FACULITY OF COMPUTER & MATHEMATICAL SCIENCE

SC245
COMPUTER SCIENCE
(DATA COMMUNICATION & NETWORKING)

INPUT, OUTPUT & STORAGE

Table of Contents
COMPUTER DEVICES ............................................................................................................................... 4
INPUT DEVICES .................................................................................................................................... 4
MOUSE ............................................................................................................................................ 4
 Trackball mouse ...................................................................................................................... 4
 Optical mouse ......................................................................................................................... 4
 Wireless optical mouse ........................................................................................................... 4
JOYSTICKS ........................................................................................................................................ 4
 Digital joysticks........................................................................................................................ 4
 Paddle joysticks ....................................................................................................................... 4
 Analog joysticks....................................................................................................................... 5
 Joy Pad .................................................................................................................................... 5
KEYBOARD ....................................................................................................................................... 5
 The laptop computer keyboard .............................................................................................. 5
 Gaming keyboards .................................................................................................................. 5
 Ergonomic computer keyboards ............................................................................................. 5
 The laser keyboard .................................................................................................................. 6
 Rollup computer ..................................................................................................................... 6
SCANNER ......................................................................................................................................... 6
 Production scanners ............................................................................................................... 6
 Hand scanners ......................................................................................................................... 6
 Sheetfed scanners ................................................................................................................... 7
WEBCAM ......................................................................................................................................... 7
 Standalone webcams .............................................................................................................. 7
 Network cameras .................................................................................................................... 8
OUTPUT DEVICES ................................................................................................................................ 9
MONITOR ........................................................................................................................................ 9
 CRT (cathode ray tube) ........................................................................................................... 9
 LCD (liquid crystal display) ...................................................................................................... 9
 LED (light-emitting diodes) ................................................................................................... 10
PRINTER......................................................................................................................................... 11
 Inkjet printers........................................................................................................................ 11
 Laser printers ........................................................................................................................ 11
 Special-purpose printers ....................................................................................................... 12
 3-D printer ............................................................................................................................. 12
  Thermal printer ..................................................................................................................... 12
 Mobile printer ....................................................................................................................... 13
 Label printer .......................................................................................................................... 13
 Plotters .................................................................................................................................. 13
 Large-format printers............................................................................................................ 13
 Impact printers...................................................................................................................... 13
PROJECTOR.................................................................................................................................... 13
 LCD projectors ....................................................................................................................... 13
 DLP projectors ....................................................................................................................... 13
SPEAKER ........................................................................................................................................ 14
 Center channel speaker ........................................................................................................ 14
 Wireless speaker ................................................................................................................... 14
 Satellite speaker .................................................................................................................... 14
 A subwoofer .......................................................................................................................... 14
HEADPHONE.................................................................................................................................. 15
 Closed-back headphones ...................................................................................................... 15
 Open-back headphones ........................................................................................................ 15
 On-ear headphones .............................................................................................................. 16
 Over-ear headphones ........................................................................................................... 16
 In-ear headphones ................................................................................................................ 17
 Ear buds ................................................................................................................................ 18
 Headphones with Bluetooth ................................................................................................. 18
 Noise Cancelling Headphones............................................................................................... 19
STORAGE ........................................................................................................................................... 20
Hard Disk Drive (HDD) ................................................................................................................... 20
Solid State Drive (SSD) .................................................................................................................. 20
USB Flash Drive ............................................................................................................................. 21
Network-Attached Storage (NAS) ................................................................................................. 22
Cloud Storage ................................................................................................................................ 23
COMPUTER DEVICES

INPUT DEVICES
MOUSE

 Trackball mouse are old technology

mouse that has mechanical
movement of ball inside. That ball
moves along the movement of
mouse. Cons: Dust can easily block
the mechanical movement of mouse
inside ball
 Optical mouse are the mouse
having infrared sensitivity
technology these mouse are being
used these days. It's pros are no dust
can enter and block the movement
of mouse like trackball mouse if dust
gone inside ball will block the ball.
Cons: some mouses have Sensitvity
issues using in some crippled
surface.
 Wireless optical mouse was comes
with Bluetooth technology that can
be used long range having no issues
of wire tangle. It is the same infrared
sensitivity technology used in this
too that is in optical mouse. Only the
difference is it is wireless. Pros: Can
use the mouse in distant without
having wire tangling issues. Cons:
same as said in second option
crippled surface infrared sensitivity
issue.
JOYSTICKS

 Digital joysticks are the most

common joysticks used for PCs,
employing simple left, right, up,
down and firing commands. They are
also called "Atari-style" digital
joysticks.

