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Home computers can make use of several types of data storage. Active, yet temporary storage of information is maintained in the random access memory, which is most often just called memory. More permanent, storage is most often maintained in the computer’s hard drive. There are also several other types of storage devices in common use. Floppies, CD’s, Zip Drives, external hard drives, and flash drives, which are also called “thumb drives” because their outer shell is about the size of a human thumb, are all forms of data storage.

Of course, your grandpa’s dusty old file cabinet, that takes up a lot of space but is never opened, is also a data storage device. Your eyes and brain are the “readers” that make the information accessible and your arms, hands and fingers are the retrieval devices. The up side of grandpa’s old file cabinet is that the information will still be accessible when the electricity goes out. However, that information is not searchable, and may not be filed correctly.

Of course the information on your hard drive may not be filed correctly, either, but your computer’s internal search mechanism can help you find it while you go to the kitchen for a glass of tea if you happen to misfile a document on your computer. Home computers may or may not be comparable to the behemoth computers used in some offices, banks, medical, and legal firms, but they possess a power to keep up with documents we have misplaced and to help us repair or undo things we have done that prove to be mistakes. Our home computer helps us spell and punctuate correctly and can remember precisely the way Grandma’s recipe for pumpkin pie should go. Today’s computers even give us a “do over” option when things get all fouled up through what is called a “Restore System” option.

Home computers can do this because their data storage devices are designed, not only to keep up with what we produce, but through innovative software programs to help us produce the highest quality digital products possible.

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