NCM 110A Laboratory

Nursing Informatics
Second Semester, AY 2023 - 2024

MODULE 2: COMPUTER MEMORY and STORAGE

This module introduces the reader to memory and storage present inside a computer system. A
computer memory refers to the electronic holding place for instructions and data where the
computer's microprocessor can reach quickly. Computer storage refers to the permanent
computer memory that stores all the data files and instructions even after the computer system
is turned off. The module begins with a brief outlook on memory and its representation. Next,
memory hierarchy along with RAM and ROM is studied. Furthermore, classification of storage
devices, magnetic tapes, magnetic disks, and optical disks are examined in detail. Finally, the
module concludes by providing an outlook on mass storage devices along with their types.

MODULE OBJECTIVES

After reading this module, you will be able to understand:

• The three fundamental types of memory in a computer system

• How random-access memory (RAM) stores and keeps track of the data currently
being processed in a computer
• Read only memory (ROM), a special chip that stores start-up instructions to help the
computer in the booting process
• Memory, the most essential part of computer processing, and how the CPU uses
memory
• Different types of secondary storage devices
• How mass storage device provides vast amount of storage capacity, and its different
types
 NCM 110A Laboratory
Nursing Informatics
Second Semester, AY 2023 - 2024

3.1 INTRODUCTION

Computers are used to perform various tasks in science, engineering, business, education,
entertainment and many other fields. They work at high speed, can handle large volumes of
data with great accuracy and have the ability to carry out a specified sequence of operations
without human intervention. The CPU handles the processing of data and after processing,
presents the results with the help of output devices. However, the CPU requires memory to
process the data, hold the intermediate results and to store the output. Computer
memory refers to the electronic holding place for instructions and data where the processor
can reach quickly. It can be classified into two broad categories: primary memory (to process
the data and hold the intermediate results) and secondary memory (to store the output).

The primary memory allows the computer to store data for immediate manipulation and to
keep track of what is currently being processed. The major limitation of this type of memory is
that it is volatile. It means that when the power is turned off, the contents of primary memory
are lost forever. Hence, to store the data permanently, a computer requires some nonvolatile
storage medium like a hard disk. This kind of storage is known as secondary memory. Such
memories store all the data (files) and instructions (computer programs) even after the power
is turned off. The secondary storage devices have a larger storage capacity; they are less
expensive as compared to primary storage devices, but slow in comparison.

The computer has two types of memory, the main memory and the
INVESTIGATE secondary memory. What’s the difference between the two types of
memory and what’s the reason behind such setup?

3.1.1 Memory Representation

All quantities, physical or otherwise, are measured in units. For example, length is measured in
meters and mass in grams. Likewise, for measuring computer memory, a standard unit is
required. Digital computers work on only two states: ON (1) and OFF (0). These two values are
represented by two different voltages within the circuit. For example, 0 volt represents a false
value (0), and +5 volt represents a true value (1). Each of these values (either 0 or 1) is called
a binary digit or bit and can be considered a symbol for a piece of information. Although the
smallest unit of data that a computer can deal with is a bit, computers generally do not deal
with a single bit. Instead, they deal with a group of eight bits, which is referred to as a byte. A
byte can have 256 different bit patterns, and thus can represent 256 different symbols. Various
units used to measure computer memory are as follows:

• Bit: It is the smallest unit of data on a machine and a single bit can hold only one of
two values: 0 or 1. Bit is represented by a lower case b.
• Byte: A unit of eight bits is known as a byte. Hence, a byte is able to contain any
binary number between 00000000 and 11111111. It is represented by an upper-case B.
• Kilobyte: In a decimal system, kilo stands for 1000, but in a binary system, kilo
refers to 1024. Therefore, a kilobyte is equal to 1024 bytes. It is usually represented as
KB.
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Nursing Informatics
Second Semester, AY 2023 - 2024

• Megabyte: It comprises 1024 kilobytes, or 1,048,576 bytes. However, since this

number is hard to remember, a megabyte can be thought of as a million bytes.
Megabyte is the standard unit of measurement for RAM and is represented as MB.
• Gigabyte: It consists of 1024 megabytes (1,073,741,824 bytes). It is the standard unit
of measurement for hard disks and is often represented as GB.
• Terabyte: It refers to 1024 gigabytes. Often represented as TB, terabyte memory is
usually associated with super computers only.

