Question

what is external storage? describe 5 devices

Answer 1

External storage. More commonly referred to as an external drive, external storage is storage that is not part of the computer. Examples of external storage are floppy disk drives, hard drives, tape drives, etc. The picture is an example of a Drobo and an example of a popular external storage solution


Types of external storage devices and the pros and cons of each

External storage devices come in many forms, both removable and non-removable. A shared characteristic is that they are nonvolatile and data is stored outside of the computer or multiple computers -- server, desktop, mobile and so on -- reading data from and writing data to them.



kExternal HDD

Common portable and fixed external storage devices include HDDs, a type of magnetic storage, and SSDs, which use flash technology with capacities starting in the gigabyte range to 10 terabytes (TB) and higher.

While the price of flash has fallen, comparable HDDs are still considerably cheaper to buy. Because there are no moving parts to flash SSDs, they are significantly faster and more durable than HDDs. External hard disks and flash drives are often used for data protection, backup, DR and long-term retention purposes.



INTEL

kIntel's 3D XPoint-based Optane solid-state drive

Tape is another type of removable magnetic storage. The most prevalent tape format today is Linear Tape-Open (LTO). LTO specifications were developed by Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Seagate Technology in 1997.

The first generation of LTO, LTO-1, supported a capacity of 200 GB compressed at a maximum compressed transfer rate of 40 megabytes per second (MBps). The latest generation, LTO-8, supports 32 TB at 1,180 MBps. The roadmap for LTO-9 calls for 62.6 TB at 1,770 MBps.



SPECTRA LOGIC

kLinear Tape-Open 8 (LTO-8) tape drive and media

Because the price of HDDs has fallen while capacities have increased, hard disks have largely replaced tape as the main medium for backup. However, tape is still frequently used for archiving and DR because of its portability and ability to hold more data per cartridge.

Enterprises typically back up primary data to HDDs as one secondary storage tier, and then offload data to tape for long-term archiving and DR storage tiers, often using tape libraries with automated cartridge handling.



kAn automated tape library

Another type of external storage device is optical storage, which writes and reads digital content using a laser. This category includes removable media, such as compact discs (CDs) in formats such as CD-ROM, CD-R and CD-RW, which are basically defunct for computer storage purposes; DVDs with a
capacity of 4.7 GB single- and 9.4 GB double-sided; and Blu-ray, with a capacity of 5 GB single-layer and 50 GB dual-layer.



COMPOSITE/FOTOLIA AND ISTOCK

kOptical media formats

While more durable than tape, optical storage is slower than hard disk. Optical libraries, or jukeboxes, greatly expand the utility of optical storage when it comes to long-term archiving and DR.

Small and removable USB flash drives and media cards for smartphones, tablets, cameras and so on, are examples of portable and removable external storage devices in a small form factor (SFF).

Answer 2

external storage comprises devices that store information outside a computer. Such devices may be permanently attached to the computer, may be removable or may use removable media.

External HDDs and SSDs. ... Flash memory devices. ... Optical Storage Devices. ... Floppy Disks. ... Primary Storage: Random Access Memory (RAM) ... Secondary Storage: Hard Disk Drives (HDD) & Solid-State Drives (SSD) ... Hard Disk Drives (HDD) ... Solid-State Drives (SSD)