External storage devices. Data storage. Internal and external storage drives. Types of memory drives What types of drives exist

Storage devices

HDD hard disk. This is the main device for long-term storage large amounts of data and programs. It is a group of coaxial disks with a magnetic coating and rotating at high speed. To the main parameters hard disk include capacity, performance, and average access time. The determining time interval required to search for the desired data depends on the speed of rotation of the disc.

Floppy disk drive FDD. This is a device for using 3.5 "floppy disks (manufactured since 1980), with a capacity of 1440 KB.

CD-ROM (Compact Disk-Read-Only Memory) drive. It is a CD-based read-only storage device. The principle of operation is to read numerical data using a laser beam reflected from the surface of the disk.

Removable magnetic disk drives

ZIP driver. Designed for use with disks with a capacity of 100, 250, 750 MB and above. Manufactured internally by Iomega (connects to hard disk controller motherboard) and external design (connected to a standard parallel port, which negatively affects the data exchange rate). The main disadvantage of ZIP drives is their lack of compatibility with standard 3.5-inch floppy disks. Sony HiFD devices, both special media with a capacity of 200 MB and regular floppy disks, have such compatibility, but they have an increased cost.

Storage devices JAZ. Produced by Iomega, their characteristics are close to hard drives, but unlike them, they are removable. Depending on the drive model, you can accommodate 1 or 2 GB of data.

Streamers. These are magnetic tape drives for reading information from a hard disk onto a magnetic tape of an audio or video recorder. The disadvantages of streamers include low performance and low reliability. The capacity of magnetic cassettes (cartridges) for streamers reaches several tens of gigabytes.

Flash drives. These are modern storage devices based on non-volatile flash memory. The device has a minimal size and can be hot-plugged into a USB connector, after which it is recognized as a hard drive, and does not require a driver to be installed. Flash drives can range in size from 32MB to 1GB, and their proliferation is constrained by their relatively high cost.

RAM(RAM - Random Access Memory). Placed on the motherboard and looks like special small boards (modules) inserted into special slots.

ROM chip and BIOS system... V the moment the computer is turned on random access memory(OP) there is neither data nor programs, since RAM cannot store anything without recharging cells for more than hundredths of a second, but the processor needs commands, including at the first moment after turning on. Immediately after switching on, a start address is set on the processor's address bus, which points to the ROM. The set of programs located in the ROM forms the basic input-output system BIOS (Basic Input Output System), the main purpose of which is to check the composition and operability computer system and provide interoperability with the keyboard, monitor, hard drive, and drives. The ROM chip is capable of storing information for a long time, even when the computer is turned off. Programs located on ROM are called "wired" - they are written there at the stage of manufacturing a microcircuit. The programs included in the BIOS allow you to observe the diagnostic messages accompanying the computer startup.

Nonvolatile CMOS memory. Especially in order to store information about the hardware of a particular computer, the motherboard has a non-volatile memory chip called CMOS. It differs from RAM in that its contents are not erased when the computer is turned off, and from ROM - in that data can be entered and changed using the Setup program, in accordance with the hardware included in the system. This microcircuit is constantly powered by a small battery located on the motherboard, the charge of which is enough to ensure that the microcircuit does not lose data, even if the computer will not be turned on for several years.

The CMOS chip stores data about floppy and hard disks, about the processor, about some other devices on the motherboard. The fact that the computer clearly keeps track of the time and calendar (even when turned off) is also due to the fact that the system clock is constantly stored (and changed) in the CMOS.

Thus, the programs written in the BIOS read data on the composition of the computer's hardware from the CMOS chip, after which they can access the hard disk, and, if necessary, to the flexible one, and transfer control to the programs that are written there.

Video card (video adapter). Together with the monitor, the video card forms the PC video system. During the development of the PC, all operations related to screen control were separated into a separate unit, called the video adapter, which took over the functions of a video controller, video processor and video memory.

During the existence of the PC, several standards of video adapters have changed, currently the SVGA standard is used, which provides optional reproduction of 16.7 million colors with the ability to arbitrarily select the screen resolution from a standard range of values ​​(640 x 480, 800 x 600, 1024 x 768, 1152 x 864, 1280 x 1024 dots, etc.).

Screen resolution is one of the most important parameters of the video subsystem. The higher the resolution, the more information can be displayed on the monitor screen, but the smaller the size of each individual point and, accordingly, the apparent size of the image elements. For a monitor of any dimension, there is optimal resolution screen, which must be provided by the video adapter.

Color resolution, or color depth, determines the number of different hues that a single point on the screen can take. The minimum requirement for color depth today is 256 colors, although most programs require at least 65K colors (High Color mode), the most comfortable work is achieved with a color depth of 16.7M colors (True Color mode). The maximum possible color resolution depends on the amount of video memory installed and the screen resolution.

Video acceleration is one of the properties of the video adapter, which consists in the fact that some of the operations for building images can take place without performing mathematical calculations in the main processor of the computer, and purely by hardware means - by converting data in the video accelerator microcircuits. There are two types of video accelerators - 2D 2D and 3D 3D graphics accelerators. All modern video cards have functions and two- and three-dimensional acceleration.

