Which type of storage device is a hard disk?

Question

Question

This question was previously asked in

SSC CHSL 2020 Official Paper 21 (Held on: 5 Aug 2021 Shift 3)

Answer 1

The correct answer is Secondary storage.

Key Points

Secondary storage:
- It is also referred to as auxiliary storage, is non-volatile, and is used for later retrieval to store data and programs.
- There are several forms of secondary storage, each with benefits and drawbacks.
- Either magnetic or optical storage media are used for most storage systems.
- The hard disk is an example of secondary storage and magnetic media, which is used for storing data and programs in bulk. Hence, Option 4 is correct.
- In the case of the computer, they are normally in-built and therefore are not portable.
- Some hard drives are reversible, so between machines, they provide easy portable storage.
- In general, they are efficient and stable, with easy access to stored data.
- This allows the disk to rotate at even greater speeds than it would otherwise do without distorting the disk surface.

Additional Information Difference between Primary and Secondary memory:

Primary memory	Secondary memory
Primary memory is temporary.	Secondary memory is permanent.
Primary memory is directly accessible by Processor/CPU.	Secondary memory is not directly accessible by the CPU.
Nature of Parts of Primary memory varies, RAM- volatile in nature. ROM- Non-volatile.	It’s always Non-volatile in nature.
Primary storage is faster, more expensive, and persistent.	Secondary memory devices are less expensive, slower when compared to primary memory devices.
The memory devices used for primary memory are semiconductor memories.	The secondary memory devices are magnetic and optical memories.
Primary memory is also known as Main memory or Internal memory.	Secondary memory is also known as External memory or Auxiliary memory.
Examples: RAM, ROM, Cache memory, PROM, EPROM, Registers, etc.	Examples: Hard Disk, Floppy Disk, Magnetic Tapes, etc.