Storage Technologies
Content
Storing information is one of the most important and critial issues for the future. The speed and size of the the storage media are the most important issues, but price is also important.
Stemming from the first developments of computers, rotating media play an important role as mass storage devices. Magnetic discs with capacities of more then 10 TBytes are available for storing huge amounts of date as required for data centers and backup applications. For storing data which will hardly be accessed again, tape cassetts are still in use, and CDs, DVDs and Blue Ray discs are still on the market, required for distributing data and for long time storage with guaranteed accessibility of more than 40 years. With the advent of the mobile devices, solid state storage became available. This resulted in the development of SSDs, which today are replacinghard drives in most cases.
For fast data storage in the computing core itself different technologies are used because here speed is the most important issue. SRAM for caches and DRAM for main memories are discussed. Both types of memories loose their content as soon as they are switched off.
Non volatile memories can be implemented in a multitude of different technologies. EEPROM and its derivative FLASH are well suited for large amounts of data, but they have only a limited speed. Newer technologies such as MRAM, FeRAM, MagRAM and ReRAM are emerging on the market and are taking their share. These different technologies are explained and their potential for the future application are highlighted.
Class material
This class is based on numerous publications in the form of books, papers, information from the internet, personal communication, and others. There is no reference book available.The slides used in class are made available via Moodle.
Responsible
Study courses
- Master Informatics
- Master Electrical Engineering
Credit points
5
Examination type
oral
Preconditions (formal)
none
Preconditions (content)
Compter Architecture I is recommendd.