Note: In modern computers, groupings of bytes (usually 2 or 4), called computer words
can represent larger “chunks” of information.

3.2 MEMORY HIERARCHY

The processor is the “brain” of the computer where all the essential computing takes place. But
unlike a human brain, a computer processor has very limited memory. Thus, it has to rely on
other kinds of memories to hold data and instructions and to store results. The memory in a
computer system is of three fundamental types:

• Internal Processor Memory: This memory is placed within the CPU (processor)
or is attached to a special fast bus. Internal memory usually includes cache memory
and special registers, both of which can be directly accessed by the processor. This
memory is used for temporary storage of data and instructions on which the CPU is
currently working. Processor memory is the fastest among all the memories but is the
most expensive also. Therefore, a very diminutive part of internal processor memory
is used in the computer system. It is generally used to compensate for the speed gap
between the primary memory and the processor.
• Primary Memory: Random access memory (RAM) and read only memory (ROM)
fall under the category of the primary memory, also known as main memory. Every
computer comes with a small amount of ROM, which contains the boot firmware
(called BIOS). This holds enough information to enable the computer to check its
hardware and load its operating system into its RAM at the time of system booting.
RAM is the place where the computer temporarily stores its operating system,
application programs and current data so that the computer's processor can reach
them quickly and easily. It is volatile in nature, that is, when the power is switched off,
the data in this memory are lost. Unlike RAM, ROM is non-volatile. Even when the
computer is switched off, the contents of the ROM remain available.
• Secondary Memory: Also known as auxiliary memory, secondary memory provides
backup storage for instructions (computer programs) and data. The most commonly
used secondary storage devices are magnetic disk and magnetic tapes. These are the
least expensive and also have much larger storage capacity than the primary memory.
The instructions and data stored on secondary storage devices are permanent in
nature. They can only be removed if the user wants it so or if the device is destroyed.
Secondary memory can also be used as overflow memory (also known as virtual
memory), when the capacity of the main memory is surpassed. Note that unlike
processor memory and main memory, secondary memory is not directly accessible to
the processor. Firstly, the data and instructions from the secondary memory have to
be shifted to the main memory and then to the processor.
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Second Semester, AY 2023 - 2024

Figure 3.1 illustrates the memory hierarchy. The CPU accesses memory according to a distinct
hierarchy. When the data come from permanent storage (for example, hard disk), they first go
in RAM. The reason behind it is that if the CPU has to access the hard disk constantly to
retrieve every piece of required data, it would operate very slowly. When the data are kept in
primary memory, the CPU can access them more quickly. Subsequently, the CPU stores the
required pieces of data and instructions in processor memory (cache and registers) to process
the data.

Figure 3.1 Memory Hierarchy

3.3 RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY

RAM is like the computer's scratch pad. It allows the computer to store data for immediate
manipulation and to keep track of what is currently being processed. It is the place in a
computer where the operating system, application programs and data in current use are kept
so that they can be accessed quickly by the computer's processor. RAM is much faster to read
from and write to than the other kinds of storage in a computer, like the hard disk or floppy
disk. However, the data in RAM stay there only as long as the computer is running. When the
computer is turned off, RAM loses all its contents. When the computer is turned on again, the
operating system and other files are once again loaded into RAM. When an application
program is started, the computer loads it into RAM and does all the processing there. This
allows the computer to run the application faster. Any new information that is created is kept
in RAM and since RAM is volatile in nature, one needs to continuously save the new
information to the hard disk.

