Mass Storage Servers
What is mass storage?
When it comes to servers, mass storage is a device in which you can put vast amounts of data that is continuous sending and retrieving data and can be read by machines. It is also called auxiliary storage. The data can be anything as long as you can keep them electronically such as pictures, movies, documents, applications and so on.
What are the devices or systems that are considered mass storage?
Hard disk drive or HDD
It is used for keeping and retrieving data or digital information using fast rotating disks surrounded with magnetic material. Even if your computer is off, it still has the data saved.
Drum Memory
This is a magnetic data storage instrument that was invented by Gustav Tauschek in Austria back in 1932. Some of these drum memories were used as a secondary storage. This was so common back then that they called it drum machines. The computer back then used the drum memory as their main memory.
Tape Libraries
This device can store vast amounts of data ranging from 20 terabytes up to 2.1 exabytes. This is a device in which it consist one or more tape drives with a few slots to hold tape cartridges, a barcode reader and a robot. This was also called tape silo or tape robot
Floppy Disk Drives
These are written and read in a floppy disk drive. A storage device made of a thin and magnetic storage, sealed in a rectangular or square plastic carrier lined with fabric that gets rid of dust
Punched Tape
This type of storage is now completely obsolete. It is made of a long strip of paper in which holes are punched to put data. This device was widely used in the twentieth century as a teleprinter communication.
RAID system
This was originally called redundant array of inexpensive disks, it was later changed to Redundant Array of Independent Disks. It is a storage technology that unifies many disk drives parts into one unit for continuous data transmission and enhanced performance.
Holographic Memory
This storage device is a potential technology in keeping huge amounts of data that is now lead by a magnetic and traditional optical data storage.
Magneto-optical drive
This an optical disk drive that enables you to write and rewrite data into a magneto optical disk. This device was introduced in 1985. This disk drive doesn’t require a special file system and can be reformatted to any format of data.
These storage devices are usually distinguished by:
- Continuous transfer speed
- Seek Time – the measurement in how much time it takes for the head assembly to circle back to the track of the disk in which the information can be read or written.
- Cost
- Capability
These mass storage devices that are used in desktops and many server computers usually construct their data in a file system. Choosing the right file system for your data is a must for you to be able to increase the performance of the chosen device. For example, files that are NTFS format have a bad performance when saved compact discs. On portable devices, instead of file systems, they use archive formats due to its portability and is easier to run it.
At present, the most commonly wide used storage device is the magnetic disk as for the use of personal computers. In terms of widely used retail software, it is the optical discs that wins the trophy. These are often used in storing music and movies due to the cost and manufacturing productivity of the making process used to make DVD and compact discs and the ever present reader drives on our computers and appliances.