 Paddle joysticks consist of one knob

used to control the game and one
firing button. This is one of the oldest
joysticks.
  Analog joysticks combine both
concepts presented in the digital and
paddle joysticks; they control the
game like a digital joystick, but also
use potentiometers to measure the
movements like the paddle joysticks.

 Joy Pad don’t has any stick to control

it but it has D – Pad to control and
manage the direction while playing
games. This is a device which works
on Bit and that’s why they are very
useful and helpful to play game
easily.
KEYBOARD

 The laptop computer keyboard is a

small version of the typical QWERTY
keyboard. A typical laptop has the
same keyboard type as a normal
keyboard, except for the fact that
most laptop keyboards condense the
symbols into fewer buttons to
accomodate less space.There are
also often extra keys such as power
buttons, volume buttons, play
buttons, rewind buttons, mute
buttons and others.
 Gaming keyboards are similar to
normal keyboards except they
generally contain extra features such
as illuminated keys, multimedia
keys, an additional LCD screen, palm
rest and other features.Illuminated
keyboards are useful for playing
games, during the night, when it’s
too dark to see the keyboard
normally. The multimedia keys are
also useful for adjusting the volume,
for changing the music tracks and for
doing other things, while continually
playing your game.
 Ergonomic computer keyboards is
a computer keyboard designed with
ergonomic considerations to
minimize muscle strain and a host of
related problems. An ergomic
keyboard is designed to make typing
easier and lessen the strain that your
hands may suffer, such as “Carpal
Tunnel Syndrome”.
  The laser keyboard is a recent
gadget to the computing world. This
device projects the keyboard on to a
flat surface, such as a table or desk.
This then allows you to type directly
onto the table. However, this
invention still needs to be improved
and can be frustrating to use at the
moment.
 Rollup computer keyboards are
extremely good for travelling. Simply
roll them up and then unroll them
when you need them again.Typically
the material is either silicone or
polyurethane. These devices are
meant to be rolled up, rather than
folded, as folding can damage the
circuitry.I think these can be cool as
a gadget, or for someone that is
moving around a lot, but for the
typical user is probably not a
necessity.
SCANNER

 Production scanners operate

similarly to flatbed scanners, but
offer far faster operation and the
durability to last through high-
volume work. These machines also
feature a feed device for scanning
multiple documents quickly. Unlike
regular flatbed scanners, which are
often priced at the consumer level,
production scanners sell for
thousands of dollars and are
targeted to publishing companies
and other businesses that need to
scan numerous documents daily.
 The most common type of scanner,
flatbed scanners have a large glass
surface and a lid. These scanners
work best with flat objects, such as
photos and papers, but you can also
place larger items such as open
books onto the scanner bed. Some
models of flatbed scanner come built
in to all-in-one devices, which
function as printers, scanners, copy
machines and fax machines.
 Hand scanners or handheld
scanners are small wand-shaped
 devices. You use a hand scanner by
slowly dragging it over the entire
surface area of the document you
want to scan. Unlike flatbed
scanners, hand scanners allow you to
scan items of any size. Because they
rely on a steady hand and due to
their small size, however, they often
offer lower quality output than a
flatbed.
 Sheetfed scanners scan loose
papers placed in a tray by pulling
them across a static scanning lens.
These devices make it easier to scan
a large stack of papers than a flatbed
scanner, where you would have to
insert and remove each page. Due to
their design, however, they won't
work to scan books or large papers
that don't fit in the tray. Some
sheetfed scanners feature additional
trays designed for smaller items such
as business cards.
WEBCAM

