Storage Hardware

Overview

The internal and external physical parts of any computer are known as hardware and are essential to a computer's normal functioning. There are various types of storage devices in a computer. The first level of storage, which is also known as primary level, is the memory of the computer. This is the part that can be accessed by the Central Processing Unit (CPU) of the computer. Programs and applications that are accessed regularly by the user are stored in the CPU.

Storage hardware is designed to store your data, programs, and information efficiently. Instead reloading all of your programs each time you use the computer, the programs are already installed and ready for use. Storage devices also allow faster interaction between programs.
Storage hardware allows programs to run more efficiently since using less memory increases the performance of the computer. By using different types of storage hardware, you can constantly update your computer and maximize your storage facilities. The biggest benefit of storage hardware is that you have the ability to store extensive information in one place.

Hard Drives

Hard drives are the secondary level of storage hardware and can include flash drives and Zip drives. The data remains where it is stored, even when the computer is shut down, unlike primary data storage that is erased when the computer is off.
If you have very sensitive data or information that needs to be backed up once again, you can turn to even more data storage options, like offsite storage or backup hard drives. Internal hard drives provide optimal speed for your computer to run multiple programs at the same time.

Flash Memory

Flash memory is a form of memory that allows data to be stored without using power. This technology is used in digital cameras, personal digital assistants (PDA), and Local Area Network (LAN) switches. Flash devices come in three forms: flash memory drives, flash memory sticks, and flash memory cards.

Fibre Channel Switch

A Fibre Channel switch is a network switch that provides connectivity to a storage network. This switch has 128 ports and is used in high speed storage networking. Fibre channel switches have core components like redundancy, security, and multiple communications.

HBA

A host bus adaptor (HBA) acts as a connecting link between a host and the server or the storage device. These adaptors are also used as connecting devices for Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE), Ethernet, Firewire, Universal Serial Bus (USB), and Internet SCSI (iSCSI). Host bus adaptors enable faster and efficient management of storage area networks (SAN).

Disk Array

A disk array contains multiple disk drives and creates a disk storage system. The components found in a disk array are the disk array controller, power supply, disk enclosure, and cache memory. Disk arrays are classified into five categories which are network attached storage (NAS), modular SAN arrays, utility SAN arrays, storage virtualization, and SAN arrays.