Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM


Top Flashcards (Certified)
All Flashcards

CompTIA A+ > Chapter 2: Storage Devices and Power Supplies > Flashcards

Chapter 2: Storage Devices and Power Supplies Flashcards

1
Q

Define HDD

A

Hard disk drive / hard drive / hard disks. Used for permanent storage and quick access

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

3 Critical components of a HDD

A

Controller, Hard Disk, HBA

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

What is a HDD’s Controller?

A

The controller chip controls how the drive operates and how the data is encoded onto the platters. It controls how the data sends signals to the various motors in the drive and receives signals from the sensors inside the drive. Most common: PATA (IDE), SATA

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

What is the HDD’s hard disk?

A

This is the physical storage medium. Stacked platters.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

What is a HDD’s HBA?

A

Host bus adapter. Translator, converting signals from the controller to signals the computer can understand. HBA is usually located on the motherboard.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

Identify the sector and track colored in this image.

A

Red: Track; Blue: Sector

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

Define a Sector

A

magnetic domains that represent the smallest units of storage on the discs’ platters. Magnetic-drive sectors commonly store only 512 bytes (1⁄2KB) of data each

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

CHS

A

cylinders/heads/sectors

The components of the basic geometry of a HDD

The basic hard disk geometry consists of three components: the number of sectors that each track contains, the number of read/write heads in the disk assembly, and the number of cylinders in the assembly.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

How do you determine the number of cylinders on a hard drive?

A

The number of cylinders is the number of tracks that can be found on any single surface of any single platter.

It is called a cylinder because the collection of all same-number tracks on all writable surfaces of the hard disk assembly looks like a geometric cylinder when connected together vertically.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

A cylinder on a HDD assembly with 3 platters is comprised of how many tracks?

A

6

one track on each side of a platter.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

How many heads are contained in a HDD assembly?

A

One for each writable surface, so two per platter.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

What does a CHS geometry of 16383/16/63 mean?

A

16,383 cylinders

16 heads

63 sectors per cylinder

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

What is the capacity of a HDD with a CHS geometry of 16383/16/63?

A

7.87GB

KB=(CHS)/2

GB=KB/1048576

Multiply 16,383 cylinders by 16 heads to get the total number of tracks, 262,128

Multiply 262,128 tracks by the number of sectors per track, 63, to get thee total number of sectors, 16,514,064

Each sector is 1/2 a KB. Get the number of KB by dividing 16,514,064 by 2.

Capacity = 8,257,032KB

Get the number of MB by dividing that figure by 1024

Capacity = 8063.5078MB

Get the number of GB by dividing that figure by 1024

Capacity = 7.87GB

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

Define SSD

A

Solid State Drives

solid-state drives (SSDs) have no moving parts but use the same solid-state memory technology found in the other forms of flash memory. All solid-state memory is limited to a finite number of write (including erase) operations.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

Wear Leveling

A

The process of spreading read/write operations evenly over an entire SSD, so that the finite number of read/writes is spread throughout the disk

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

Benefits of SSD over conventional HDD

A

Read contents more quickly

Consume less power

Produce less heat

Are more reliable and less susceptible to damage from physical shock and heat production

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

Disadvantages of SSD over conventional HDD

A

More expensive per byte

Limited write operations

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

Examples of Optical Disk Drives

A

Blueray

DVD (Digital Video Disc)

CD (Compact Disc)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

Define CD-ROM

A

Compact Disc Read Only Memory

650, 700, 800, or 900MB capacities

Read only

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

What speed is 1X for a CD-ROM?

A

150KBps

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

How did manufacturers increase the speed CDs could be read from 1X to 8X

A

They spun the disk faster.

At 8X the CD was spinning so fast that increasing speeds risked breaking the disk apart.

Subsequent speed increases were achieved through other technological advancements

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

What is the standard DVD-ROM transfer rate for 1X?

A

1.4MBps

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

What is the difference between these two CD-ROM devices?

A

that CD-R drives can write to a
CD-R disc only once. A CD-RW drive can erase information from a CD-RW disc and
rewrite to it multiple times.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

What does this rating mean for a CD-RW drive?