A TV tuner is a device for receiving data from a TV, VCR on a monitor screen.

Peripherals. Computer peripherals include:

• data input devices;
• data output devices;
• storage devices;
• data exchange devices.

Data input devices

Graphics input devices include scanners. Let's consider the main types of scanners.

Flatbed scanners. Designed for input graphic information from transparent or opaque sheet material. The principle of operation is that the beam of light reflected from the surface of the material is fixed by special elements called charge-coupled devices (CCDs).

Typically, CCD elements are structurally designed in the form of a ruler located along the width of the source material. Moving the ruler relative to the sheet of paper is performed by mechanically pulling the ruler when the sheet is stationary or by pulling the sheet when the ruler is stationary.

Basic consumer parameters of flatbed scanners:

• resolution for office use 600-1200 dpi; for professional - 1200-3000 dpi;
• productivity, which is determined by the duration of scanning a sheet of standard size paper and depends both on the perfection of the mechanical part of the device and on the type of interface used to interface with the PC;
• dynamic range, which is determined by the logarithm of the ratio of the brightness of the lightest areas to the brightness of the darkest areas;
• maximum size scanned material.

Hand-held scanners. These scanners have the same principle of operation as flatbed scanners, but they have low resolution and poor quality. Resolution - 150-300 dpi.

Drum scanners. Devices for scanning source images with high quality, but insufficient linear dimensions, for example, photo negatives, slides. The raw material is fixed on the cylindrical surface of a drum rotating at high speed and providing a resolution of 2400-5000 dpi due to the use of photomultiplier tubes rather than a CCD.

Form scanners. Devices for input from standard forms filled out mechanically or by hand, for example, for a population census, for processing election results and analyzing data questionnaires.

Barcode scanners. To enter data encoded in the form of a barcode (in retail outlets).

Graphic tablets (digitizers). Devices for the input of artistic graphic information, allow you to create screen images with the usual techniques: pencil, pen and brush. For artists, illustrators.

Digital cameras. Devices that perceive graphical data using CCD devices combined in a rectangular matrix. The best consumer models have 2-4 million CCD cells and therefore provide resolutions up to 1600 x 1200 dpi and above. Professional models have even higher resolution.

Output devices

Dot matrix printers. The data is output to paper in the form of an imprint formed by the impact of cylindrical rods (needles) through the ink ribbon. 9- and 24-pin dot matrix printers are common.

Inkjet printers. The image is formed from the stains that form when droplets of dye get on the paper. Dye droplets are ejected under pressure, which develops in the print head due to vaporization. Print quality depends on the droplet shape and size, as well as the way the liquid dye is absorbed by the paper surface. To the merits inkjet printers can be attributed to a relatively small number of moving mechanical parts and, accordingly, the simplicity and reliability of the mechanical part of the device, relatively low cost.

LED printers. The light source in these printers is a line of LEDs. Since this ruler is located across the entire width of the printed page, there is no need for a horizontal scanning mechanism and the whole design is simpler, more reliable and cheaper. Typical print resolution for LED printers is around 600 dpi.

Laser printers. Provides high print quality and high print speed, measured in pages per minute. To the main parameters laser printers relate:

• resolution;
• productivity: pages per minute;
• the size of the paper used;
• the amount of its own RAM.

Professional models provide print resolution

from 1800 dpi and above, middle class - up to 600 dpi.

Communication devices

Modems. Designed to exchange information between remote computers through communication channels. At the same time, a communication channel is understood as physical lines: wired, fiber-optic, cable, radio frequency, the method of their use (switched and dedicated) and the method of data transmission (digital or analog signals). Depending on the type of communication channel, transmission and reception devices are subdivided into radio modems, cable modems, etc. The most widespread are modems oriented towards connection to dial-up telephone communication channels.

Digital data entering the modem from a computer is converted in it by modulation (in amplitude, frequency and phase) in accordance with the selected standard (protocol) and sent to the telephone line. Receiver modem understanding this protocol, performs the inverse transformation (demodulation) and sends the recovered digital data to its computer.

• See: Informatics. Basic course.
• dots per inch (dpi) - the number of dots per inch.

Any electronic computers include memory storage devices. Without them, the operator would not be able to save the result of his work or copy it to another medium.

Punch cards

At the dawn of the emergence, punched cards were used - ordinary cardboard cards with applied digital markings.

There were 80 columns on one punched card, 1 bit of information could be stored in each column. The holes in these columns corresponded to one. The data were read sequentially. It was impossible to re-record anything on a punched card, so a huge number of them were required. It would take 22 tons of paper to store a 1GB array of data.

A similar principle was used in punched tape. They wound on a reel, took up less space, but they often broke and did not allow adding and editing data.

Floppy disks

The advent of floppy disks was a real breakthrough in information technology... Compact, capacious, they allowed to store from 300 KB on the earliest samples to 1.44 MB on latest versions... Reading and writing were carried out on a magnetic disk enclosed in a plastic case.