 Integrated webcam can be found in

many laptop computers, especially
netbooks and other computers
designed for portability, include
built-in webcams. Usually located at
the top of the screen, these cameras
provide lower image quality than top
of the line devices, but can still
manage video calls. Some models
include dual cameras: one for video
calls and the other for snapping still
photos. Others offer a swivel
mechanism for greater convenience.
Integrated cameras reduce your
ability to choose your webcam, but
provide greater convenience and
reduce clutter from too many
peripherals.
 Standalone webcams predate most
other types. Composed of a lens unit
and stand or clip, these cameras
usually connect to the computer via
a USB cable. Older models may use
serial port connectors or other
outdated methods of data transfer.
Standalone webcams provide the
 most control over your peripherals,
allowing you to pick a high-quality
camera and microphone or headset
to suit your needs. They result in
more desktop clutter, however
 Many newer standalone webcams
with built-in microphone. This
removes the need for a separate
microphone or a headset. You can
use these webcams with only a set of
headphones. Avoid operating these
cameras at the same time as your
computer speakers, however. The
output from the speakers sometimes
causes feedback through the
microphone. Microphone webcams
are compact and eliminate the need
to find space for and power extra
devices.
 Network cameras work much like
conventional webcams, but transmit
their data via wireless or Ethernet
connections. Often used for closed-
circuit security television, network
cameras also work well in high-end
videoconferencing setups where an
ordinary webcam performs poorly.
These cameras cost significantly
more than most webcams and
require a network connection to
work properly.
OUTPUT DEVICES
MONITOR

 CRT (cathode ray tube)

monitorsemploy CRT technology,
which was used most commonly
in the manufacturing of television
screens. With these monitors, a
stream of intense high energy
electrons is used to form images
on a fluorescent screen. A
cathode ray tube is basically a
vacuum tube containing an
electron gun at one end and a
fluorescent screen at another
end. While CRT monitors can still
be found in some organizations,
many offices have stopped using
them largely because they are
heavy, bulky, and costly to replace
should they break. While they are
still in use, it would be a good idea
to phase these monitors out for
cheaper, lighter, and more
reliable monitors.

 LCD (liquid crystal display)

monitors incorporates one of the
most advanced technologies
available today. Typically, it
consists of a layer of color or
monochrome pixels arranged
schematically between a couple
of transparent electrodes and two
polarizing filters. Optical effect is
made possible by polarizing the
light in varied amounts and
making it pass through the liquid
crystal layer. The two types of LCD
technology available are the
active matrix of TFT and a passive
matrix technology. TFT generates
better picture quality and is more
secure and reliable. Passive
matrix, on the other hand, has a
slow response time and is slowly
becoming outdated.The
advantages of LCD monitors
include their compact size which
makes them lightweight. They
also don’t consume much
 electricity as CRT monitors, and
can be run off of batteries which
makes them ideal for
laptops.Images transmitted by
these monitors don’t get
geometrically distorted and have
little flicker. However, this type of
monitor does have disadvantages,
such as its relatively high price, an
image quality which is not
constant when viewed from
different angles, and a monitor
resolution that is not always
constant, meaning any alterations
can result in reduced
performance.

 LED (light-emitting diodes)

monitors are the latest types of
monitors on the market today.
These are flat panel, or slightly
curved displays which make use of
light-emitting diodes for back-
lighting, instead of cold cathode
fluorescent (CCFL) back-lighting
used in LCDs. LED monitors are
said to use much lesser power
than CRT and LCD and are
considered far more
environmentally friendly. The
advantages of LED monitors are
that they produce images with
higher contrast, have less
negative environmental impact
when disposed, are more durable
than CRT or LCD monitors, and
features a very thin design. They
also don’t produce much heat
while running. The only downside
is that they can be more
expensive, especially for the high-
end monitors like the new curved
displays that are being released.
PRINTER

 Inkjet printers are an economic

option for printing high-quality
documents and photos in both
color and black and white. This
type of printer features a print
head with nozzles that spray ink
from ink cartridges onto the
paper. Inkjet printers typically
have at least two ink cartridges –
a black ink cartridge and a tri-color
one with magenta, yellow and
cyan ink – although some photo
printers use separate cartridges
for individual colors. Despite their
relatively low price, many inkjet
printers are capable of printing
high-quality documents and
photos between 300 to 600 dots
per inch and sometimes even
higher. Inkjet printer advantages
include capability for printing
black and white documents
quickly and having many options
available under $100 for home
users. Downsides include being
slower than laser printers for
color documents and involving a
higher expense per page due to
ink replacement requirements. In
addition, some drying time is
necessary after printing
documents to prevent smearing
of ink.