Let us take a simple example of why RAM is used by the computer. Whenever a user enters a
command from the keyboard, the CPU interprets the command and instructs the hard disk to
“load” the command or program into main memory (see Figure 3.2). Once the data are loaded
into memory, the CPU is able to access them much quickly. The reason behind this is that the
main memory is much faster than secondary memory. The process of putting things that the
CPU needs in a single place from where it can get them more quickly is similar to placing
various documents, which the user needs, into a single file folder. By doing so, the user finds all
the required files handy and avoids searching in several places every time he needs them.
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Nursing Informatics
Second Semester, AY 2023 - 2024

Figure 3.2 Interaction of Memory and Storage with Processor

3.3.1 Types of RAM

RAM is of two types:

• Static RAM (SRAM): The word “static” indicates that the memory retains its
contents as long as power is being supplied. However, as soon as the power goes
down, the data are lost. This makes SRAM a volatile memory as opposed to ROM.
SRAM does not need to be “refreshed” (pulse of current through all the memory cells)
periodically. It is very fast but much more expensive than DRAM (Dynamic RAM).
SRAM is often used as cache memory due to its high speed.
• Dynamic RAM (DRAM): It is named so because it is very unstable. The data
continue to move in and out of the memory as long as power is available. Unlike
SRAM, DRAM must be continually refreshed in order to maintain the data. This is
done by placing the memory on a refresh circuit that rewrites the data several
hundred times per second. DRAM is used for most system memory because it is
inexpensive and small.

The primary difference between SRAM and DRAM is the life of the data they store. SRAM
retains its contents as long as electrical power is supplied to the chip. If the power is turned off,
its contents are lost. On the other hand, DRAM must be continuously refreshed after about
every 15 microseconds. This is true even when power is supplied constantly. SRAM chips are
not as dense as DRAM chips, that is, the total number of cells in the SRAM chip is less than
that on DRAM chip. SRAM is beneficial because it is fast, has low latency (the time lag between
a request and the action being performed), and does not need to be refreshed. However, it is
large and expensive, requires more power to operate, and produces a lot of heat. DRAM is
simple, small, and space efficient. It may be slower and may have a longer latency than SRAM,
but it is still very useful. Typical access time of SRAM is 25 nanoseconds while of DRAM 60
nanoseconds.
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Nursing Informatics
Second Semester, AY 2023 - 2024

SRAM is useful for low amount of memory. Anything over 4 MB is very bulky. SRAM is good
for internal memory in processors, and cache, but DRAM is best for the system's main
memory. DRAM is used where its small size and power efficiency outweigh its slowness as
compared to SRAM. SRAM is less dense than DRAM (fewer bits per unit area) and is,
therefore, not suitable for high-capacity, low-cost-per-megabyte applications. The power
consumption of SRAM varies widely depending on its speed. Fast SRAM is much more power-
hungry than DRAM and some ICs can consume power of the order of a watt at full speed. Slow
SRAM can have very low power consumption in the region of a microwatt. Currently, the
technology does not exist to produce small SRAMs so that they can replace DRAMs. Thus,
DRAM is still used in computers.

FACT FILE

RAM and ROM

RAM is also called read/write memory because, unlike ROM that does not allow any write
operation, RAM allows the CPU to read as well as write data and instructions.

3.4 READ ONLY MEMORY

Just as a human being needs instructions from the brain to perform actions in a certain event,
a computer also needs special instructions every time it is started. This is required because
during the start-up operation, the main memory of the computer is empty due to its volatile
property so there have to be some instructions (special boot programs) stored in a special chip
that could enable the computer system to perform start-up operations and transfer the control
to the operating system. This special chip, where the start-up instructions are stored, is
called ROM. It is non-volatile in nature, that is, its contents are not lost when the power is
switched off. The data and instructions stored in ROM can only be read and used but cannot be
altered, thereby making ROM much safer and secure than RAM. ROM chips are used not only
in the computer but also in other electronic items like washing machines and microwave ovens.