The main disadvantage of floppy disks was the fragility of the information stored on them. They were vulnerable to action and could demagnetize even in public transport - a trolleybus or a tram, so they tried not to use them for long-term data storage. Floppy disks were read in floppy drives. In the beginning there were 5-inch floppy disks, then they were replaced by more convenient 3-inch ones.

Flash drives became the main competitor of floppy disks. Their only drawback was the price, but with the development of microelectronics, the cost of flash drives dropped dramatically and floppy disks became history. Their release finally ceased in 2011.

Streamers

For storing archived data, streamers were previously used. They looked like videotapes in appearance and in principle. A magnetic tape and two reels made it possible to sequentially read and write information. The capacity of these devices was up to 100 MB. Such drives have not received mass distribution. Ordinary users preferred to store their data on hard drives, and it was more convenient to keep music, films, programs on CDs, and later DVDs.

CD and DVD

These storage devices are still used today. An active, reflective and protective layer is applied to the plastic substrate. The information from the disk is read by a laser beam. The standard disk has a capacity of 700 MB. This is enough, for example, to record a 2-hour movie in average quality. There are also double-sided discs where an active layer is sprayed onto both sides of the disc. To save a small amount of information, mini-CDs are used. Drivers, instructions for computer products are now written on them.

DVDs replaced CDs in 1996. They made it possible to store information already in the volume of 4.7 GB. They also had the advantage that the DVD drive could read both CDs and DVDs. On this moment it is the most massive storage device.

Flash drives

The CD and DVD drives discussed above have a number of advantages - cheapness, reliability, the ability to store large amounts of information, but they are designed for one-time recording. You cannot make changes to the recorded disc, add or remove unnecessary ones. And here a fundamentally different drive comes to the rescue - flash memory.

He competed with floppy disks for a while, but quickly won the race. The main limiting factor was the price, but now it has been reduced to an acceptable level. Modern computers are no longer equipped with floppy drives, so the flash drive has become an indispensable companion for everyone who deals with computer equipment. The maximum amount of information that can fit on a flash drive reaches 1 Tb.

Memory cards

Phones, cameras, e-books, photo frames and much more require memory drives to work. Due to their relatively large size, USB sticks are not suitable for this purpose. Memory cards are specially designed for such cases. In fact, this is the same flash drive, but adapted for small-sized products. Most of the time, the memory card is in an electronic device and is removed only to transfer the accumulated data to a permanent medium.

There are many standards for memory cards, the smallest of which are 14 by 12 mm. On modern computers instead of a floppy drive, a card reader is usually installed, which allows reading most types of memory cards.

Hard disk drives (HDD)

Memory drives for a computer are metal plates inside it, covered with a magnetic compound on both sides. The motor rotates them at 5400 rpm for older models or 7200 rpm for modern devices... The magnetic head moves from the center of the disc to its edge and allows you to read and write information. The volume of the hard drive depends on the number of disks in it. Modern models can store up to 8 Tb of information.

There are practically no drawbacks to this type of memory drives - they are very reliable and durable products. The cost per unit of memory in hard drives is the cheapest among all types of drives.

Solid State Drives (SSD)

As good as hard drives are, they have almost reached their ceiling. Their speed depends on the speed of rotation of the disks, and its further increase leads to physical deformation. Flash technology, which is used in the manufacture of solid-state memory drives, does not have these disadvantages. They do not contain moving parts, so they are not subject to physical wear, shock and noise.

But so far there are serious drawbacks. First of all, the price. The cost of a solid state drive is 5 times higher than a hard drive of the same size. Another significant drawback is a short service life. Solid state drives are commonly chosen for installation operating system and a hard disk is used to store the data. The cost of solid-state drives is steadily decreasing, and there is progress in increasing their resource. In the near future, they should replace traditional hard drives, just as flash drives replaced floppy disks.

External storage

Internal storage and inner memory all are good, but often you need to transfer information from one computer to another. Back in 1995, the USB interface was developed, which allows you to connect a wide variety of devices to a PC, and memory drives are no exception. At first, these were flash drives, later DVD-players with USB-connector appeared and, finally, HDD drives and SSD.

The attractiveness of the USB interface is in its simplicity - just plug in a USB flash drive or other storage device and you can work, no driver installation or other additional steps are required. The development of the interface and the emergence of first USB 2.0, and then USB 3.0 dramatically increased the speed of data exchange over this channel. The performance now differs little from the internal one, and their size cannot but rejoice. The external memory drive fits easily in the palm of your hand and can store hundreds of gigabytes of information.

Classification of storage devices

According to the stability of the recording and the possibility of rewriting the memory, they are divided into:

By the type of access, storage devices are divided into:

• Sequential access devices (such as magnetic tapes).
• Random access devices (RAM) (such as magnetic disks).

Geometric design:

• disk (magnetic disks, optical, magneto-optical);
• tape (magnetic tapes, punched tapes);
• drum (magnetic drums);
• card (magnetic cards, punched cards, flash cards, CDRAM cards and others).

