Secondary Memory

Secondary Memory

    The computer system deals with a large amount of data and softwares, to handle various needs.The primary memory has a limited storage capacity and is not permanent.An alternate to this problem is the secondary memory or secondary storage devices.

          Secondary memory is of permanent nature.Data in secondary memory remains there until it is overwritten with new data removed intentionally.They can also be retrieved at any time.Secondary storage devices are of many types and they vary in the capacity and media of storage.They are considered as an auxiliary component and can be attached to the CPU based on the application of the user.

         Earlier secondary memory existed in the form of punched cards, paper tapes, magnetic drums and magnetic tapes.Now the most commonly used secondary devices are magnetic disks and optical disks  

Some Secondary Storage devices :

♠ Magnetic Disks

♠ Floppy Disks

♠ Hard Disk

♠Optical Disk

♠ Compact Disk Read Only Memory (CDROM)

♠ WORM (Write Once, Read Many)

♠ Erasable Optical Disks

♠ Digital Video Disk (DVD)

♠ Magneto Optical Disk