 Laser printers are particularly

popular with people who need to
print hundreds or thousands of
pages a month. Instead of using a
print head and liquid ink
cartridges, these printers use a
cartridge with a powder called
toner and feature a complex
system that includes a laser,
charged wires, print drum, mirror
and fusing rollers. These printing
components work together to
generate positive and negative
electrical charges and heat that
help release and melt the toner
 powder onto the page to print
your text and images. A benefit of
using a laser printer is that you
can print quality documents at a
quick speed, up to around 40
pages per minute for
monochrome pages and 26 pages
per minute for color pages. While
they do cost more upfront, laser
printers offer a lower printing cost
per page since you can print
thousands of pages before
needing to replace the toner
cartridge. The University of
Wisconsin, however, warns that
laser printers usually aren't the
recommended option for printing
photos at home, especially due to
the high cost of color laser
printers.

 Special-purpose printers exist

for commercial and home usage.
Often used to print invoices for
businesses, a dot-matrix printer
(also called an impact printer) has
a print head with pins that press
down on an ink ribbon to create
the characters on a document.
Other common business printers
are thermal printers, which use
heat and special paper or ink to
produce documents such as
receipts, and line printers, which
print a whole line at a time and
use a continuous paper feed. A
newer special-purpose printer
both businesses and home users
can use is a 3D printer, which lets
you create physical objects using
computer modeling software and
a special plastic filament.

 3-D printer uses a process called

additive manufacturing to create
an object by adding material to a
three-dimensional object, one
horizontal layer at a time.
 Thermal printer generates
images by pushing
 electrically heated pins against
the heat-sensitive paper.
 Mobile printer is a small,
lightweight, battery-powered
printer that allows a mobile user
to print from a mobile device.
 Label printer is a small printer
that prints on an adhesive-type
material that can be placed on a
variety of items.
 Plotters are used to produce
high-quality drawings.
 Large-format printers create
photo-realistic
quality color prints.
 Impact printers form characters
and graphics on a piece of paper
by striking a mechanism against
an inked ribbon that physically
contacts the paper.

PROJECTOR

 LCD projectors work by utilizing

polarized mirrors that pass and
reflect only certain colors of light.
This causes each channel of red,
green and blue to be separated
and later re-converged via a prism
after passing through an LCD
panel that controls the intensity
and saturation of each color.
 DLP projectors can be classified
as one-chip or three-chip. Each
chip houses millions of mirrors
that reflect light thousands of
times each second. One-chip DLP
projectors can produce more than
16 million colors while three-chip
models can produce more than 35
trillion colors. This allows DLP
projectors to reproduce more
natural and lifelike images. The
closeness of each mirror within a
chip makes it difficult to see any
spaces separating the pixels and
in turn creates a more fluid and
crisp image compared to LCD
technology.
SPEAKER

 Center channel speaker refers

to an audio channel common to
many surround sound formats. It
is the channel that is mostly, or
fully, dedicated to the
reproduction of the dialogue of an
audiovisual program. The
speaker(s) connected to the
center channel are placed in the
center of and behind the
perforated projection screen, to
give the effect that sounds from
the center channel are coming
from the screen. In many home
surround sound units, the center
channel is positioned above or
below the video screen.
 Wireless speaker are very similar
to traditional (wired)
loudspeakers, but they receive
audio signals using radio
frequency (RF) waves rather than
over audio cables. There is
normally an amplifier integrated
in the speaker's cabinet because
the RF waves alone are not
enough to drive the speaker. This
integration of amplifier and
loudspeaker is known as an active
loudspeaker. Manufacturers of
these loudspeakers design them
to be as lightweight as possible
while producing the maximum
amount of audio output
efficiency.
 Satellite speaker is often used as
a component of ‘2.1’ subwoofer
systems, but it tends to be tinier
as compared to other typical
stereo speakers. That’s because
they need to be styled this way to
hand off its low-bass sound to
another bigger subwoofer,
enabling the tinier satellites to
become more flexible when being
placed, together with a big woofer
hidden from your sight.
 A subwoofer (or sub) is a
loudspeaker designed to
 reproduce low-pitched audio
frequencies known as bass and
sub-bass, lower in frequency than
those which can be (optimally)
generated by a woofer. The
typical frequency range for a
subwoofer is about 100–200 Hz
for consumer products,[1] below
100 Hz for professional live
sound,[2] and below 80 Hz in THX-
approved systems.[3] Subwoofers
are never used alone, as they are
intended to augment the low
frequency range of loudspeakers
that cover the higher frequency
bands. While the term
"subwoofer" technically only
refers to the speaker driver, in
common parlance, the term often
refers to a subwoofer driver
mounted in a speaker enclosure
(cabinet), often with a built-in
amplifier.

