Computer data storage

Computer data storage, often called storage or memory, is a technology consisting of

computer components and recording media used to retain digital data. It is a core function and
fundamental component of computers.

The central processing unit (CPU) of a computer is what manipulates data by performing
computations. In practice, almost all computers use a storage hierarchy,:468-473 which puts fast
but expensive and small storage options close to the CPU and slower but larger and cheaper
options farther away. Generally the fast volatile technologies (which lose data when off power)
are referred to as "memory", while slower persistent technologies are referred to as "storage";
however, "memory" is sometimes also used when referring to persistent storage.

In the Von Neumann architecture, the CPU consists of two main parts: The control unit
and the arithmetic logic unit (ALU). The former controls the flow of data between the CPU and
memory, while the latter performs arithmetic and logical operations on data.
Functionality
Without a significant amount of memory, a computer would merely be able to perform
fixed operations and immediately output the result. It would have to be reconfigured to change
its behavior. This is acceptable for devices such as desk calculators, digital signal processors, and
other specialized devices. Von Neumann machines differ in having a memory in which they store
their operating instructions and data.[1]:20 Such computers are more versatile in that they do
not need to have their hardware reconfigured for each new program, but can simply be
reprogrammed with new in-memory instructions; they also tend to be simpler to design, in that
a relatively simple processor may keep state between successive computations to build up
complex procedural results. Most modern computers are von Neumann machines.

Data organization and representation

A modern digital computer represents data using the binary numeral system. Text,
numbers, pictures, audio, and nearly any other form of information can be converted into a string
of bits, or binary digits, each of which has a value of 1 or 0. The most common unit of storage is
the byte, equal to 8 bits. A piece of information can be handled by any computer or device whose
storage space is large enough to accommodate the binary representation of the piece of
information, or simply data. For example, the complete works of Shakespeare, about 1250 pages
in print, can be stored in about five megabytes (40 million bits) with one byte per character.

Data is encoded by assigning a bit pattern to each character, digit, or multimedia object.
Many standards exist for encoding (e.g., character encodings like ASCII, image encodings like
JPEG, video encodings like MPEG-4).

By adding bits to each encoded unit, redundancy allows the computer to both detect
errors in coded data and correct them based on mathematical algorithms. Errors generally occur
in low probabilities due to random bit value flipping, or "physical bit fatigue", loss of the physical
bit in storage of its ability to maintain a distinguishable value (0 or 1), or due to errors in inter or
intra-computer communication. A random bit flip (e.g., due to random radiation) is typically
corrected upon detection. A bit, or a group of malfunctioning physical bits (not always the specific
defective bit is known; group definition depends on specific storage device) is typically
automatically fenced-out, taken out of use by the device, and replaced with another functioning
equivalent group in the device, where the corrected bit values are restored (if possible). The cyclic
redundancy check (CRC) method is typically used in communications and storage for error
detection. A detected error is then retried.

Data compression methods allow in many cases (such as a database) to represent a

string of bits by a shorter bit string ("compress") and reconstruct the original string
("decompress") when needed. This utilizes substantially less storage (tens of percents) for many
types of data at the cost of more computation (compress and decompress when needed).
Analysis of trade-off between storage cost saving and costs of related computations and possible
delays in data availability is done before deciding whether to keep certain data compressed or
not.

For security reasons certain types of data (e.g., credit-card information) may be kept
encrypted in storage to prevent the possibility of unauthorized information reconstruction from
chunks of storage snapshots.

Hierarchy of storage
Generally, the lower a storage is in the hierarchy, the lesser its bandwidth and the
greater its access latency is from the CPU. This traditional division of storage to primary,
secondary, tertiary and off-line storage is also guided by cost per bit.

In contemporary usage, "memory" is usually semiconductor storage read-write random-

access memory, typically DRAM (dynamic RAM) or other forms of fast but temporary storage.
"Storage" consists of storage devices and their media not directly accessible by the CPU
(secondary or tertiary storage), typically hard disk drives, optical disc drives, and other devices
slower than RAM but non-volatile (retaining contents when powered down).[2]

Historically, memory has been called core memory, main memory, real storage or
internal memory. Meanwhile, non-volatile storage devices have been referred to as secondary
storage, external memory or auxiliary/peripheral storage.

Primary storage
Main article: Computer memory
Primary storage (also known as main memory or internal memory), often referred to
simply as memory, is the only one directly accessible to the CPU. The CPU continuously reads
instructions stored there and executes them as required. Any data actively operated on is also
stored there in uniform manner.