Generally, designers program ROM chips at the time of manufacturing circuits. Burning
appropriate electronic fuses to form patterns of binary information does the programming.
These patterns of binary information are meant for specific configurations, which is why
different categories of computers are meant for performing different tasks. For example, a
micro program called system boot program contains a series of start-up instructions to
check for the hardware, that is, I/O devices, memory and operating system in the memory.
These programs deal with low-level machine functions and are alternate for additional
hardware requirement. ROM performs the necessary BIOS (basic input output system)
function to start the system and then transfers the control over to the operating system.

3.4.1 Types of ROM

Memories in the ROM family are distinguished by the methods used to write data on them and
the number of times they can be rewritten. This classification reflects the evolution of ROM
devices from “hard-wired” to programmable to erasable-and-programmable. One common
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Nursing Informatics
Second Semester, AY 2023 - 2024

feature of all these devices is their ability to retain data and programs even during a power
failure. ROMs come in following varieties:

• Masked ROM: The very first ROMs, known as masked ROMs, were hard-wired
devices that contained a pre-programmed set of data or instructions. The contents of
such ROMs had to be specified before chip production so the actual data could be
used to arrange the transistors inside the chip.
• Programmable ROM (PROM): Creating a ROM chip from scratch is a time-
consuming and an expensive process. For this reason, developers created a type of
ROM known as programmable read only memory (PROM), which can be
programmed. Blank PROM chips can be bought economically and coded by the users
with the help of a special device known as PROM-programmer. However, once a
PROM has been programmed, its contents can never be changed. As a result, PROM
is also known as one-time programmable (OTP) device.
• Erasable Programmable ROM (EPROM): An EPROM is programmed in exactly
the same manner as a PROM. However, unlike PROM, an EPROM can be erased and
reprogrammed repeatedly. It can be erased by simply exposing the device to a strong
source of ultraviolet light for a certain amount of time. Note that an EPROM eraser is
not selective; it will erase the entire EPROM. Although EPROM is more expensive
than PROM, its ability to be reprogrammed makes it more useful.
• Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM (EEPROM): This type of ROM can
be erased by an electrical charge and then written to by using slightly higher-than-
normal voltage. EEPROM can be erased one byte at a time, rather than erasing the
entire chip with ultraviolet light. Hence, the process of reprogramming is flexible, but
slow.
• Flash ROM: A flash ROM also called flash BIOS or flash memory, is a type of
constantly powered non-volatile memory that can be erased and reprogrammed in
blocks. Flash memory is often used to hold the control code such as the BIOS in a
personal computer. When BIOS needs to be changed or rewritten, the flash memory
can be written in block (rather than byte) sizes, thus making it easier to update.

3.5 RAM, ROM AND CPU INTERACTION

Picture a bulletin board under the glass at the back of a classroom. One way to think of ROM is
that it is similar to the hard-copy notes placed under the glass. At the end of the day, they
remain unchanged. The next day, the notes are exactly the way they were the day before.
Students are able to only read them. RAM, on the other hand, can be thought of as a
blackboard, which starts out blank and during the day, information is written on it, read from
it, and even erased from it. When something is erased, new data can then be written on the
same place on the board. When students go home at the end of the day, the blackboard is
washed clean and whatever data was on it goes away forever. This is what happens when a
computer's power is turned off; RAM no longer has the electrical current available to sustain
the data in its memory cells. ROM is more like your long-term memory; the things you
remember from your past. When you wake up in the morning, you get ready for school/office
and know the address of your destination. Similarly, when computer “wakes up”, it searches for
start-up routines from ROM BIOS and then hands over the control to the operating system to
function properly.
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The most essential part of computer processing is the memory. From the moment the
computer is turned ON and until it is shut down, the CPU constantly uses memory. A typical
scenario is listed below and illustrated in Figure 3.3:

Figure 3.3 RAM, ROM and CPU Interaction

Step 1 The computer is switched ON.

Step 2 CPU loads data and instructions from ROM and checks whether all the
major components like processor and hard disk are functioning properly.

Step 3 CPU loads BIOS (basic input/output system) from ROM to determine the
machine's fundamental configuration and environment. The information
stored in ROM BIOS chip determines what peripherals the system can
support.