Physically:

See what "Data storage" is in other dictionaries:

storage (data)- A device for recording and / or reproducing data signals. Notes 1. Depending on the recording system and the name of the recording medium, generic terms are used, for example " magnetic drive"," optical drive ", ... ...

storage (data)- 377 storage (data): A device for recording and / or reproducing data signals. Notes: 1. Depending on the recording system and the name of the recording medium, specific terms are used, for example, "magnetic drive", "optical drive" ...

hard disk drive- Input / output device computing machine providing data output from a computer, their transformation, writing to a hard magnetic disk for long-term storage, reading data from a magnetic disk and entering them into a computer. [GOST 25868 91] storage for ... ... Technical translator's guide

An input / output device for a computer that provides data output from a computer, their transformation, recording on a flexible magnetic disk for long-term storage, reading data from a flexible magnetic disk and entering it into a computer. [GOST 25868 91] Topics ... Technical translator's guide

magnetic tape drive- An input / output device for a computer, which provides data output from a computer, their transformation, recording on a magnetic tape for long-term storage, reading data from a magnetic tape and entering it into a computer. [GOST 25868 91] Equipment topics ... ... Technical translator's guide

Hard disk drive (hard drive)- Hard disk drive HDD, hard disk, hard disk, hard disk, HDD, HMDD or hard drive non-volatile, rewritable computer storage device. It is the main data storage device in almost all modern ... ... Official terminology

Not to be confused with UDMH component rocket fuel... Floppy disk drive (eng. ... Wikipedia

The "HDD" request is redirected here. Cm. also other meanings. Diagram of the device of a hard disk drive. Hard (Magnetic) Disk Drive, HDD, HMDD; in ... ... Wikipedia

Translation memory (PP, eng. translation memory, TM sometimes referred to as “Translation Aggregator”) is a database containing a collection of previously translated texts. One record in such a database corresponds to a segment or "translation unit" (English ... ... Wikipedia

floppy disk drive- 35 floppy disk drive: A computer input / output device that provides data output from a computer, their transformation, writing to a floppy disk for long-term storage, reading data from a floppy magnetic disk ... ... Dictionary-reference book of terms of normative and technical documentation

Books

• The magazine "World of PC" №08 / 2014, World of PC. In this issue: Theme of the issue: Bricks of the future. Reading for pleasure We decided to test the most popular models e-books to educate readers about their merits and ... eBook

SSDVerbatimStore " n" Go: for work and play!

External testing SSDstorageVerbatimStore " n" GoUSB 3.1 GEN1 with a capacity of 240 gigabytes (53231).

Introduction

Recent trend towards replacing classic hard drives SSD drives continues to gain momentum. They have already firmly taken root not only in PCs and laptops, but also in portable storage enclosures.

Verbatim Keypad Secury USB 3.0 Flash Drive Test.

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Flash Drive Testing VerbatimKeypadSecuryUSB 3.0.

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Continuing the theme safe storage data, we want to introduce you to a very interesting and original product -VerbatimKeypadSecuryUSB 3.0.

Verbatim Fingerprint Secure Portable Hard Drive Test with Integrated Fingerprint Reader.

Verbatim Fingerprint Secure:Tothisfingerattach!

Portable Hard Drive Testing VerbatimFingerprintSecurewith USB 3.0 interface, 1TB dual protection technology.

Introduction

Imagine a very real situation - you need to transfer large files to colleagues or friends, but you cannot do it yourself. But you can ask your friends to take them a portable hard drive with the necessary information. But you don't want the information written on it to fall into the wrong hands. How to be in this case?

Verbatim ToughMAX and Pin Stripe 64GB USB Flash Drive Test.

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Testing 64GB USB Drives VerbatimToughMAX and Pin Stripe.

Introduction

USB flash drives have long and firmly entered our life and the demand for them is constantly growing. It is already difficult to imagine how we used to do without these compact, capacious and convenient storage media.

Verbatim Vx500 external SSD test with USB 3.1 Gen 2 interface.

VerbatimVx500 - " cosmic speeds»Data exchange!

External testing SSDstorageVerbatimVx500 240GB USB 3.1 Gen 2 (Model 47442).

Introduction

The topic of portable storage devices is always of great interest. Moreover, the requirements for these devices are constantly growing not only in terms of data volume, but also in terms of write / read speed.

Verbatim Store "n" Go Lightning USB 3.0 Flash Drive Test.

One in two persons!

Testing the Combo Flash Drive VerbatimStore " n" GoLightningUSB 3.0 with Lightning and USB 3.0 interfaces.

Introduction

Considering the company's product range Verbatim, we noticed a very interesting flash drive from the familyStore " n" Go... The fact is that thanks to the presence of ports Lightning and USB 3.0 can work with most popular computers, smartphones and tablets.

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Verbatim Pro U3 16GB microSDXC memory card test.

Durability, reliability and quality!

MicroSD testing XCVerbatim Pro U3 16GB Flash Cards to work with 4 Kvideo.

Introduction

We have already written more than once that modern gadgets occupy a very important place in our life, and most of the necessary information is most often stored on them. Therefore, the choice of media that we use in them should be approached responsibly. After all, it is they who we trust with important personal information, which will be very disappointing to lose.

