Magnetic Storage

Description:

• Parts of the surface is either magnetised (1) or demagnetised (0).
• The read/write head can control the magnetisim of the sectors to write the data. But it can also read the data by reading what state they are in.

Advantages:

• Large capacity.
• Cheap to buy.
• Usually reliable.

Disadvantages:

• Not very durable.
• Generally not portable./li>
• Can be noisy.
• Generates wasted energy in the form of thermal energy.

Solid State Drive

Description:

• A form of flash memory so is non-mechanical.
• Consists of digital circuits with electrons that retain data and can be altered.

Advantages:

• Have very fast read and write times than other types of storage.
• Very reliable because they are non-mechanic.
• Silent, do not make any noise.

Disadvantages:

• Generally, they have a smaller capacity than magnetic storage.
• Expensive compared to all other types of storage.

Optical Discs

Description:

• Data is stored as microscopic indentations on the disc. Where a pit represents the value "1" in binary and a land represnts a "0" in binary.
• This data is read by a read/write laser beam which scans over the disc.
• If the laser comes across a pit, the laser will reflect back in scatters.
• If the laser comes across a land, the laser will just reflect back like normal.

Advantages:

• Fairly reliable.
• Portable - Easy to carry and transport.

Disadvantages:

• Small capacity.
• Easily damaged - prone to scratching.

Cloud Storage

Description:

• Type of storage where data is stored in a remote location by uploading via the internet.
• Normally, people have to pay for a subscription however some may provide a limited service for free.

Advantages:

• Data and information can be accessed by the user from any device.
• Increasing storage space is often easy.
• Almost always cheap or free.
• Expensive hardware is not required.

Disadvantages:

• An internet connection is always needed to access files.
• Data and files are vulnerable to potential hackers.