52X-32X-52X

A

it writes at 52X, rewrites at
32X, and reads at 52X

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
What does it mean when a DVD is described as this: DVD-ROM
Purchased with data encoded; not able to be changed
26
What does it mean when a DVD is described as this: ## Footnote DVD-R, DVD+R
Purchased blank; able to be written to once and then treated like a DVD-ROM
27
What does it mean when a DVD is described as this: ## Footnote DVD-RW, DVD+RW
Purchased blank; able to be written to and erased multiple times; session usually must be closed for subsequent access to stored data
28
What does it mean when a DVD is described as this: ## Footnote DVD-RAM
Purchased blank; able to be written to and erased just like a hard or floppy disk; no session to close before subsequent access to stored data
29
BD-R versus BD-RE
BD-R Blueray Disk that's recordable once (Like CD-R) BD-RE: Blueray Disk that's re-recordable (Like CD-RW)
30
What does DMA or PIO allow?
DMA or programmed input/output (PIO) methods for improving drive performance by allowing the drive to write directly to RAM, bypassing the CPU when possible.
31
IDE is also known as
PATA
32
What does SATA stand for
Serial Advanced Technology Attachment
33
What type of connection is this?
SATA
34
Define SCSI
Small Computer System Interface Internernal or External storage device.
35
What is this cable?
External SCSI cable.
36
Describe this configuration.
Internal SCSI cable connects two devices to the motherboard. Both ends are terminated (one to a CD-ROM, the other to the motherboard). The middle device (the HD) is daisy-chained connected.
37
Each SCSI device must have \_\_\_\_\_, set by \_\_\_\_.
``` Each device must also have a unique SCSI ID number. This number can be assigned by the jumper (with internal devices) or with a rotary switch (on external devices). ```
38
Define RAID
Redundant Array of Independent Disks. way of combining the storage power of more than one hard disk for a special purpose, such as increased performance or fault tolerance.
39
Two ways to implement RAID and the most efficient method.
Software or Hardware implementations. Hardware implementation is more efficient and performs better.
40
RAID 0 is also known as
Disk Stripping
41
RAID 0
Data is written across multiple drives, so one drive can be reading or writing while the next drive’s read-write head is moving. This makes for faster data access. However, if any one of the drives fails, all content is lost. Some form of redundancy or fault tolerance should be used in concert with RAID 0.
42
RAID 1
disk mirroring writing all data simultaneously to two separate drives. If one drive fails, the other contains all the data and will become the primary drive Only two drives can be used in a RAID 1 array
43
RAID 5
Combines the benefits of both RAID 0 and RAID 1 Each stripe places data on n–1 disks, and parity computed from the data is placed on the remaining disk. The parity is interleaved across all the drives in the array so that neighboring stripes have parity on different disks. If one drive fails, the parity information for the stripes that lost data can be used with the remaining data from the working drives to derive what was on the failed drive and rebuild the set once the drive is replaced
44
Minimum number of drives for RAID 5
A minimum of three drives is required for RAID 5
45
What is the capacity of quarter-inch cartridge tape backups?
200KB - 525MB
46
What is the capacity of digital linear tape (DLT)?
Up to 160GB
47
What is the capacity of 8 millimeter backup tape?
800 GB
48
What is the capacity of linear tape-open backup tapes?
1.5TB
49
Examples of flash memory
SD cards USB flash drives Other solid state drive solutions
50
What does it mean for a device to be hot swappable
You can insert and remove the device with the system powered on. A non-hot-swappable device can't be inserted or removed whiel the power is on.
51
A non-hot-swappable device may also be known as
Cold Swappable
52
Within hot-swappable devices, there is a category of 'warm-swappable' devices. What makes these devices different from hot-swappable devices?
While you can add or remove a warm-swappable device while the PC's power is on, you should use a software utility to disconnect the device first. Best example: Flash USB memory stick, which should be removed via the "Safely Remove Hardware" application. If you don't use that utility, data loss could occur.
53
Power Supply
The device in the computer that provies power to all PC's components.
54
A power supply converts ______ to D/C voltages
110Volts or 220Volts A/C
55
Examples of DC voltage levels that PC components require to operate
+3.3VDC +5VDC -5VDC (older systems) +12VDC -12VDC Note: VDC here means volts of direct current
56
Watt
A unit of power
57
Most computers require power supplies within what watt range?
250 - 500 watts are required for most computers.
58
In a power supply, what is the purpose of the red, recessed switch in the back?
The switch allows for you to switch between two different voltage levels for different countries. Popular choices include: 110 and 220 volts 115 and 230 volts 120 and 240 volts
59
If the incorrect voltage is selected via the red, recessed switch behind the power supply, what could happen?
If you're in the US and select the higher voltage, the power supply won't receive as much power as it expects and the system will not boot. In Europe & elsewhere, power lines provide more voltage. Selecting the lower voltage would result in the power supply receiving more power than it expects, and the PC could catch on fire.
60
What's the best way to handle a malfunctioning power supply?
Get rid of it. Attempting to fix a power supply is asking for your house to get burned down.
61
Common "Classic" power connectors include what
AT system connectors Standard Peripheral Power Connector Floppy Drive Power Connectors
62
Name this type of power connector
AT Power Connector
63
What does the AT System connector power?
Older, AT-style motherboards. Only legacy computers with AT and baby AT motherboards used this type of power connector.
64
Name this type of power connector
Standard peripheral power connector
65
Standard peripheral power connectors are also known as
Molex connectors
66
Name this type of power connector
Floppy Drive Power Connector
67
Floppy drive connectors are also known as
Berg connectors
68
What does a laptop use for its power supply?
An AC adapter, which does esentially the same thing as a traditional power supply.
69

CompTIA A+ (13 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2025 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions