[Trae Johnson]

Physical computer storage could also mean any physical equipment that stores digital data for the period intended for either short-term or long-term use. Thus, it forms a very important paradigm in the architecture of computers, guaranteeing deliverability on information and applications. Data in physical storage exist usually as binary code using technologies that are usually magnetic, optical, or solid-state. Physical storage may be internal or external to the computer system.

HDDs are among the major methods of storage. HDD store and retrieve data through the usage of magnetic storage. HDDs contain rotating disks coated with a magnetic material. Via an actuator arm, it reads and writes to these disks. HDDs have been, until recently, the most common form of physical storage due to the cost-effectiveness and the ability to hold large amounts of data on one drive, but they are comparatively slow compared to new technology.

SSDs are relatively new technological advances in storage. SSDs store their data in flash memory; hence, they are faster and more power-efficient compared to HDDs. Due to the fact that SSDs do not have moving parts, they are more durable and typically offer lower latency when accessing data. This makes them preferred in quite a number of modern computing environments where speed and performance are highly valued.

Another common storage medium is optical storage. Examples of such media are CDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray discs using lasers in reading and writing data on the disks. Applications include distribution for software, media, and backups, although this has declined as such due to cloud storage and other more efficient means of physical storage.

While cloud storage is not considered a physical form of storage on the user device, it does make use of physical storage systems at a remote data center. The users can access the data stored on these remote servers over the internet. Cloud storage has become quite attractive to users because of scalability and access with ease to multiple devices, as stated by Mell & Grance (2011).

References
Gookin, D. (2020). Laptops for dummies (7th ed.). Wiley.

Mell, P., & Grance, T. (2011). The NIST definition of cloud computing (NIST Special Publication 800-145). National Institute of Standards and Technology. https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.SP.800-145

O’Regan, G. (2012). A brief history of computing (2nd ed.). Springer.

Stallings, W. (2015). Computer organization and architecture (10th ed.). Pearson.