2. Storage devices and media

There are two very similar terms used when discussing secondary storage. You need to be able to tell the difference between the two.

Secondary Storage Device

A secondary storage device is the physical hardware that carries out the storage action. For instance a DVD writer is a 'storage device'.

A hard disk or a Solid State Drive are secondary storage devices.

Storage Media

Some storage devices come with removable media. For example a DVD writer burns a blank DVD. The DVD itself is an example of storage media.

Storage media is the physical object used to actually store the data.

Another storage media example is a magnetic tape cartridge. This is loaded into the magnetic tape recorder / reader (the storage device). The storage media can be removed and kept somewhere else for safe-keeping.

Some secondary storage devices do not have separate media. For example hard disks and solid state drives are self-contained. They have no external media.