With this in mind, our next test of data storage devices, we decided to devote microSD XCmemory card designed for portable devices Verbatim Pro U3.

The manufacturer positions the flash drive as a device for storing media data up to format 4 K.

Well, read about the work of the carrier below.

Store "n" Go 500GB USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive Test (Model 53196).

Gigabytes to take out!

Testing the Store "n" Go 500GB USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive (Model 53196).

Introduction

The topic of portable hard drives, judging by the letters from our readers, is very popular and in demand. Therefore, we decided to continue our acquaintance with the series of discs Store "n" Go fromVerbatim... After all, it is the disks of this series that are positioned by the company as high-speed and very reliable devices at an affordable price.

Our series of publications continues with a story about the work of the hard disk. Store "n" Go (Model 53196) with port USB 3.0 capacity of 500 gigabytes.

Test flash card Verbatim Pro U3 32GB SDHC Card.

The universal "soldier" of the media front!

Testing flash card Verbatim Pro U3 32GB SDHC Card.

Introduction

We have already tested various flash drives with USB port, and now our "tenacious paws" got to the memory cards. We decided to test how their characteristics correspond to those stated.

And they started with Verbatim Pro U3 32GB SDHC Card. This model we chose based on its high speed characteristics, orientation to work with 4 K video and of course for a very reasonable price.

Introduction

We continue a series of articles about testing products purchased from Uncle Alik (Aliexpress).

In this review, we will share the test results with you SSD storage Londisk familiesAuroravolume 960 GB.

The fact is that we needed to upgrade one of the laptops, but the memory and processor were already installed to the maximum, and the performance was not enough. And we decided to replace the standard "hard" with high-speed SSD.

As always, having examined the prices of Moscow stores, we decided to save a little, the price was too high for SSD the volume we need. And again our path lay to "Uncle Alik". On the site, we have been choosing from a rich assortment for a long time SSD the most suitable option and settled on Londisk Aurora960 GB.

Well, read the results of our "running-in" device below.

Verbatim Compact External Blu-ray Recorder USB 3.0 testing.

Introduction

If you look at the packaging of modern laptops, you will notice one very interesting trend. Namely, more and more manufacturers are trying not to install optical drives in them. And this applies not only to lightweight and compact ultrabooks, even ordinary laptops are increasingly being sold without them.

But sometimes the user needs to create an archive copy of his data for long-term storage and, preferably, with a guarantee against damage. Previously, in this case, we used CD or DVD carriers. But their capacities are very small by modern standards. Of course, you can use a USB flash drive or external hard drive, but they sometimes fail.

The easiest way out of this situation is to buy an external recorder. Well, given the growth in user data, external Blu - ray the drive is perfect for this.

Who is interested to know our opinion about the work Verbatim USB 3.0 Blu-ray Recorder read the review further.

According to archaeologists, the desire to record information in humans appeared about forty thousand years ago. The very first carrier was a rock. This stationary data storage had a lot of advantages (reliability, resistance to damage, large capacity, high read speed) and one drawback (laboriousness and slowness of writing). Therefore, over time, more and more advanced information carriers began to appear.

Perforated paper tape

Most early computers used paper tape wound on spools. Information was stored on it in the form of holes. Some machines, such as the Colossus Mark 1 (1944), worked with data that was entered using tape in real time. Later computers, such as the Manchester Mark 1 (1949), read programs from tape and loaded them into a primitive semblance of electronic memory for subsequent execution. Perforated tape has been used to write and read data for thirty years.

Punch cards

The history of punched cards is rooted in early XIX centuries when they were used to control weaving looms. In 1890, Herman Hollerith used the punch card to process US census data. It was he who found the company (future IBM) that used such cards in their calculating machines.

In the 1950s, IBM was already using punch cards to store and enter data in its computers, and soon other manufacturers began to use this medium. Then, 80-column maps were common, in which a separate column was allocated for one symbol. One might be surprised, but in 2002, IBM was still continuing to develop in the field of punch card technology. True, in the 21st century, the company was interested in cards the size of postage stamp capable of storing up to 25 million pages of information.

Magnetic tape

With the release of the first American commercial computer UNIVAC I (1951), the era of magnetic tape began in the IT industry. As usual, IBM again became a pioneer, then others "pulled up". The magnetic tape was wound in an open way on spools and was a very thin strip of plastic coated with a magnetically sensitive substance.

The machines recorded and read data using special magnetic heads built into the reel drive. Magnetic tape was widely used in many models of computers (especially mainframes and minicomputers) until the 1980s, when tape cartridges were invented.

First removable drives

In 1963, IBM introduced the first hard drive with a removable disk - the IBM 1311. It was a set of interchangeable disks. Each set consisted of six 14-inch disks containing up to 2 MB of information. In the 1970s, many hard drives, such as the DEC RK05, supported such disk sets, especially minicomputer manufacturers used them to sell software.

Ribbon cartridges

In the 1960s, computer hardware makers learned to fit rolls of magnetic tape into miniature plastic cartridges. They differed from their predecessors, bobbins, with a long lifespan, portability and convenience. They became most widespread in the 1970s and 1980s. Like spools, cartridges turned out to be very flexible media: if there was a lot of information to be recorded, more tape would simply fit into the cartridge.