Historically, early computers used delay lines, Williams tubes, or rotating magnetic
drums as primary storage. By 1954, those unreliable methods were mostly replaced by magnetic
core memory. Core memory remained dominant until the 1970s, when advances in integrated
circuit technology allowed semiconductor memory to become economically competitive.

This led to modern random-access memory (RAM). It is small-sized, light, but quite
expensive at the same time. (The particular types of RAM used for primary storage are also
volatile, i.e. they lose the information when not powered).
 As shown in the diagram, traditionally there are two more sub-layers of the primary
storage, besides main large-capacity RAM:

Processor registers are located inside the processor. Each register typically holds a word
of data (often 32 or 64 bits). CPU instructions instruct the arithmetic logic unit to perform various
calculations or other operations on this data (or with the help of it). Registers are the fastest of
all forms of computer data storage.
Processor cache is an intermediate stage between ultra-fast registers and much slower
main memory. It was introduced solely to improve the performance of computers. Most actively
used information in the main memory is just duplicated in the cache memory, which is faster, but
of much lesser capacity. On the other hand, main memory is much slower, but has a much greater
storage capacity than processor registers. Multi-level hierarchical cache setup is also commonly
usedprimary cache being smallest, fastest and located inside the processor; secondary cache
being somewhat larger and slower.
Main memory is directly or indirectly connected to the central processing unit via a
memory bus. It is actually two buses (not on the diagram): an address bus and a data bus. The
CPU firstly sends a number through an address bus, a number called memory address, that
indicates the desired location of data. Then it reads or writes the data in the memory cells using
the data bus. Additionally, a memory management unit (MMU) is a small device between CPU
and RAM recalculating the actual memory address, for example to provide an abstraction of
virtual memory or other tasks.

As the RAM types used for primary storage are volatile (uninitialized at start up), a
computer containing only such storage would not have a source to read instructions from, in
order to start the computer. Hence, non-volatile primary storage containing a small startup
program (BIOS) is used to bootstrap the computer, that is, to read a larger program from non-
volatile secondary storage to RAM and start to execute it. A non-volatile technology used for this
purpose is called ROM, for read-only memory (the terminology may be somewhat confusing as
most ROM types are also capable of random access).

Many types of "ROM" are not literally read only, as updates to them are possible;
however it is slow and memory must be erased in large portions before it can be re-written. Some
embedded systems run programs directly from ROM (or similar), because such programs are
rarely changed. Standard computers do not store non-rudimentary programs in ROM, and rather,
use large capacities of secondary storage, which is non-volatile as well, and not as costly.

Recently, primary storage and secondary storage in some uses refer to what was
historically called, respectively, secondary storage and tertiary storage.

Secondary storage

A hard disk drive with protective cover removed

 Main article: Auxiliary memory
Secondary storage (also known as external memory or auxiliary storage), differs from
primary storage in that it is not directly accessible by the CPU. The computer usually uses its
input/output channels to access secondary storage and transfers the desired data using
intermediate area in primary storage. Secondary storage does not lose the data when the device
is powered downit is non-volatile. Per unit, it is typically also two orders of magnitude less
expensive than primary storage. Modern computer systems typically have two orders of
magnitude more secondary storage than primary storage and data are kept for a longer time
there.

In modern computers, hard disk drives are usually used as secondary storage. The time
taken to access a given byte of information stored on a hard disk is typically a few thousandths
of a second, or milliseconds. By contrast, the time taken to access a given byte of information
stored in random-access memory is measured in billionths of a second, or nanoseconds. This
illustrates the significant access-time difference which distinguishes solid-state memory from
rotating magnetic storage devices: hard disks are typically about a million times slower than
memory. Rotating optical storage devices, such as CD and DVD drives, have even longer access
times. With disk drives, once the disk read/write head reaches the proper placement and the
data of interest rotates under it, subsequent data on the track are very fast to access. To reduce
the seek time and rotational latency, data are transferred to and from disks in large contiguous
blocks.

When data reside on disk, blocking access to hide latency offers an opportunity to design
efficient external memory algorithms. Sequential or block access on disks is orders of magnitude
faster than random access, and many sophisticated paradigms have been developed to design
efficient algorithms based upon sequential and block access. Another way to reduce the I/O
bottleneck is to use multiple disks in parallel in order to increase the bandwidth between primary
and secondary memory.