HEADPHONE
 Closed-back headphones are a
great type of headphones for
those who want to block out any
peripheral noise when using their
headphones, regardless of your
intended application. This style
rids the noise surrounding you to
keep the music free of any outside
interference, regardless of
environment, and at the same
time creates an isolated audio
experience so that only you can
hear the sounds you want to hear.
This makes closed-back
headphones great for those who
are looking to hear every minute
detail of the music they’re
listening to and fully engulf
themselves into the listening
experience.
 Open-back headphones aren’t
“closed” and instead have “open”
ear cups that allow some sound to
escape into the environment. This
style produces a much more “airy
and open sound” that is more like
 listening to speakers in a room (if
we had to choose a decent
analogy) as opposed to listening
to completely isolated sound from
closed-back headphones.
 On-ear headphones go over the
head and rests on top of the ears.
We were first a little confused
when it came to on-ear vs. over-
ear headphones (listed next), so
to summarize what we found,
think of it like this: on-ear
headphones are a little smaller
(nearly the size of your actual ear)
rest nicely on top of them while
over-ear headphones are a little
larger so the cups can engulf your
ears with some padding that
surrounds them. Also know as
Supra-aural headphones, the on-
ear design is slightly like open-
back headphones, which allows
some sound from the surrounding
environment to exit (as well as get
in) as opposed to the over-the-ear
style which is much better at
blocking out external sounds if
individuals are concerned with
that commonly used phrase
“sound isolation”. This style of
headphones is usually quite
comfortable and doesn’t cause
you to sweat as much as some of
the over the ear models. They do
rest on your ears so it’s important
to buy a comfortable pair that
doesn’t pressure your ears too
much (or at least as much as
closed-back, over-ear
headphones.
 Over-ear headphones (or at
times, more technically, labeled
as ‘circumaural‘) fit on the top of
head and “over” (on, as well as
around, our ear cartilages so the
entire ear is “cupped”) to focus on
sound isolation. This style of
headphones is the superior model
for noise reduction because they
create an intimate environment
between you and the sound
 you’re listening to. They are very
capable of limiting noise leakage
which keeps the sound you are
listening to in and also allows the
sound in the surrounding
environment out. It is possible to
get over-ear models that are
open-backed which lets them
breathe and allow sound in and
out. However, this style is usually
closed-back as they are preferred
for their potential noise
cancellation, isolation, and the
high-quality sound capability.
 In-ear headphones, or as some
know them, ‘canalphones‘. This is
one of the fastest growing styles
in the headphone industry due to
the ease of use if you aren’t a
home, semi-pro or professional
studio artist or engineer. As
technology allows for higher
sound quality from smaller
devices, these models have been
able to quickly improve to
compete with the chunkier on-ear
and over-ear models. As opposed
to earbuds that rest on the outer
ridge of your ears, these go a little
more deeply into that canal of
yours (see where the name comes
from?) to rest inside of your ears
and get a little closer to those
precious ear drums. The benefit of
this includes a few factors, such as
comfort (for some, at least),
sound isolation, and sound
accuracy. Think of them as the
closed-back version of portable
headphones. This style generally
has very little sound leakage,
keeping the sound in your ear and
keeping external noises out. In-
ear headphones generally have a
silicone ear tip for protection and
more comfort. This ear tip fills the
ear canal and allows the sound
from the headphones to enter
directly into your ear while
keeping most of the sounds from
the surrounding environment out.
 Ear buds are easily portable and
very compact, similar to in ear
headphones, but they struggle to
create true sound isolation due to
the size of the little speaker.
Depending on the model you can
find, some higher quality models
can provide advanced technology
to help with even more quality
and accuracy, but the key benefit
for ear buds is their size. We
apologize to give you this answer
but it will truly depend on the
person. If we have to give you our
recommendation, we actually
prefer in-ear headphones
(especially at the gym, we’ve had
earbuds fall out a few times while
we were running or lifting
weights). They don’t grip the ear
quite as well as the in-ear
headphones and they can often
fall out.
 Headphones with Bluetooth
technology have a small computer
chip inside of them that allow you
to pair with the device you are
playing music from. If you connect
to headphones via Bluetooth you
are able to listen to the same
sound as you would with normal
headphone styles yet avoid the
hassle of cords. The benefits are
rather self-explanatory, whether
it being at the gym, on-the-go, at
home, or really, any possible use
where you just don’t want to
worry about those pesky things.
On top of that, the sound quality
of Bluetooth headphones is like
that of corded headphone models
— you don’t lose any sound
quality just because you lose the
cord. Some may complain about
some “lag” or “delay” in the
transmission process, which is
ultimately accurate. However, it
isn’t a concern for those unless
you’re producing, recording or
mixing music (in that case, stick
with wired, period).
 Noise Cancelling Headphones
have some special technology
built-in, these literally actively
reduce the sound that you hear
from your surroundings to create
a quiet environment for listening
to your music or sound. The way
the little internal engine does this
is by measuring the lower
frequencies of your surroundings
(there’s actually a little
microphone built on to the
outside of the ear cups) and
creating an equal and opposite
frequency that cancels out that
sound the little microphone picks
up. This eliminates that sound
altogether before it even hits the
ear pads to attempt to get into
your mix. For higher frequency
sounds, most noise-cancelling
models use sound proofing which
keeps out many of the higher
frequencies, or a combination of
the two methods.
STORAGE