Today, tape cartridges such as 800GB LTO Ultrium are used for large-scale server support, although their popularity has declined in recent years due to the convenience of transferring data from hard drive to hard drive.

Printing on paper

In the 1970s, due to their relatively low cost, they are gaining popularity personal computers... However, the existing ways of storing data turned out to be too expensive for many. One of the first PCs, MITS Altair, was delivered without any storage media at all. Users were asked to enter programs using special toggle switches on the front panel. Then, at the dawn of the development of personal computers, users often had to literally insert sheets with
handwritten programs. Later, the programs began to be distributed in print through paper magazines.

Floppy disks

In 1971, the first IBM floppy disk appeared in the world. It was a magnetically coated 8-inch floppy disk enclosed in a plastic case. Users quickly realized that floppy disks were faster, cheaper, and more compact than stacks of punched cards to download data to a computer. In 1976, one of the creators of the first floppy disk, Alan Shugart, proposed a new 5.25-inch format. This size lasted until the late 1980s, when Sony 3.5-inch floppy disks appeared. How it started ...

In the late 1960s, the American firm IBM proposed a new storage device that used a floppy disk (floppy disk). A floppy disk works the same as a hard disk, but is made in the form of an elastic round plate with a plastic base coated with a magnetic compound. The disc is placed in a special flexible envelope-cassette, which protects it from mechanical damage and dust.

The disk with the envelope is installed by the user into a special device (disk drive). In this device, it rotates inside the envelope at a speed of about 300 rpm.

To reduce friction, the inside of the envelope is covered with a special material. Through specially made slots, the magnetic read-write head of the drive contacts the surface of the disc and reads or writes the corresponding information. A floppy disk drive (floppy disk drive) is a complex mechanical device that requires a special electronic controller unit to be connected to a computer, which converts the commands coming from the machine to the drive, and monitors their execution, and also controls the data exchange process.

IBM has proposed the use of 203 mm (8 Imp.) Floppy disks and has developed a standard for these disk drives.

The new external memory device began to gain in popularity. In 1976, about 200 thousand devices were sold, in 1981 already 3-4 million, for a total of $ 2.3 billion, and in 1984 8.2 million were delivered. NGMD in the amount of 4.2 billion dollars.In the United States alone in 1984 for NGMD 285 million floppy disks were manufactured.

Along with the rapid development of computer technology, NGMD... In the early 1970s, American inventor Alain Shugart proposed reducing the disc diameter to 133 mm (5.25 inches). In 1976, the Shugart Associates company, which he founded, released the first floppy disk drives of this size, called minidisks (minifloppy). Despite initially having less external memory, these drives were half the price of standard drives with 203mm drives. The latter circumstance immediately attracted the attention of a wide group of PC users to them.

Improving the quality of recording and the quality of magnetic heads allowed the transition to floppy disks with a double recording density.

The first 203mm and 133mm floppy disks used only one side of the disk. In order to increase the volume of external storage, devices were developed and began to be supplied in which information was written and read from both sides of the disk. This increased the memory capacity by 2 times, and taking into account the double recording density - 4 times.

Development and production NGMD engaged in several dozen firms in the USA, Japan, Germany and other countries. These devices have quickly supplanted tape drives in many PC applications. Usage NGMD increased the speed of the system by an order of magnitude.

Nowadays, external memory on floppy disks has become an integral part of the typical configuration of most educational and all professional PCs.

In what directions was further technical development NGMD ?

First, the physical dimensions of storage rings continued to decrease, in particular, in height. Many firms produced half-height drives, that is, two devices could already be accommodated in the previous case.

Secondly, successful attempts were made to reduce the diameter of the disks, and, consequently, the dimensions of the drive. Thus, the Japanese company "Sony" has developed NGMD with 89 mm (3.5 in) discs. The disc is housed in a 90x94 mm (3.54x3.7 inches) and 1.3 mm thick hard envelope equipped with a special metal shutter. When the disc is inserted into the drive, the shutter automatically slides open and opens a slot in the envelope through which the magnetic head interacts with the floppy disc. With a double recording density, such a single-sided disc holds 360 KB, and with a double-sided recording, 720 KB.

A standard Sony drive cost about 10% more than a drive on 133-mm disks, and 89-mm disks themselves were 2-2.5 times more expensive than similar 133-mm disks. However, the small size of the disks and the drive itself, the rigid design of the envelope with the disk and the protection of the disk surface with a "curtain" attracted this type NGMD a significant number of users. Drives with 89-mm disks with a volume of 720 KB have found application in many portable PCs, for example, in the models of the Japanese company Toshiba - T1100, T1200, T3100, the American companies Zenith Data Systems - Z181, Bondwell Inc. - Bondwell 8 and others. IBM in its PS / 2 series PC models uses NGMD with discs with a diameter of 89 mm, 720 KB and 1.44 MB.

Thirdly, through the use of new technical means and technologies, a number of firms have developed NGMD with increased memory capacity.

