UNIT 6

DISKS AND DISK DRIVES

In this lesson students will:

- Understand different types of storage devices
- Get familiar with the following terms:
floppy disk đĩa mềm access time
diskette đĩa đệm transfer rate tốc độ truyền tải
platter đĩa backup sao lưu
format định dạng land mặt ghi
partition vách ngăn pit hố
track rãnh ghi burner đầu đốt
sector cung từ track pitch giãn cách rãnh
cluster cụm solid-state chất bán dẫn
cylinder hình trụ, mặt trụ NAND-based flash memory NAND-based flash memory
FAT Bảng cấp phát tập tin latency độ trễ
ATA/SATA Chuẩn giao tiếp dữ liệu Hybrid drives Ổ lai
- Develop language skills on the topic of Disks and Disk Drives.

PART A. ICT BASICS

Đĩa quang
Task 1. Look at the picture and name the storage devices. Which one is magnetic, optical or
solid state?
Task 2. Read the text and do the exercise that follows
Magnetic storage Lưu trữ từ tính
Magnetic devices store data magnetically. A disk drive spins the
disk at high speed and read its data or write new data onto it.
A floppy disk drive uses 3.5 inch plastic diskettes which can only
hold 1.44 MB of data; it is often called A: drive and is relatively
slow.
Most PCs have one internal hard disk, usually called C: drive,
which can hold hundreds of gigabytes of data on a stack of metal
rotating disks called platters. It is used to keep the operating
system, the programs and the user’s files easily available for use.
When you format a disk, or prepare đồng tâm
it for use, its surface is divided into concentric circles called tracks.
Each track is further divided into a number of sectors. The computer
remembers where information is stored by noting the track and sector
numbers in a directory.
The average time required for the read/write heads to move and find
data is called access time; it is measured in milliseconds (ms). Don’t
confuse ‘access time’ with ‘transfer rate’, the rate of transmission of
data from the disk to the CPU (e.g. 15 megabytes per second).
A portable hard drive is an external unit with the drive mechanism
and the media all in one sealed case. You can use it to make a backup, a spare copy of your files,
or to transport data between computers.

Choose a term from the reading listed in the word web to complete the sentences below.

1. The first rule of data storage is to

backup
make a ………………………of all important files.
floppy disk
2. A …………………… is slower than a hard drive and can only hold 1.44 MB disks.
hard disk
3. The …………………… inside your PC is made of aluminium alloy covered with a magnetic
coating. This makes the disk itself a rigid plate, hence its name.
tracks
4. The …………………… sectors
are circles around a disk and the ……………………. are segments
within each circle.
5. This hard drive is a 60 GB IBM model with a fast …………………….. access time of 8 ms.
transfer rate
6. The ……………………. is the rate of transmission of data from the disk to the CPU. This is
usually described in megabytes per second.
7. Apple’s iPod music player can double as a …………………………portable hard drive for transporting computer
data.
Task 3. Scan the text about optical disks, and answer the following questions
1. How do optical disks store data?
2. What are the advantages and
disadvantages of optical discs over
magnetic disks?
3. What is the difference between
different kinds of optical disk drives?
4. What is the similarity between CDs,
DVDs and BDs?
5. What are the key differences
between CDs, DVDs and BDs?

Optical disks include CDs (compact disks), DVDs (digital versatile disks) and BDs (blue-ray
disks), which are made up of millions of small lands and pits. Optical drives have lasers that read
these lands and pits as ones and zeros, which the computer can understand. As optical disks can
store data at much higher densities than magnetic disks, they are ideal for multimedia applications
where images, animation and sound occupy a lot of disc space. Furthermore, optical discs are not
affected by magnetic fields, meaning that they are secure and stable, and can be transported
through airport metal detectors without damaging the data. However, optical drives are slower than
hard drives.
Some common types of optical drives include CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, DVD-R
DVD-RW, and Blu-ray drives. CD-ROMs and DVD-ROMs are read-only units, meaning you
cannot change the data stored on them. CD-R and DVD-R drives are write-once devices which use
a laser to both read and write data on the discs. The laser used for writing the data is much more
powerful than the laser that reads the data, as it "burns" the lands and pits into the disk. These
drives used in computers are also called CD or DVD burners. CD-RW and DVD-RW disks enable
you to write onto them many times, using CD-RW or DVD-RW drives.
At first sight, CDs, DVDs and BDs are similar. They are all 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick.
However, they are very different in the internal structure: distance between tracks (track pitch) and
the pit length. A DVD can also be double-sided and dual layer. A BD can even be triple layer or
quadruple layers. Therefore, they can store a lot more data than a CD.
Task 4. Read the text about solid-state storage and answer the questions.
1. How does solid-state storage store data?
2. What are the different forms of SSS?
3. What are the advantages of SSS over magnetic or optical storage?

