Examples of Magnetic Storage
Computer Science: OCR A Level, topic 1.3.5
Examples of Magnetic Storage
Magnetic storage can be used in more devices than just Hard Disk Drives (HDDs). Magnetic storage is also used for magnetic tape and more.
Hard Disk Drives (HDD)
- HDDs are often used as the main form of secondary storage in a computer system.
- HDDs hold the operating system, applications, and user data.
Magnetic tape
- Before optical media and the Internet, magnetic tape was commonly used to distribute content such as:
- Audio.
- Video.
- Software.
- Nowadays, tape is only used for:
- Some video cameras.
- Making backups.
Hybrid drives
- Some modern devices have both magnetic and solid state storage.
- The combination of magnetic and solid state storage is known as a hybrid drive, and offers the benefits of both systems.
Test yourself on Examples of Magnetic Storage
What are the two main forms of magnetic media?
What is the motivation to use hybrid drives?