Hard Disk Drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data storage
device that uses magnetic storage to store and retrieve digital information using one or more
rigid rapidly rotating disks (platters) coated with magnetic material. The platters are paired
with magnetic heads, usually arranged on a moving actuator arm, which read and write data
to the platter surfaces. Data is accessed in a random-access manner, meaning that individual
blocks of data can be stored or retrieved in any order and not only sequentially. HDDs are a
type of non-volatile storage, retaining stored data even when powered off. The primary
characteristics of an HDD are its capacity and performance. Capacity is specified in unit
prefixes corresponding to powers of 1000: a 1-terabyte (TB) drive has a capacity of 1,000
gigabytes (GB; where 1 gigabyte = 1 billion bytes). Typically, some of an HDD's capacity is
unavailable to the user because it is used by the file system and the computer operating
system, and possibly inbuilt redundancy for error correction and recovery. Also there is
confusion regarding storage capacity, since capacities are stated in decimal Gigabytes
(powers of 10) by HDD manufacturers, whereas some operating systems report capacities in
binary Gibibytes, which results in a smaller number than advertised. Performance is specified
by the time required to move the heads to a track or cylinder (average access time) adding
the time it takes for the desired sector to move under the head (average latency, which is a
function of the physical rotational speed in revolutions per minute), and finally the speed at
which the data is transmitted (data rate). The two most common form factors for modern
HDDs are 3.5-inch, for desktop computers, and 2.5-inch, primarily for laptops. HDDs are
connected to systems by standard interface cables such as PATA (Parallel ATA), SATA (Serial
ATA), USB or SAS (Serial Attached SCSI) cables.
Solid State Drive (SSD) is a type of nonvolatile storage media that stores persistent data on
solid-state flash memory. Two key components make up an SSD: a flash controller and NAND
flash memory chips. The architectural configuration of the SSD controller is optimized to
deliver high read and write performance for both sequential and random data requests. SSDs
are sometimes referred to as flash drives or solid-state disks. Unlike a hard disk drive (HDD),
an SSD has no moving parts to break or spin up or down. A traditional HDD consists of a
spinning disk with a read/write head on a mechanical arm called an actuator. The HDD
mechanism and hard disk are packaged as an integrated unit. Businesses and computer
manufacturers have used spinning disk historically, owing to their lower unit cost and higher
average durability, although SSDs are now common in desktop and laptop PCs. A spinning
HDD reads and writes data magnetically, which is one of the oldest storage media in
continuous use. The magnetic properties, however, can lead to mechanical breakdowns. An
SSD, conversely, reads and writes the data to a substrate of interconnected flash memory
chips, which are fabricated out of silicon. Manufacturers build SSDs by stacking chips in a grid
to achieve varying densities. To prevent volatility, SSD manufacturers design the devices with
floating gate transistors (FGRs) to hold the electrical charge. This allows an SSD to retain
stored data even when it is not connected to a power source. Each FGR contains a single bit
of data, designated either as a 1 for a charged cell or a 0 if the cell has no electrical charge. A
spinning HDD reads and writes data magnetically, which is one of the oldest storage media in
continuous use. The magnetic properties, however, can lead to mechanical breakdowns. An
SSD, conversely, reads and writes the data to a substrate of interconnected flash memory
chips, which are fabricated out of silicon. Manufacturers build SSDs by stacking chips in a grid
to achieve varying densities. To prevent volatility, SSD manufacturers design the devices with
floating gate transistors (FGRs) to hold the electrical charge. This allows an SSD to retain
stored data even when it is not connected to a power source. Each FGR contains a single bit
of data, designated either as a 1 for a charged cell or a 0 if the cell has no electrical charge.
Every block of data is accessible at a consistent speed. However, SSDs can only write to empty
blocks. To get past this issue, SSDs can use overprovisioning, wear leveling or garbage
collection methods. But still, SSD performance may slow over time. Wear leveling load
balances flash cells, while garbage collection deletes stale files in the background of
operation. SSDs will use three main types of memory, single, multi and triple-level cells.
Single-level cells can hold one bit of data at a time—a one or zero. Single-level cells (SLC) are
the most expensive form of SSD, but it is also the fastest and most durable. Multi-level cells