For example, the IBM company in PC AT used drives on 133-mm disks with a volume of 1.2 MB of formatted memory. Due to the transition to a higher density of tracks on the disk, it was possible to more than double the volume of external PC storage.

Japanese firm Hitachi-Maxwell announced the development of 133mm floppy disks with 19MB of memory per disk. In a short time, the volume of 89-mm disks has grown from 360 KB to 1.44 MB.

By the beginning of 1987, the most common in the world were 133-mm disks for PCs from IBM, and drives on disks with a diameter of 203 mm practically ceased to be produced. The 89mm market is growing very quickly NGMD.

According to the estimates of the company "DateAquest" (USA), the production of 133-mm drives grew from 8.2 million units in 1985 to 11 million units in 1987, and then fell by 1991 to 7.3 million units. ... At the same time, the production of 89-mm drives increased from 603 thousand units in 1985 to 14 million units in 1991, i.e., by the end of the 1980s, it exceeded the production of 133-mm drives.

A standard drive for an IBM PC with 360KB 133mm drives was $ 65 in the US in mid-1987, and $ 150 for a 720K 89mm drive.

Compact Cassettes

The compact cassette was invented by Philips, who guessed to fit two small rolls of magnetic tape into a plastic case. It was in this format that audio recordings were made in the 1960s. HP used such cartridges in its HP 9830 desktop (1972), but in the beginning such cartridges as media digital information were not very popular. Then the seekers of inexpensive data carriers nevertheless turned their eyes towards cassettes, which, with their light hand, remained in demand until the early 1980s. data on them, by the way, could be loaded from a regular audio player.

Since the introduction of the first magnetic storage device (IBM RAMAC), areal recording densities have grown by 25% per year, and 60% since the early 1990s. The development and implementation of magnetoresistive (1991) and giant magnetoresistive (1997) heads further accelerated the increase in surface recording density. In the 45 years since the first magnetic storage devices were introduced, areal recording densities have grown more than 5 million times.

In modern 3.5-inch drives, the value of this parameter is 10-20 Gb / in 2, and in experimental models it reaches 40 Gb / in 2. This allows the production of drives with a capacity of more than 400 GB.

A ROM cartridge is a board that consists of a read-only memory (ROM) and a connector that are housed in a hard shell. Scope of cartridges - computer games and programs. For example, in 1976, Fairchild released a ROM cartridge for recording software for the Fairchild Channel F video set-top box. Soon, home computers such as Atari 800 (1979) or TI-99/4 (1979) were adapted to use ROM cartridges.

ROM cartridges were easy to use, but relatively expensive, which is why, in fact, they "died".

Great experiments with floppy disks

In the 1980s, many companies tried to create an alternative to the 3.5-inch floppy disk. One such invention (pictured above in the center) can hardly be called a floppy disk, even with a stretch: the ZX Microdrive cartridge consisted of a huge roll of magnetic tape, like an eight-track cassette. Another experimenter, Apple, created a FileWare floppy disk (right) that came with the first Apple Lisa computer, the worst device in the company's history according to Network World, as well as a 3-inch Compact Disk (bottom left) and a now-rare 2-inch floppy disk.

LT-1 (top left) used exclusively in the 1989 Zenith Minisport laptop. The rest of the experimentation culminated in products that became niche and failed to replicate the success of their 5.25-inch and 3.5-inch predecessors.

Optical disc

Originally used as a digital audio medium, the compact disc owes its birth to a collaboration between Sony and Philips and first appeared on the market in 1982. Digital data is stored on this plastic carrier in the form of micro-grooves on its mirror surface, and the information is read using a laser head.
As it turned out, digital CDs are the best suited for storing computer data, and soon the same Sony and Philips finalized the novelty.

This is how the world learned about CD-ROMs in 1985.

Over the next 25 years, the optical disc has undergone many changes, its evolutionary chain includes DVD, HD-DVD and Blu-ray. A significant milestone was the introduction in 1988 of the CD-Recordable (CD-R), which allowed users to independently record data to disc. In the late 1990s, optical discs finally fell in price and finally relegated floppy disks to the background.

Magneto-optical media

Like CDs, magneto-optical discs are "read" by a laser. However, unlike conventional CDs and CD-Rs, most magneto-optical media can be printed and erased multiple times. This is achieved through the interaction of a magnetic process and a laser when recording data. The first magneto-optical disk was included with the NeXT computer (1988, photo on the bottom right), and its capacity was 256 MB. The most famous media of this type is Sony's MiniDisc (top center, 1992). He also had a "brother" for storing digital data, which was called MD-DATA (top left). Magneto-optical disks are still in production, but due to their low capacity and relatively high cost, they have become a niche product.

Iomega and Zip Drive

Iomega made its mark in the media market in the 1980s with the Bernoulli Box magnetic disk cartridges ranging from 10 to 20 MB.