Some other examples of secondary storage technologies are flash memory (e.g. USB
flash drives or keys), floppy disks, magnetic tape, paper tape, punched cards, standalone RAM
disks, and Iomega Zip drives.

The secondary storage is often formatted according to a file system format, which
provides the abstraction necessary to organize data into files and directories, providing also
additional information (called metadata) describing the owner of a certain file, the access time,
the access permissions, and other information.

Most computer operating systems use the concept of virtual memory, allowing
utilization of more primary storage capacity than is physically available in the system. As the
primary memory fills up, the system moves the least-used chunks (pages) to secondary storage
devices (to a swap file or page file), retrieving them later when they are needed. As more of these
retrievals from slower secondary storage are necessary, the more the overall system
performance is degraded.

Tertiary storage
Tertiary storage or tertiary memory[5] provides a third level of storage. Typically, it
involves a robotic mechanism which will mount (insert) and dismount removable mass storage
media into a storage device according to the system's demands; this data is often copied to
secondary storage before use. It is primarily used for archiving rarely accessed information since
it is much slower than secondary storage (e.g. 560 seconds vs. 110 milliseconds). This is
primarily useful for extraordinarily large data stores, accessed without human operators. Typical
examples include tape libraries and optical jukeboxes.

When a computer needs to read information from the tertiary storage, it will first
consult a catalog database to determine which tape or disc contains the information. Next, the
computer will instruct a robotic arm to fetch the medium and place it in a drive. When the
computer has finished reading the information, the robotic arm will return the medium to its
place in the library.

Tertiary storage is also known as nearline storage because it is "near to online". The
formal distinction between online, nearline, and offline storage is:[6]

Online storage is immediately available for I/O.

Nearline storage is not immediately available, but can be made online quickly without
human intervention.
Offline storage is not immediately available, and requires some human intervention to
become online.
For example, always-on spinning hard disk drives are online storage, while spinning
drives that spin down automatically, such as in massive arrays of idle disks (MAID), are nearline
storage. Removable media such as tape cartridges that can be automatically loaded, as in tape
libraries, are nearline storage, while tape cartridges that must be manually loaded are offline
storage.
Off-line storage
Off-line storage is a computer data storage on a medium or a device that is not under
the control of a processing unit.[7] The medium is recorded, usually in a secondary or tertiary
storage device, and then physically removed or disconnected. It must be inserted or connected
by a human operator before a computer can access it again. Unlike tertiary storage, it cannot be
accessed without human interaction.

Off-line storage is used to transfer information, since the detached medium can be easily
physically transported. Additionally, in case a disaster, for example a fire, destroys the original
data, a medium in a remote location will probably be unaffected, enabling disaster recovery. Off-
line storage increases general information security, since it is physically inaccessible from a
computer, and data confidentiality or integrity cannot be affected by computer-based attack
techniques. Also, if the information stored for archival purposes is rarely accessed, off-line
storage is less expensive than tertiary storage.

In modern personal computers, most secondary and tertiary storage media are also used
for off-line storage. Optical discs and flash memory devices are most popular, and to much lesser
extent removable hard disk drives. In enterprise uses, magnetic tape is predominant. Older
examples are floppy disks, Zip disks, or punched cards.

Characteristics of storage
Storage technologies at all levels of the storage hierarchy can be differentiated by
evaluating certain core characteristics as well as measuring characteristics specific to a particular
implementation. These core characteristics are volatility, mutability, accessibility, and
addressability. For any particular implementation of any storage technology, the characteristics
worth measuring are capacity and performance.

Volatility
Non-volatile memory retains the stored information even if not constantly supplied with
electric power.[8] It is suitable for long-term storage of information. Volatile memory requires
constant power to maintain the stored information. The fastest memory technologies are volatile
ones, although that is not a universal rule. Since the primary storage is required to be very fast,
it predominantly uses volatile memory.

Dynamic random-access memory is a form of volatile memory that also requires the
stored information to be periodically reread and rewritten, or refreshed, otherwise it would
vanish. Static random-access memory is a form of volatile memory similar to DRAM with the
exception that it never needs to be refreshed as long as power is applied; it loses its content
when the power supply is lost.

An uninterruptible power supply (UPS) can be used to give a computer a brief window
of time to move information from primary volatile storage into non-volatile storage before the
batteries are exhausted. Some systems, for example EMC Symmetrix, have integrated batteries
that maintain volatile storage for several minutes.

