard disks susceptible to mechanical shock.

Storing Information on a Hard Disk

Each platter is broken up into tracks and sectors Tracks are concentric circles on the disk Each track is broken up into a series of sectors

Track (yellow ring)

Sector (yellow ring between the lines)

Sectors and Blocks

Sectors are further broken up into blocks

A block is a fixed size unit of storage 512 bytes/block is most commonly used 1024 bytes/block is common with SCSI disks 2048 bytes/block is used with CDs
If the user stores onto the hard disk a file which is larger than the block size, then multiple blocks are used.

Optical Media

Optical Media
Optical disks are very much like hard disks

Hard disks store information using magnetic material Bits are stored by changing the magnetic properties of the magnetic material Bits are read by picking up the tiny magnetic field with a read head
Optical disks store information as pits in a physical medium A laser is used to determine if a pit is present or not.

CD ROM
CD Roms use the same technology as audio Compact Discs. A master disc is created. Copies of the disc are created through a pressing process The discs are aluminum sandwiched between plastic CDs are single sided.

Label Acrylic Aluminum Plastic

CD-R
CD Roms must be pressed. They are read only CDR discs can be written once and read many times CDRs are made out of aluminum and plastic, but also contain a dye layer This dye is modified by a laser when the disc is being written The laser heats up the dye and it becomes non-reflective

Label Acrylic Aluminum Dye Plastic

Storing Information on a CD
Because CDs were originally intended for audio output, there is a single track of data which spirals out from the center of the disc

CD-RW
CD-RW is similar to CD-R The main difference is that the dye can be made reflective again through an erase process In this way, CD-RW discs can be written many times Too much erasing, and the dye starts to fade.

Label Acrylic Aluminum Dye Plastic

DVD Digital Versatile Disk

DVDs hold approx 7 times the information that CDs do in the same amount of storage space DVDs come in 3 types Single Sided/Single Layer (4.7 GB) Single Sided/Double Layer (8.5 GB) Double Sided/Double Layer (17 GB) DVD uses a laser with a shorter wavelength so the pits are smaller More pits can be stored on a DVD Narrower track

Thankz !