The Role Of Secondary Storage Edexcel

The Role of Secondary Storage

Why do you need secondary storage?

• A computer needs secondary storage for long term storage of programs and data that are currently not in use 

• Secondary storage is needed as ROM is read only and RAM is volatile

• Secondary storage holds the programs and data whilst the computer is turned off (non-volatile)

• Performance of secondary storage is slower than primary storage but capacity is much higher which makes it perfect for backup & archive of data files

What are the characteristics of secondary storage?

• Capacity – What is the maximum amount of data that can be stored?

• Speed – How fast can data be read from and written to? (R/W)

• Cost – How much does it cost?

• Portability – How easy is it to move around? What is the physical size? Weight?

• Durability – How robust is the storage?

• Reliability – What is the probability that the device will consistently perform its function