Step 4 CPU loads the operating system from the secondary storage (hard disk)
into RAM. This allows the CPU immediate access to the operating system,
which enhances the performance and functionality of the overall system.

Step 5 When an application is opened, it is loaded into RAM and any file that is
opened for use in that application is also loaded into RAM.

Step 6 After processing, when the user saves the file and closes the respective
application, the file is written to the specified location on the secondary
storage device. After that the file(s) and the application are “flushed out”
from the RAM.

Every time something is loaded or opened, it is placed into RAM so that the CPU can access
that information more easily and promptly. The CPU requests the required data from RAM,
processes it, and writes new data back to RAM in a continuous cycle. In most computers, this
shuffling of data between the CPU and RAM happens millions of times every second. When the
application is closed, the application and any other accompanying files are usually erased from
RAM to make space for the new data.

3.6 TYPES OF SECONDARY STORAGE DEVICES

Secondary storage devices facilitate storing of data and instructions permanently. The data
stored on a secondary storage device can be accessed depending upon how it is stored on the
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device. Primarily, there are two methods of accessing data from the secondary storage devices
(see Figure 3.4):

Figure 3.4 Sequential and Direct Access

• Sequential Access: Sequential access means the computer system must search the
storage device from the beginning until the desired data is found. The most common
sequential access storage device is magnetic tape where data is stored and processed
sequentially. Suppose, a tape contains information regarding employees of an
organization. Now, to look for employee number 100's information, the computer will
have to start with employee number 1 and then go past 2, 3 and so on, until it finally
comes to 100. The sequential access method is quite simple than other methods but
searching for data is slow.
• Direct Access: Direct access, also known as random access, means that the
computer can go directly to the location, where the data that the user wants, are
stored. The most common direct access storage devices are magnetic disk and optical
disk. In these devices, the data are stored as sequentially numbered blocks. Thus, one
can access block 12, then access block 78, then block 2 and so on. The direct access
method is ideal for applications like airline reservation systems or computer-based
directory assistance operations. In these cases, there is no fixed pattern of requests for
data.

Based on the access method, secondary storage devices can be classified as shown in Figure
3.5.

Figure 3.5 Classification of Secondary Storage Devices

3.7 MAGNETIC DISK

Magnetic disks are the widely used and popular medium for direct access secondary storage.
They offer high storage capacity and reliability and have the capability to access the stored data
directly. A magnetic disk consists of a plastic/metal circular plate/platter, which is coated with
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magnetic oxide layer. On a disk, data are represented as magnetized spots. A magnetized spot
represents 1 and the absence of a magnetized spot represents 0. To read the data, the
magnetized spots on the disk are converted into electrical impulses, which are then transferred
to the processor. Writing data onto the disk is accomplished by converting the electrical
impulses received from the processor into magnetized spots on the disk. The data in a magnetic
disk can be erased and reused

3.8 UNIVERSAL SERIAL BUS

Universal serial bus (USB), developed by Intel, is a set of connectivity specifications that
establishes communication between personal computers and devices such as mouse, keyboard,
pen drive, external hard disk drives, etc. Nowadays, almost every computer or laptop is
equipped with one or more USB ports. The USB connector is a narrow socket around 1 cm wide
and 0.5 cm high.

All USB devices come with a USB connector that is plugged into the USB port on the computer.
As you plug in a USB device, it is detected by the computer and the required software is
configured automatically; there is no need to restart the computer. Another advantage of USB
is that it determines (and provides) the electrical power required by the device connected to it.

3.8.1 Pen Drive

A pen/flash drive is a removable storage device that is frequently used nowadays to transfer
audio, video, and data files from one computer to another. A pen drive consists of a
small printed circuit board, which is fitted inside a plastic, metal, or rubber casing to protect it.
The USB connector which is present at one end of pen drive is protected by either a removable
cap or pulling it back in the casing. Figure 3.6 shows a pen drive.

