Glossary

(Advanced Technology Attachment) is a computer bus that uses a data interface for connecting mass memory storage devices ... such as hard disks and optical disks. The synonym for a standard is IDE. After the introduction of the standard Serial ATA ATA, the original name was changed to Parallel ATA (PATA). more

(Compact Disc) is an optical disc designed to store digital data.

digital information recorded on a storage medium, which is further processed by a computer.

is a process in which data are retrieved from a software-damaged storage media. The technology and methods used in this process ... are unavailable for the average user. more

is a process in which data are gathered from a hardware-damaged storage media. The technology and methods used in this process ... are unavailable for an average user. more

are metallic or ceramic discs located inside a hard disk. Each data plate is coated with a thin magnetic layer on which the ... head writes or reads data. more

is a process that serves to identify defects and damage types to design an approach for data recovery.

Service Area (SA) is an area reserved by the manufacturer, to which data necessary for the operation of the drive are recorded ... during the manufacturing process. Part of the data is unique for each drive and without this data it is impossible to gain access to user data. more

Separate space/workplace, which allows us to keep 10000 times greater cleanness than the normal temperature thanks to special ... filters (for example only 29 dust particles with size of 5 micrometers are allowed in one cubic meter is compared to 300,000 in standard rooms). These workstations are most often used for working with very sensitive equipment or materials. more

(Digital Versatile Disc ) is an optical disc format, on which e.g. film in high picture and sound quality may be stored. ... They offer several times higher capacity compared to CD drives while maintaining the same dimensions. more

is the term for an internal program that is used to control the system (in this case a hard disk). It is typically associated ... with basic low-level operations, without which the device would not work. more

the electrically programmable memory which is able to hold the written data in the long term without power. NAND memory is ... most commonly used in USB flash drives and SSD. more

flexible disk (floppy disk) indicates a magnetic medium used for storing and transferring electronic data. Its biggest advantage ... and widespread use are low manufacturing cost of floppy disks as well as devices for their reading and writing. However due to low speed, low capacity and a limited lifetime they were gradually replaced by other media. more

The process, which gives rise to the deletion of data space of a storage media. Formatting writes metadata describing the ... blank medium in the form of the selected file system to the disk. There are two levels distinguished - high (high-level format) and low-level (low-level format). The high-level format is performed by a regular user. The low-level format is performed by the hard drive manufacturer immediately after its physical construction. more

Hard disk is a complex, self-controlled device, whose complexity and functional structure can be compared to that of a computer. ... It contains a control processor, memory and operating system located in inaccessible areas of the disk. Similarly to computers, at the start it introduces the operating system to its RAM memory and allows access to user data only afterward. The hard disk consists of data plates (aluminum or glass circular plate covered with a thin magnetic layer), reading/writing heads, an actuator mechanism, motor and control electronics. There are electronics amplifying signals to external electronics near the heads inside the disk. During disk startup, the actuator head mechanism is released after plates start turning at a given speed. The heads moved from the parking area (situated on the inner edge of plates or outside, depending on the type of the disk) to the plate, information is read from the service tracks, calibration is carried out and the disk is ready to operate. The heads float on an air cushion above the plates with a speed over 100 km/h at a distance 1000 times shorter than the diameter of a human hair. more

This term includes all the physical hardware of a computer (data and programs are referred to as software). Hardware is computer ... components without which the software would be unable to operate. more

(Modified Frequency Modulation) is the oldest RLL encoding used for PCs. It is an improvement of the FM modulation. MFM modulation ... was used in the first hard drives and is still used when writing on floppy discs. more

(Network Attached Storage) stands for data storage connected to a local area network. It may consist of one or more hard ... drives connected to RAID because of higher security or capacity. NAS is used for storing and sharing data between devices in a computer network. more

(Redundant Array of Inexpensive/Independent Disks) is a method of saving data on storage media. It is used to speed up work ... with data, or ensure data security against hard drive failures. Security is ensured by a specific data saving on a number of independent disks thanks to which the stored data are maintained even after a failure of one of the disks. The security level differs depending on the type of RAID, which is designated by numbers (usually RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 6). RAID is often used in servers, but it must be noted that the RAID does not replace data backup. Methods of data storage in RAID arrays continue to develop and evolve. more

are located within each hard drive. They ensure reading and writing of the data from the magnetic layer of hard drive data plate.

(Run Length Limited): is the line code used to transfer any data through a communication channel with a limited bandwidth. ... It is used in telecommunications and in systems for storing data, in which the media move in respect to the fixed recording head. more

(Read-Only Memory) is a type of electronic memory that is read-only. This information is stored in the long-term and without ... the need for power. In case of disks, the information is stored in the ROM, which is closely linked to the service area. more

(Serial Attached SCSI) is a serial bus, which replaces the parallel SCSI bus. It connects hard drives in server systems mainly ... because of its speed. more

serial ATA is a computer bus that uses a data interface for connecting mass memory storage devices such as hard disks and ... optical disks. It achieves higher performance than ATA controller because the transmission is performed serially at a high frequency and supports disconnecting and connecting the machine while the computer is running (Hot Plug). Developmentally, there are several specifications that differ in transfer speeds e.g. SATA-1, SATA-2, SATA-3. more

(Small Computer System Interface) is a computer bus that uses data interface for connecting mass memory storage devices such ... as hard disks and optical disks. The advantage of SCSI is the ability to connect a large number of hard disks (or other peripherals) than ATA. It was used in older server systems because of its transfer speed. SCSI drives have typically higher speed records, slower access speed, and greater durability. more

is a generic name for all programs that perform some action (usually in a computer). Software can be divided into system ... SW that ensures the operation of the device itself and its communication with the environment (operating system) and on application SW with which the user works or it ensures control of a machine. more

(Solid State Drive) is a data storage device. Similarly to the hard disk drive (HDD), SSD is used for example in computers. ... It does not contain any moving parts and is characterized by greater speed of writing and reading data than HDD. It works on the principle of flash memory. more

is a device used for entering and storing digital information. Storage media are adapted to connect to various devices through ... which it is possible to work with data. Amongst the storage media are: hard drives, SSDs, USB flash drives, CD and DVD disks, Floppy disks, memory cards, and more. more

(Universal Serial BUS) is a universal serial interface for connection to various peripherals such as the external disk, flash ... disk, mouse, keyboard, and more. Currently, two kinds are used most widely. They are USB 2.0 and 3.0. They differ in transmission rates and are compatible with each other. more

portable storage device for storing written data using flash memory technology.