Computers have a plurality of data storage devices or drives depending on application. Computer storage media devices such as
floppy disks,
hard disk drives,
removable hard disks,
compact disks (CD),
digital versatile disks (DVD),
tape drives, smart cards, and PCMCIA cards are employed in many computer systems. Floppy disk, hard disk, and magnetic tape are non-volatile magnetic storage devices storing information by using different patterns of magnetization on a magnetically coated surface.
Flash memory is a form of non-volatile
semiconductor-based
integrated circuit memory that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. PC cards and various
memory cards such as SmartMedia, MMC, Secure Digital, Memory Stick and xD-Picture Cards are NAND-based removable flash memeory cards used typically in
portable electronics including digital audio players,
camcorders,
digital cameras and
mobile phones. Compact discs (CD), CD-ROM (compact disc
read-only memory), DVD digital video disc), CD-R (compact disc-recordable), DVD-R, compact disc rewritable (CD-RW), and DVD-RAM (DVD-
random access memory) are optical disc storage devices which are non-volatile and sequential access.