Figure 3.6 Pen Drive

The pen drive is a high-storage–capacity (ranging from 1 GB to 32 GB) device and is physically
small enough to fit into a pocket. In addition, it is fast, robust and reliable and requires very
less power to operate, which it gets through a USB port, and hence no battery is required.

Using a pen drive is easy. Following are the steps to use pen drive.

1. Insert the pen drive in the USB port of a computer. The computer detects the device,
configures the necessary software and displays a drive corresponding to the pen drive
in My Computer.
2. Perform any of the following actions:
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▪ Double-click the drive icon in My Computer to access the files stored in the
pen drive.
▪ Right-click the file or folder you want to send to the pen drive, which
displays a menu. Select Send To and select the drive corresponding to the
pen drive from the sub menu that appears.

3. After performing all your actions, left-click the Safely Remove Hardware icon in
the system tray to display a menu containing Safely remove USB Mass Storage
Device option.
4. Select this option to display a notification icon indicating that it is now safe to remove
the hardware and plug-out the pen drive.

3.8.2 External Hard Disk Drive

External hard disk drive is a type of hard drive that resides in its own enclosure (called hard
drive cage) outside the computer case and is connected to the system through interfaces like
USB (Figure 3.7). With the addition of USB interfaces in the personal computer, external hard
drive has become quite popular in the computer market. The storage capacity of external hard
disk ranges from 20 GB to several TBs and it is compatible with operating systems that support
interface standards such as USB MSC (mass storage class) and IEEE1394.

Figure 3.7 An External Hard Disk Drive with USB Connector

The internal structure and functioning of an external hard disk drive is similar to the internal
hard disk drive. Hence, the external hard disk drive is a reliable and high capacity storage
media. In addition, it is portable and provides the plug and play feature. It means just plug in
the connector of external hard drive into the USB interface and access the stored data as well as
transfer data to/from the external hard disk drive.

These features of external hard disk make it suitable to be used for taking backup. Using an
external hard disk drive as a means of backup for important (or sensitive) data is
advantageous. This is because you can unplug the external hard drive when not in use to
protect your data from being compromised by online or offline activities.
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3.9 MEMORY STICK

Memory Stick, also known as memory card, is a digital storage device, which is designed to be
used with portable electronic devices such as mobile phones, digital cameras, PDAs, iPod, etc.
(Figure 3.27). It was launched in 1998 by Sony and immediately gained popularity due to its
support for fast data transfer speed and large storage capacity. Though the original Memory
Stick provided storage capacity of up to 128 MB, nowadays Memory Sticks with storage
capacity of up to 32 GB are available in the market. Even the Memory Stick with the smallest
storage capacity (4 MB) can store up to 80 images, which is much more than a standard 3½-
inch floppy disk. The Memory Stick can be removed from the portable device and accessed by a
personal computer using Memory Stick-capable memory card reader.

Figure 3.8 Memory Stick

Over the years and with advancement in technology, the Memory Stick is getting smaller in
physical size and larger in logical size. Nowadays, several different standards or formats of
Memory Stick are available in the market, which are as follows:

• Memory Stick PRO: It was introduced in the year 2003 jointly by two big
companies—Sony and SanDisk. It supports marginally higher data transfer speed
than the original one and provides theoretical storage capacity of up to 32 GB. It
provides a 4-bit parallel interface with theoretical transfer rates of up to 480 Mb/s. It
is widely used in high megapixel digital cameras and camcorders.
• Memory Stick Duo: It is a small size Memory Stick for small, pocket-sized devices
such as mobile phones, music players, digital cameras, etc. It has reduced the use of
large size Memory Stick, which had been very popular for a long time. It is equipped
with MagicGate technology that is used to encrypt the data stored on the card. It
provides all the features of the large standard Memory Stick and is smaller in size, but
costs more.
• Memory Stick PRO Duo: Though Memory Stick Duo fulfils the need for pocket-
sized devices, it has a slow transfer rate and limited storage capacity of 128 MB;
however, Memory Stick PRO Duo supersedes it because Memory Stick PRO Duo
provides larger memory space (up to 32 GB) and high speed of data transfer to/from
the card.
• Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo: It was introduced by Sony and SanDisk in 2006.
Unlike Memory Stick PRO which has a parallel interface of 4-bit, Memory Stick PRO-
HG DUO has an 8-bit parallel interface. In addition, the clock frequency has increased
from 40 MHz to 60 MHz in Memory Stick Pro-HG Duo. With these improvements, it
provides a higher transfer speed than the Memory Stick Pro Duo.
• Memory Stick Micro (M2): It is a light and compact storage media which comes in
the dimension of 15 mm × 12.5 mm × 1.2 mm. It has mainly been developed to meet
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the demands of the mobile devices market. It offers large storage capacity ranging
from 16 MB to 32 GB and transfer speed of 160 Mb/s.