(MLC) can hold two bits of data per cell and have a larger amount of storage space in the same
amount of physical space as SLC. However, MLCs have slower write speeds. Triple-level cells
(TLC) can hold three bits of data in a cell. TLCs have a lower price, but slower write speeds and
less durability. TLC-based SSDs deliver more flash capacity and are cheaper than an MLC or
SLC, albeit with a higher likelihood for bit rot due to having eight states within the cell.
USB Flash Drive is a data storage device that includes flash memory with an integrated USB
interface. It is typically removable, rewritable and much smaller than an optical disc. Most
weigh less than 1 oz (28 grams). Since first appearing on the market in late 2000, as with
virtually all other computer memory devices, storage capacities have risen while prices have
dropped. As of March 2016, flash drives with anywhere from 8 to 256 GB were frequently
sold, while 512 GB and 1 TB units were less frequent. As of 2018, 2TB flash drives were the
largest available in terms of storage capacity. Some allow up to 100,000 write/erase cycles,
depending on the exact type of memory chip used, and are thought to last between 10 and
100 years under normal circumstances (shelf storage time. USB flash drives are often used for
storage, data back-up and transfer of computer files. Compared with floppy disks or CDs, they
are smaller, faster, have significantly more capacity, and are more durable due to a lack of
moving parts. Additionally, they are immune to electromagnetic interference (unlike floppy
disks), and are unharmed by surface scratches (unlike CDs). Until about 2005, most desktop
and laptop computers were supplied with floppy disk drives in addition to USB ports, but
floppy disk drives became obsolete after widespread adoption of USB ports and the larger
USB drive capacity compared to the 1.44 MB 3.5-inch floppy disk. USB flash drives use the
USB mass storage device class standard, supported natively by modern operating systems
such as Windows, Linux, macOS and other Unix-like systems, as well as many BIOS boot ROMs.
USB drives with USB 2.0 support can store more data and transfer faster than much larger
optical disc drives like CD-RW or DVD-RW drives and can be read by many other systems such
as the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, DVD players, automobile entertainment systems, and in a
number of handheld devices such as smartphones and tablet computers, though the
electronically similar SD card is better suited for those devices. A flash drive consists of a small
printed circuit board carrying the circuit elements and a USB connector, insulated electrically
and protected inside a plastic, metal, or rubberized case, which can be carried in a pocket or
on a key chain, for example. The USB connector may be protected by a removable cap or by
retracting into the body of the drive, although it is not likely to be damaged if unprotected.
Most flash drives use a standard type-A USB connection allowing connection with a port on a
personal computer, but drives for other interfaces also exist. USB flash drives draw power
from the computer via the USB connection. Some devices combine the functionality of a
portable media player with USB flash storage; they require a battery only when used to play
music on the go.
Network-Attached Storage (NAS) is dedicated file storage that enables multiple users and
heterogeneous client devices to retrieve data from centralized disk capacity. Users on a local
area network (LAN) access the shared storage via a standard Ethernet connection. NAS
devices typically do not have a keyboard or display and are configured and managed with a
browser-based utility. Each NAS resides on the LAN as an independent network node, defined
by its own unique Internet Protocol (IP) address. What most characterizes NAS is ease of
access, high capacity and fairly low cost. NAS devices provide infrastructure to consolidate
storage in one place and to support tasks, such as archiving and backup, and a cloud tier. NAS
and storage area networks (SANs) are the two main types of networked storage. NAS handles
unstructured data, such as audio, video, websites, text files and Microsoft Office documents.
SANs are designed primarily for block storage inside databases, also known as structured
data. NAS enables users to collaborate and share data more effectively, particularly work
teams that are remotely located or in different time zones. A NAS connects to a wireless
router, making it easy for distributed work environments to access files and folders from any
device connected to the network. Organizations commonly deploy a NAS environment as the
foundation for a personal or private cloud. There are NAS products designed for use in large
enterprises, as well as those for home offices or small businesses. Devices usually contain at
