Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
preserved.are.stored.on.some.type.of.media..These.could.
be. any. of. the. following. (and. some. data. may. be. stored. on.
more.than.one.type.of.media.even.within.the.same.comput-
ing.device):
•. Hard.disk.drives
•. Random.access.memory
•. Optical.storage.media.(CDs.or.DVDs)
•. Floppy.disk.drives
•. Magnetic.tape
•. Flash.or.solid-state.memory.(USB.drives)
Let's.begin.with.hard.disk.drives..A.hard.disk.drive.con-
tains. several. metal. platters. stacked. up. inside. itself. with. a.
writing.arm.that.swings.back.and.forth.across.those.platters.
charging. and. discharging. segments. of. the. drive. to. store. all.
those.ones.and.zeros.we.spent.time.talking.about..We.don't.
need.to.get.into.detail.about.how.that.is.done..It.is.enough.
to.understand.that.all.of.the.data.stored.on.hard.drives.are.
stored. as. magnetic. plus. and. minus. spots. on. those. platters..
They.are.microscopic.in.size,.and.as.the.technology.evolved,.
the. platters. have. become. smaller. and. thinner,. the. writing.
arms.more.delicate,.and.the.drives.have.shrunk.in.size.while.
growing.in.capacity.
Understanding.how.this.works.can.be.important.to.some-
one.who.is.depending.on.gathering.data.from.a.hard.drive.
that.is.separate.from.its.computing.device..All.those.mecha-
nisms. can. and. do. sometimes. fail,. so. that. there. are. times.
when. one. has. to. try. to. acquire. data. from. a. drive. that. no.
longer.functions.as.it.should.
Yet.the.magnetic.ones.and.zeros.still.exist.on.those.metal.
platters,. so. it. is. possible. with. the. correct. tools. and. skills. to.
access.that.information.and.put.it.to.use.again.in.a.court.case.
or.for.other.needs.
We.already.touched.on.RAM,.or.random.access.memory,.
above.and.talked.about.how.and.why.a.computer.would.store.
