Comparing magnetic, optical and solid-state storage

Name:

Date:

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Quick Questions

Shade in the A or B circle for each question.

1. Which type of storage has moving parts that can be damaged if the device is dropped?

A Magnetic storage (HDD)

B Solid-state storage (SSD)

2. Which type of storage usually gives the fastest access to data?

A Optical storage

B Solid-state storage

3. Which type of storage is usually the cheapest per gigabyte for very large amounts of data?

A Magnetic storage (HDD)

B Solid-state storage (SSD)

4. Which is a good reason to use a DVD or Blu-ray disc to give a film to a friend?

A Optical discs are cheap and light to post

B Optical discs are the fastest storage available

5. How does optical storage store data?

A Tiny magnetised areas read by a laser

B Pits and lands read by a laser

Match the Pairs

Draw a line connecting each item on the left to its match on the right.

Left column		Right column
1Magnetic storage (HDD)		ALarge capacity and low cost per gigabyte, but it has moving parts, so it is slower and more fragile
2Solid-state storage (SSD)		BNo moving parts, so it is fast, durable and portable, but it costs more per gigabyte
3Optical discs are cheap and easy to carry around, but hold little data and are slow to access compared with the other types		CSpinning platters belong to a magnetic HDD, not an SSD. An SSD has no moving parts, which makes it durable.
4A school laptop that is carried in a bag and often knocked needs storage with no moving parts that is also quick to access		DOptical discs have the lowest capacity of the three types and slow access. SSDs are the fastest, and HDDs have the highest capacity for the price.
5SSD: spinning platters make it fragile		ESSD (solid-state)
6Optical discs: biggest capacity and fastest access		FCD / DVD / Blu-ray

Definitions

magnetic, optical and solid-state storage

Fill in the Blanks

Complete each line of code by filling in the missing parts.

hddHasMovingParts ← ____

ssdHasMovingParts ← _____

IF device _ "CD" THEN usesLaser ← TRUE

IF costPerGB _ 0.05 THEN device ← "HDD"

IF device = "SD card" ____ portable ← TRUE

Spot the Error

Shade in the letter of the line that contains an error.

Question 1

A hdd_moving_parts = False

B ssd_moving_parts = False

C if hdd_moving_parts:

D print("HDD is fragile")

Question 2

A hdd = "magnetic"

B ssd = "solid-state"

C cd = "magnetic"

D print(hdd, ssd, cd)

Question 3

A storage = "SSD"

B if storage == "SSD":

C print("Has moving parts")

Question 4

A hdd_cost = 0.03

B ssd_cost = 0.08

C if hdd_cost < ssd_cost:

D print("SSD is cheaper")

Question 5

A hdd_gb = 4000

B ssd_gb = 1000

C bluray_gb = 50

D if hdd_gb < bluray_gb:

E print("HDD holds more")

Answer Key

Comparing magnetic, optical and solid-state storage

Section A: Quick Questions

A — Magnetic storage (HDD)

B — Solid-state storage

A — Magnetic storage (HDD)

A — Optical discs are cheap and light to post

B — Pits and lands read by a laser

Section B: Match the Pairs

Magnetic storage (HDD) → Large capacity and low cost per gigabyte, but it has moving parts, so it is slower and more fragile

Solid-state storage (SSD) → No moving parts, so it is fast, durable and portable, but it costs more per gigabyte

Optical discs are cheap and easy to carry around, but hold little data and are slow to access compared with the other types → CD / DVD / Blu-ray

A school laptop that is carried in a bag and often knocked needs storage with no moving parts that is also quick to access → SSD (solid-state)

SSD: spinning platters make it fragile → Spinning platters belong to a magnetic HDD, not an SSD. An SSD has no moving parts, which makes it durable.

Optical discs: biggest capacity and fastest access → Optical discs have the lowest capacity of the three types and slow access. SSDs are the fastest, and HDDs have the highest capacity for the price.

Section C: Definitions

magnetic, optical and solid-state storage — Three types of secondary storage that store data in different ways (magnets, laser pits, flash cells), so they differ in capacity, speed, durability, portability and cost.

Section D: Fill in the Blanks

hddHasMovingParts ← TRUE

ssdHasMovingParts ← FALSE

IF device = "CD" THEN usesLaser ← TRUE

IF costPerGB < 0.05 THEN device ← "HDD"

IF device = "SD card" THEN portable ← TRUE

Section E: Spot the Error

A — A hard disk drive has moving parts (spinning platters and a read/write head), so the value should be True. That is why it is fragile.

C — A CD stores data as pits and lands read by a laser, so it is optical storage. It should be cd = "optical".

C — An SSD uses flash memory with no moving parts. The line should print "No moving parts".

D — The HDD has the lower cost per gigabyte, so the message should say HDD is cheaper, matching the condition.

D — An HDD has a much bigger capacity than a Blu-ray disc. The condition should use > so that the message "HDD holds more" is true.