We are independent & ad-supported. We may earn a commission for purchases made through our links.
Advertiser Disclosure
Our website is an independent, advertising-supported platform. We provide our content free of charge to our readers, and to keep it that way, we rely on revenue generated through advertisements and affiliate partnerships. This means that when you click on certain links on our site and make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn more.
How We Make Money
We sustain our operations through affiliate commissions and advertising. If you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase, we may receive a commission from the merchant at no additional cost to you. We also display advertisements on our website, which help generate revenue to support our work and keep our content free for readers. Our editorial team operates independently of our advertising and affiliate partnerships to ensure that our content remains unbiased and focused on providing you with the best information and recommendations based on thorough research and honest evaluations. To remain transparent, we’ve provided a list of our current affiliate partners here.
Hardware

Our Promise to you

Founded in 2002, our company has been a trusted resource for readers seeking informative and engaging content. Our dedication to quality remains unwavering—and will never change. We follow a strict editorial policy, ensuring that our content is authored by highly qualified professionals and edited by subject matter experts. This guarantees that everything we publish is objective, accurate, and trustworthy.

Over the years, we've refined our approach to cover a wide range of topics, providing readers with reliable and practical advice to enhance their knowledge and skills. That's why millions of readers turn to us each year. Join us in celebrating the joy of learning, guided by standards you can trust.

What are Secondary Storage Devices?

Mary Elizabeth
By
Updated: May 16, 2024
Views: 30,896
Share

The standard in the 21st century is for computers to come equipped with a certain amount of storage on their hard drives. Typical sizes are 160 GB (gigabytes), 250 GB, or 500 GB. By the standards of the original disk drives in 1956 that could hold 5 megabytes (MB), these are gigantic. The size of applications and certain types of files, such as multimedia files, however, means that even these large hard drives can fill up quickly. In addition, there is often a need for back up for the sake of security. For these reasons, external storage solutions, sometimes referred to as secondary storage devices, are often used.

Over the years, a range of secondary storage devices have been devised and used. Some are much less popular in the present, including vacuum tubes, punch cards and punch tape, magnetic drums. Floppy disks, also called diskettes, both 5 1/4 inches (13.335 cm) and 3 and 1/2 inches (8.89 cm) came and went in the 20th century. Zip disks, which are similar in dimensions to the smaller floppies, survive, and hold between 100 and 750 MB of data, as does the REV disk, which holds up to 90 GB of data. Magnetic tape endures as a storage device, having been used for over 50 years.

Various types of CDs and DVDs are commonly used secondary storage devices. Both of these are types of optical discs, written and read by means of light. They are three types. Read-only examples include CDs, CD-ROMS, DVD-ROMS, and DVD-Videos. Write Once Read Many (WORM) examples include CR-Rs, DVD-Rs, DVD+Rs, and WORMs. Finally, optical secondary storage devices include CD-RWs, DVD-RAMS, DVD-RWs, DVD+RWs, and MOs.

Other storage devices include external hard drives. These may be mobile or desktop models. Some are made not only for storage but also for streaming music, movies, or photos, to multimedia devices like Xbox 360® or PlayStation® 3.

USB Flash drives come in many models and hold from 512 MB to 256 GB, the storage capacity of the Kingston® DataTraveler® 300, which the manufacturer claims is the world’s largest USB Flash drive. These secondary storage devices are also known as flash drives, pen drives, thumb drives, and by other names. Many USB Flash drives are meant to be attached to a key ring or worn around the neck on a lanyard.

Share
EasyTechJunkie is dedicated to providing accurate and trustworthy information. We carefully select reputable sources and employ a rigorous fact-checking process to maintain the highest standards. To learn more about our commitment to accuracy, read our editorial process.
Mary Elizabeth
By Mary Elizabeth
Passionate about reading, writing, and research, Mary Elizabeth is dedicated to correcting misinformation on the Internet. In addition to writing articles on art, literature, and music for EasyTechJunkie, Mary works as a teacher, composer, and author who has written books, study guides, and teaching materials. Mary has also created music composition content for Sibelius Software. She earned her B.A. from University of Chicago's writing program and an M.A. from the University of Vermont.
Discussion Comments
By anon149907 — On Feb 06, 2011

helpful article.

Mary Elizabeth
Mary Elizabeth
Passionate about reading, writing, and research, Mary Elizabeth is dedicated to correcting misinformation on the...
Learn more
Share
https://www.easytechjunkie.com/what-are-secondary-storage-devices.htm
Copy this link
EasyTechJunkie, in your inbox

Our latest articles, guides, and more, delivered daily.

EasyTechJunkie, in your inbox

Our latest articles, guides, and more, delivered daily.