Mutability
Read/write storage or mutable storage
Allows information to be overwritten at any time. A computer without some amount of
read/write storage for primary storage purposes would be useless for many tasks. Modern
computers typically use read/write storage also for secondary storage.
Read only storage
Retains the information stored at the time of manufacture, and write once storage
(Write Once Read Many) allows the information to be written only once at some point after
manufacture. These are called immutable storage. Immutable storage is used for tertiary and off-
line storage. Examples include CD-ROM and CD-R.
Slow write, fast read storage
Read/write storage which allows information to be overwritten multiple times, but with
the write operation being much slower than the read operation. Examples include CD-RW and
swayne memory

Accessibility
Random access
Any location in storage can be accessed at any moment in approximately the same
amount of time. Such characteristic is well suited for primary and secondary storage. Most
semiconductor memories and disk drives provide random access.
Sequential access
The accessing of pieces of information will be in a serial order, one after the other;
therefore the time to access a particular piece of information depends upon which piece of
information was last accessed. Such characteristic is typical of off-line storage.
Addressability
Location-addressable
 Each individually accessible unit of information in storage is selected with its numerical
memory address. In modern computers, location-addressable storage usually limits to primary
storage, accessed internally by computer programs, since location-addressability is very efficient,
but burdensome for humans.
File addressable
Information is divided into files of variable length, and a particular file is selected with
human-readable directory and file names. The underlying device is still location-addressable, but
the operating system of a computer provides the file system abstraction to make the operation
more understandable. In modern computers, secondary, tertiary and off-line storage use file
systems.
Content-addressable
Each individually accessible unit of information is selected based on the basis of (part of)
the contents stored there. Content-addressable storage can be implemented using software
(computer program) or hardware (computer device), with hardware being faster but more
expensive option. Hardware content addressable memory is often used in a computer's CPU
cache.
Capacity
Raw capacity
The total amount of stored information that a storage device or medium can hold. It is
expressed as a quantity of bits or bytes (e.g. 10.4 megabytes).
Memory storage density
The compactness of stored information. It is the storage capacity of a medium divided
with a unit of length, area or volume (e.g. 1.2 megabytes per square inch).
Performance
Latency
The time it takes to access a particular location in storage. The relevant unit of
measurement is typically nanosecond for primary storage, millisecond for secondary storage, and
second for tertiary storage. It may make sense to separate read latency and write latency
(especially for non-volatile memory[8]) and in case of sequential access storage, minimum,
maximum and average latency.
Throughput
The rate at which information can be read from or written to the storage. In computer
data storage, throughput is usually expressed in terms of megabytes per second (MB/s), though
bit rate may also be used. As with latency, read rate and write rate may need to be differentiated.
Also accessing media sequentially, as opposed to randomly, typically yields maximum
throughput.
Granularity
The size of the largest "chunk" of data that can be efficiently accessed as a single unit,
e.g. without introducing additional latency.
Reliability
The probability of spontaneous bit value change under various conditions, or overall
failure rate.
Energy use
Storage devices that reduce fan usage, automatically shut-down during inactivity, and
low power hard drives can reduce energy consumption by 90 percent.
2.5-inch hard disk drives often consume less power than larger ones. Low capacity solid-
state drives have no moving parts and consume less power than hard disks. Also, memory may
use more power than hard disks. Large caches, which are used to avoid hitting memory wall, may
also consume a large amount of power.
Storage media
As of 2011, the most commonly used data storage media are semiconductor, magnetic,
and optical, while paper still sees some limited usage. Some other fundamental storage
technologies have been used in the past or are proposed for development.

Semiconductor
Semiconductor memory uses semiconductor-based integrated circuits to store
information. A semiconductor memory chip may contain millions of tiny transistors or capacitors.
Both volatile and non-volatile forms of semiconductor memory exist. In modern computers,
primary storage almost exclusively consists of dynamic volatile semiconductor memory or
dynamic random-access memory. Since the turn of the century, a type of non-volatile
semiconductor memory known as flash memory has steadily gained share as off-line storage for
home computers. Non-volatile semiconductor memory is also used for secondary storage in
various advanced electronic devices and specialized computers that are designed for them.

As early as 2006, notebook and desktop computer manufacturers started using flash-
based solid-state drives (SSDs) as default configuration options for the secondary storage either
in addition to or instead of the more traditional HDD.