Solid-state storage (SSS) is a type of computer storage media that stores data electronically and
has no moving parts. It is made from silicon microchips and can be found generally in three form
factors: solid-state drives (SSD), solid-state cards (SSC) and solid-state modules (SSM).
Because there are no moving parts, SSS requires less power and produces far less heat than
spinning magnetic disk or optical disk drives. Another important advantage of solid-state storage
is that it contains no mechanical parts, allowing data transfer to and from storage media to take
place at a much higher speed and providing a more predictable lifespan for the storage media.

Task 5. These are the definitions and/or explanations for the technical terms presented in the
texts about the magnetic and optical storage. Read the texts again to find out the equivalent
terms.

drive
1. …………….…… An electromechanical device that reads from and writes to disks.
2. …………….……
sector An area on a track where data is actually stored.
back-up
3. …………….…… To make a copy of a file or other item of data made in case the
original is lost or damaged.
4. …………….……
track One of numerous circular data storage areas on a hard disk
5. …………….……
formating This action, when applied to a disk, wipes any existing files on it.
transfer rate
6. …………….…… The average speed required to transmit data from the disk to the CPU
measured in MB/s
BD (blue-ray disk)
7. …………….…… This disc has the same size as a CD or DVD, but can hold up to
hundreds of gigabytes of data.
platter
8. …………….…… One of the individual metal data storage disks within a hard disk
drive. Most hard disks have from two to eight of these.
optical disk
9. …………….…… This storage medium is not affected by magnetic fields.
10. partition
…………….…… Logical parts on a hard disk drive created by the OS.
11. laser
…………….…… Data is read and/or written using this ray.
12. memory card
…………….…… This card is used to store data in cameras, PDAs, music players.
actuator
13. …………….…… Motor that drives the read/write head.
 14. …………….…… The drive has no moving parts and can be used instead of HDD in
a computer.
15. …………….…… The action of recording information into optical disks.

PART B. LANGUAGE SKILLS

Task 6. Read the following text about the SSD technology.

A solid-state drive (SSD) (sometimes improperly referred to

as a "solid-state disk" or "electronic disk") is a data storage
device that uses integrated circuit assemblies as memory to
store data persistently. SSD technology uses electronic
interfaces compatible with traditional block input/output (I/O)
hard disk drives. SSDs do not employ any moving mechanical
components, which distinguishes them from traditional magnetic disks such as hard disk drives
(HDDs) or floppy disks, which are electromechanical devices containing spinning disks and
movable read/write heads. Compared with electromechanical disks, SSDs are typically less
susceptible to physical shock, are silent, and have lower access time and latency, but are, at 2012
market prices, more expensive per unit of storage. The prices have continued to decline in 2013.
As of 2010, most SSDs use NAND-based flash memory, which retains data without power. For
applications requiring fast access, but not necessarily data persistence after power loss, SSDs may
be constructed from random-access memory (RAM). Such devices may employ separate power
sources, such as batteries, to maintain data after power loss. Hybrid drives combine the features of
SSDs and HDDs in the same unit, containing a large hard disk drive and an SSD cache to improve
performance of frequently accessed data. These devices may offer near-SSD performance for
many applications. If the computer can accept multiple hard disks, some people have found a
combination of technologies to provide a good balance between price and storage space. This could
mean, for example, storing the operating system on a small-capacity SSD and, other data (big
applications, games, user data, etc.) on a large-capacity HDD.
Making a comparison between SSDs and ordinary (spinning) HDDs is difficult. Traditional HDD
benchmarks tend to focus on the performance characteristics that are poor with HDDs, such as
rotational latency and seek time. As SSDs do not need to spin or seek to locate data, they may
prove vastly superior to HDDs in such tests. However, SSDs have challenges with mixed reads
and writes, and their performance may degrade over time. SSD testing must start from the (in use)
full disk, as the new and empty disk may have much better write performance than it would show
after only weeks of use.
Most of the advantages of SSDs over traditional HDDs are due to their ability to access data
completely electronically instead of electromechanically. On the other hand, traditional hard drives
offer significantly higher capacity for their price.
While SSDs appear to be more reliable than HDDs, researchers at the Center for Magnetic
Recording Research "are adamant that today's SSDs aren't an order of magnitude more reliable
than hard drives". SSD failures are often catastrophic, with total data loss. While HDDs can fail in
this manner as well, they often give warning that they are failing, allowing much or all of their
data to be recovered.
Traditional hard drives store their data in a linear, ordered manner. SSDs,
however, constantly rearrange their data while keeping track of their
locations for the purpose of wear leveling. As such, the flash memory
controller and its firmware play a critical role in maintaining data integrity.
One major cause of data loss in SSDs is firmware bugs, which rarely cause
problems in HDDs.
While both memory cards and most SSDs use flash memory, they serve
very different markets and purposes. Each has a number of different
attributes which are optimized and adjusted to best meet the needs of particular users. Some of
these characteristics include power consumption, performance, size, and reliability.
SSDs were originally designed for use in a computer system. The first units were intended to
replace or augment hard disk drives, so the operating system recognized them as a hard drive.
Originally, solid state drives were even shaped and mounted in the computer like hard drives. Later
SSDs became smaller and more compact, eventually developing their own unique form factors.
In contrast, memory cards such as Secure Digital (SD), CompactFlash (CF) and many others were
originally designed for digital cameras and later found their way into cell phones, gaming devices,
GPS units, etc. Most memory cards are physically smaller than SSDs, and designed to be inserted
and removed repeatedly. There are adapters which enable some memory cards to interface to a
computer, allowing use as an SSD, but they are not intended to be the primary storage device in
the computer. The typical CF card interface is generally 3-4 times slower than an SSD. As memory
cards are not designed to tolerate the amount of reading and writing which occurs during typical
computer use, their data may get damaged unless special procedures are taken to reduce the wear
on the card to a minimum.