least two drive bays, although single-bay systems are available for noncritical data. Enterprise
NAS gear is designed with more high-end data features to aid storage management and
usually comes with at least four drive bays. Prior to NAS, enterprises had to configure and
manage hundreds or even thousands of discrete file servers. To expand storage capacity, NAS
appliances are outfitted with more or larger disks -- known as scale-up NAS -- or clustered
together for scale-out storage. In addition, most NAS vendors partner with cloud storage
providers to give customers the flexibility of redundant backup. While collaboration is a virtue
of NAS, it can also be problematic. Network-attached storage relies on hard disk drives (HDDs)
to serve data. Input/output (I/O) contention can occur when too many users overwhelm the
system with requests at the same time. Newer NAS systems use faster flash storage, either as
a tier alongside HDDs or in all-flash configurations. The type of HDD selected for a NAS is
dictated by the applications to be handled. Sharing Microsoft Excel spreadsheets or Word
documents with co-workers is a routine task, as is performing periodic data backup.
Conversely, using a NAS to handle large volumes of streaming media files requires larger
capacity disks, more memory and more powerful network processing. In the home, people
often use a NAS system to store and serve multimedia files or to automate backups.
Homeowners may rely on NAS to manage storage for smart TVs, security systems and other
consumer-based internet of things (IoT) components. In the enterprise, a NAS array can be a
backup target for archiving and disaster recovery (DR). If a NAS device has a server mode, it
can also serve email, multimedia files, databases or printing jobs. Some higher-end NAS
products accommodate enough disks to support RAID (redundant array of independent
disks), a storage configuration that turns multiple hard disks into one logical unit to boost
performance, high availability (HA) and redundancy.
Cloud Storage is a service model in which data is maintained, managed, backed up remotely
and made available to users over a network (typically the Internet). Users generally pay for
their cloud data storage on a per-consumption, monthly rate. Although the per-gigabyte cost
has been radically driven down, cloud storage providers have added operating expenses that
can make the technology more expensive than users bargained for. Cloud security continues
to be a concern among users. Providers have tried to deal with those fears by building security
capabilities, such as encryption and authentication, into their services. There are three main
cloud-based storage architecture models that is public, private and hybrid. Public cloud
storage services provide a multi-tenant storage environment that is most suited for
unstructured data. Data is stored in global data centers with storage data spread across
multiple regions or continents. Customers generally pay on a per-use basis similar to the
utility payment model. This market sector is dominated by Amazon Simple Storage Service
(S3), Amazon Glacier for cold storage, Google Cloud Storage, Google Cloud Storage Nearline
for cold data and Microsoft Azure. Private cloud, or on-premises, storage services provide a
dedicated environment protected behind an organization's firewall. Private clouds are
appropriate for users who need customization and more control over their data. Hybrid cloud
is a mix of private cloud and third-party public cloud services with orchestration between the
platforms for management. The model offers businesses flexibility and more data deployment
options. An organization might, for example, store actively used and structured data in an on-
premises cloud, and unstructured and archival data in a public cloud. In recent years, a greater
number of customers have adopted the hybrid cloud model. Despite its benefits, a hybrid
cloud presents technical, business and management challenges. For example, private
workloads must access and interact with public cloud storage providers, so compatibility and
solid network connectivity are very important factors. An enterprise-level cloud storage
system should be scalable to suit current needs, accessible from anywhere and application-
agnostic. Cloud storage is based on a virtualized infrastructure with accessible interfaces,
near-instant elasticity and scalability, multi-tenancy and metered resources. Cloud-based
data is stored in logical pools across disparate, commodity servers located on premises or in
a data center managed by a third-party cloud provider. Using the RESTful API, an object
storage protocol stores a file and its associated metadata as a single object and assigns it an
ID number. When content needs to be retrieved, the user presents the ID to the system and
the content is assembled with all its metadata, authentication and security.