3.10 MASS STORAGE DEVICES

In order to get a vast amount of storage capacity of several bytes (trillions and more) in a
computer system, a different kind of storage system is used. In such type of systems, multiple
units of similar kinds of storage media are associated together to form a chain of mass storage
devices. These storage media may include multiple magnetic tape reels or cartridges, multiple
arrays of magnetic disks or multiple CD-ROMs as a storage device. We can categorize mass
storage devices into three types:

• Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks (RAID): The basic idea of RAID is to

combine multiple hard disks into an array of disk drives to obtain high performance,
large capacity and reliability. These drives appear to the host computer as a single
logical drive. The disk arrays can be made fault-tolerant by redundantly storing
information in various ways. Seven types of array architectures, RAID 0 through
RAID 6, have been defined; each provides disk fault-tolerance with different
compromises in features and performance.
• Automated Tape Library: An automated tape library comprises numerous sets of
magnetic tapes along with their drives and controllers mounted in a single unit
(see Figure 3.9). The unit comprises one or more tape drives to perform read/write
operations on the tapes in the tape library. In the multiple tape drive environment,
these tapes can be simultaneously read or write, thus resulting in the speedy rate of
data transfer. Multiple drives lead to the reliability of the storage unit because if one
of the drives fails, then the unit can continue to operate with the other tape drives.
The unit, with the help of a robotic arm, retrieves the appropriate tape from the tape
library, mounts it on the tape drive for processing, and then returns to the library
after the job has been finished. These tape libraries can store up to several terabytes of
data in it, so they can be used for archiving data for offline storage and also as data
backup devices during online storage.

Figure 3.9 Automated Tape Library

• CD-ROM Jukebox: A CD-ROM jukebox comprises numerous sets of CD-ROM disks

along with their drives and controllers mounted in a single unit. The unit comprises
one or more CD-ROM drives to perform read/write operations on the CD-ROM in the
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jukebox. In the multiple CD-ROM drive environment, these CD-ROMs can be

simultaneously read or write, resulting in the speedy rate of data transfer. Multiple
drives lead to the reliability of the storage unit because if one of the drives fails, then
the unit can continue to operate with other CD-ROM drives. The unit, with the help of
a robotic arm, retrieves the appropriate CD-ROM from the CD-ROM jukebox, mounts
it on the CD-ROM drive for processing, and then returns it to the appropriate slot in
the jukebox after the job has been finished. These jukeboxes can store up to several
terabytes of data in it, so they can be used for archiving of read-only data for offline
storage and also as data backup devices during online storage.

Mass storage devices have relatively slow access time, generally in the order of seconds instead
of milliseconds. Due to this, their use is limited in a number of applications. The slow access
time of mass storage devices is because of the time taken by the transport mechanism to first
move onto the particular storage media such as disks and then the time taken, in few
milliseconds, to transfer the desired data to the main memory in the computer system.
However, they have huge amounts of storage capacity and possess minimum cost per bit
storage. Mass storage devices are a cost-effective option, as compared to the online tapes and
disks storage, in situations where a large storage capacity is required and where prompt data
access is not essential. When used as offline storage, they are referred to as archival storage.

//Compiled by Dominador B. Abad, Jr./ Jude L. Tayaben