a. What do the words used in the text mean?

1. Persistently
a. instantly and continually b. repeatedly and for a long time
c. constantly and endlessly
2. latency
a. discontinuation b. in activity c. waiting
3. degrade
a. get worse b. lessen c. deteriorate
4. adamant
a. rigid b. determined c. stubborn
5. integrity
a. incorruptibility b. purity c. honesty
6. attributes
 a. characteristics b. facets c. qualities
7. augment
a. enlarge b. add to c. boost
8. tolerate
a. accept b. receive d. bear with

b. Now join two parts of a sentence to make a complete and meaningful one. All the
information can be found in the above reading.
1 An SSD uses D a in a linear, ordered manner.
2 Electromechanical devices like F b rotational latency and seek time.
HDDs consist of ĐỘ TRỄ QUAY

3 Hybrid drives combine the strengthsH c to be used in digital cameras.

of SSDs and HDDs MẠCH TÍCH HỢP
4 HDDs are notoriously poor in terms B d integrated circuit assemblies as
of memory to store data persistently.
5 SSDs access data electronically G e used in both SSDs and memory
cards.
6 Traditional HDDs store data A f spinning disks and movable
read/write heads.
7 SSD failures and data losses K g while HDDs do it
electromechanically.
8 Flash memory is E h to improve performance of frequently
accessed data.
9 The operating system sees i i SSDs as hard disk drives.
10 Memory cards which are physically k are mainly due to problems with the
smaller than SSDs were first C memory controller and firmware.
designed

c. Write a 100-word summary of this text. Make sure you include the answers to the following
questions:
- What is an SSD?
- How are SSDs and HDDs combined in a computer system?
- What SSDs share with as well as differ from HDDs and memory cards?

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Task 7. You are going to watch a video comparing HDD and SDD
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKRB6umzeAg)
a. Watch the video and complete the note below:
SDD vs HDD
- Speed: although SSD’s (1)……………………………….. is several times faster than
2-3 times
HDD, in practice SDD can be (2)………………………………. as fast, not as great as we
believe.
- Lifespan: SDD can have 5 years of use while HDD can be
decade old/ 10 years old performance
(3)……………………………….. although (4)……………………………… gets worse
with the time.
prone to malfunction
- Durability: HDDs are more (5)……………………………………. while SDDs are better
no moving part
as they have (6)………………………………………….
price to capacity ration
- Capacity ~ (7)……………………………………………….: HDDs are better: HDDs are
roughly 4 times
(8)…………………………………………………. than SDDs with the same storage
capacity.
- Noise: SDDs make no noise while HDDs make some noise. The level of noise depends
their rpm ( rotation per minute)
on (9)………………………………………………………………….
values performance
- SDDs are better for gaming if you (10)………………………………………. above all.
shorter lifespan
But they have (11)………………………………………………… and are more
expensive.
- as system
The most cost-effective solution - getting both: use an SSD (12)…… …… ……… drive………

……… ………….., and use a big HDD for storing your data.

b. Discuss the best solution for your data storage.

Task 8. Prepare a presentation on either HDD or SDD (structures, working principle,

classification etc.)