A later interpretation of this technology was embodied in the so-called Zip media (1994), which contained up to 100 MB of information on an inexpensive 3.5-inch disk. The format fell in love with its affordable price and good capacity, and Zip drives remained at the peak of popularity until the late 1990s. However, the CD-Rs already available at that time could be written up to 650 MB, and when their price dropped to a few cents apiece, sales of Zip disks plummeted. Iomega made an attempt to save the technology and developed discs in sizes of 250 and 750 MB, but CD-R by that time had already conquered the market. This is how Zip became history.

Floppy disks

The first superdisk was released by Insight Peripherals in 1992. The 3.5-inch disk contained 21 MB of information. Unlike other media, this format was compatible with earlier traditional 3.5-inch floppy disk drives. The secret of the high efficiency of such drives lay in the combination of a floppy disk and optics, that is, data was recorded in a magnetic medium using a laser head, while more accurate recording was provided and more tracks, respectively, more space. In the late 1990s, two new formats appeared - Imation LS-120 SuperDisk (120 MB, bottom right) and Sony HiFD (150 MB, top right). The novelties became serious competitors to the Iomega Zip drive, but in the end the CD-R format won out.

The mess in the world of portable media

The resounding success of the Zip Drive in the mid-1990s spawned a host of similar devices, whose manufacturers hoped to grab a piece of the market from the Zip. Among the main competitors of Iomega is SyQuest, which first shattered its own market segment, and then ruined its product line with excessive variety - SyJet, SparQ, EZFlyer and EZ135. Another serious, but "murky" rival is Castlewood Orb, which invented a disk like the Zip with a capacity of 2.2 GB.

Finally, Iomega itself made an attempt to supplement the Zip drive with other types of removable media - from large removable hard drives (1 and 2 GB Jaz Drives) to a miniature 40 MB Clik drive. But none has reached the heights of the Zip.

Flash is coming

In the early 1980s, Toshiba invented NAND flash memory, but the technology did not become popular until a decade later, following the advent of digital cameras and PDAs. At this time, it began to be implemented in various forms - from large credit cards (intended for use in early handhelds) to CompactFlash, SmartMedia, Secure Digital, Memory Stick and xD Picture Cards.

Flash memory cards are convenient, first of all, because they have no moving parts. In addition, they are economical, durable and relatively inexpensive with ever-increasing storage capacity. The first CF cards held 2 MB, but now their capacity reaches 128 GB.

Much less

The IBM / Hitachi promo slide shows a tiny Microdrive. It appeared in 2003 and for some time won the hearts of computer users.

The iPod and other media players, which debuted in 2001, are equipped with similar devices based on a rotating disk, but manufacturers quickly became disillusioned with such a drive: it is too fragile, energy-intensive and small in volume. So this format is almost buried.

1956 - IBM 350 hard drive as part of the first production computer IBM 305 RAMAC. The drive occupied a box the size of a large refrigerator and weighed 971 kg, and the total memory capacity of the 50 thin disks with a diameter of 610 mm covered with pure iron rotating in it was about 5 million 6-bit bytes (3.5 MB in terms of 8-bit bytes) ...

And here's what concerns hard drives.
* 1980 - First 5.25-inch Winchester, Shugart ST-506, 5 MB.
* 1981 - 5.25-inch Shugart ST-412, 10 MB.
* 1986 - SCSI, ATA (IDE) standards.
* 1991 - maximum capacity 100 MB.
* 1995 - maximum capacity 2 GB.
* 1997 - Maximum capacity 10 GB.
* 1998 - UDMA / 33 and ATAPI standards.
* 1999 - IBM releases 170 MB and 340 MB Microdrive.
* 2002 - ATA / ATAPI-6 standard and drives with capacities over 137 GB.
* 2003 - SATA is introduced.
* 2005 - maximum capacity 500 GB.
* 2005 - Serial ATA 3G (or SATA II) standard.
* 2005 - the appearance of SAS (Serial Attached SCSI).
* 2006 - Application of the perpendicular recording method in commercial drives.
* 2006 - appearance of the first "hybrid" hard drives containing a block of flash memory.
* 2007 - Hitachi introduces the first commercial 1TB drive.
* 2009 - based on Western Digital 500GB platters, then Seagate Technology LLC released 2TB models.
* 2009 - Western Digital announced the creation of a 2.5-inch HDD with a capacity of 1 TB (recording density - 333 GB on one platter)
* 2009 - the appearance of the SATA 3.0 (SATA 6G) standard.

The advent of USB

In 1998, the USB era began. The undeniable convenience of USB devices has made them almost an integral part of the life of all PC users. Over the years, they decrease in physical size, but they become more capacious and cheaper. Especially popular appeared in 2000 "flash drives", or USB thumb drives (from the English thumb - "thumb"), so named for their size - the size of a human finger. Due to their large capacity and small size, USB drives have become perhaps the best storage medium invented by mankind.

Transition to virtuality

Over the past fifteen years local area networks and the Internet is gradually replacing portable storage media from the life of PC users. Since today almost any computer has access to the global network, users rarely need to transfer data to external devices or rewrite to another computer. Nowadays, wires and electronic signals are responsible for the transfer of information. Wireless standards Bluetooth and Wi-Fi make physical computer connections unnecessary.