Lets see how smart you are.

[Supercian411]

This is a question from my computer science test i did the other day.

 

Question 7

Which of the following is best used for saving information you wish to back up, Hard Drive, RAM, Optical storage or ROM.

 

Ill answer later. 

[kelvinhall05]

Hard drive.

[Oshino Shinobu]

RAM.

[AlwaysFSX]

I'm going to guess the one that actually deals with storing information.

[DrMacintosh]

Clearly RAM as it is the most volatile  

[firecrafter711]

The answer they're probably looking for is optical storage ROM but I would say hard drive

[TheRandomness]

The mark scheme is going to say Optical storage since data on it cannot normally be destroyed properly unless intended.

[21rkosta]

I mean your not gonna back up your system on your system

[Supercian411]

8 hours ago, kelvinhall05 said:

Hard drive.

 

8 hours ago, firecrafter711 said:

The answer they're probably looking for is optical storage ROM but I would say hard drive

 

8 hours ago, DrMacintosh said:

Clearly RAM as it is the most volatile  

 

8 hours ago, AlwaysFSX said:

I'm going to guess the one that actually deals with storing information.

 

8 hours ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

RAM.

 

Its optical storage some how

I could of been best in class

[BigBill256]

They want optical drive. 

 

In the real world. Tapes and mechanical hard drives are used. 

 

Writing to a ROM for backup is a horrible idea. I write to ROMs every day and ya don’t use that for backup. It’s volatile and has horrible endurance. 

[Supercian411]

Just now, BigBill256 said:

They want optical drive. 

 

In the real world. Tapes and mechanical hard drives are used. 

 

Writing to a ROM for backup is a horrible idea. I write to ROMs every day and ya don’t use that for backup. It’s volatile and has horrible endurance. 

I agree, no lcompany has 1000s of 700mb CDs 

[Thermosman]

9 minutes ago, TheRandomness said:

The mark scheme is going to say Optical storage since data on it cannot normally be destroyed properly unless intended.

 

5 minutes ago, Supercian411 said:

I agree, no lcompany has 1000s of 700mb CDs 

It is because it has no moving parts that can fail, and can be put in any cd/dvd drive to be accessed

[CyberFern0]

23 minutes ago, Supercian411 said:

This is a question from my computer science test i did the other day.

 

Question 7

Which of the following is best used for saving information you wish to back up, Hard Drive, RAM, Optical storage or ROM.

 

Ill answer later. 

Hard drive

[BigBill256]

I deal with automotive ecu ROMs. The NAND isnt the greatest thing. But think of it like writing your bios 50 times. I’m not gonna backup my passwords on my bios. (Cool idea) and it would work. However the endurance of most bios ROM chips is in the 1000 write range or so. 

 

1 minute ago, Thermosman said:

 

It is because it has no moving parts that can fail, and can be put in any cd/dvd drive to be accessed

Right. But optical media that is written with consumer red and blue lasers have a very high likelyhood of data corruption over time. Even with no moving parts. 

I would much rather have a hard drive from 10 years ago than my buddy’s burned dvd. That being said I would much rather have the orinigal dvd. So optical wins? Maybe lol

[heimdali]

I´m too stupid to answer this question.  The answer depends on what kind of information is to be saved, on how it is available and on exactly what variant of storage type suits the requirements of the backup.

 

[Thermosman]

1 minute ago, BigBill256 said:

I deal with automotive ecu ROMs. The NAND isnt the greatest thing. But think of it like writing your bios 50 times. I’m not gonna backup my passwords on my bios. (Cool idea) and it would work. However the endurance of most bios ROM chips is in the 1000 write range or so. 

 

Right. But optical media that is written with consumer red and blue lasers have a very high likelyhood of data corruption over time. Even with no moving parts. 

I would much rather have a hard drive from 10 years ago than my buddy’s burned dvd. That being said I would much rather have the orinigal dvd. So optical wins? Maybe lol

the question's answer doesnt really make much sense, does it;

however, assuming you store them properly, optical media will last forever

[heimdali]

1 minute ago, Thermosman said:

the question's answer doesnt really make much sense, does it;

however, assuming you store them properly, optical media will last forever

That depends on the media, like DVDs will rot over time and last only 20 years or so.  Not that anyone is supposed to think that this is intentionally so ...

 

[Thermosman]

Just now, heimdali said:

That depends on the media, like DVDs will rot over time and last only 20 years or so.  Not that anyone is supposed to think that this is intentionally so ...

 

not if you store them properly in a vacuum.

[BigBill256]

1 minute ago, Thermosman said:

the question's answer doesnt really make much sense, does it;

however, assuming you store them properly, optical media will last forever

Professionally authored and produced media lasts a very long time.

 

the crap you buy from the store and burn on your computer does not last a very long time. That’s why that question is from a book that’s probably on its 20th revision (and nothing has been revised) and the advice is from 1991. Back in the old days it was true. Now with consumer level crap all over it isn’t an absolute. 

 

[heimdali]

Just now, Thermosman said:

not if you store them properly in a vacuum.

Are you sure?  They use some organic compound, and even if it doesn´t literally rot, it might just degrade even faster in a vacuum.

 

Besides, upholding that vacuum long term can be difficult, and what happens when the DVD is suddenly removed from it after 30 years?  What about temperature requirements?

 

[TheRandomness]

Guys, you have to remember that this is a relatively low-level computer science test. This question is asking for just that with no other variables concerned

[Thermosman]

8 hours ago, heimdali said:

Are you sure?  They use some organic compound, and even if it doesn´t literally rot, it might just degrade even faster in a vacuum.

Besides, upholding that vacuum long term can be difficult, and what happens when the DVD is suddenly removed from it after 30 years?  What about temperature requirements?

organic molecule? it is an aluminum film

8 hours ago, TheRandomness said:

Guys, you have to remember that this is a relatively low-level computer science test. This question is asking for just that with no other variables concerned

lol

[Supercian411]

Just now, Thermosman said:

lol

 

Just now, TheRandomness said:

Guys, you have to remember that this is a relatively low-level computer science test. This question is asking for just that with no other variables concerned

Im in year 10 and that question just frustrated me and im pretty sure my teacher is a tech support scammer .

[heimdali]

8 hours ago, BigBill256 said:

Professionally authored and produced media lasts a very long time.

 

the crap you buy from the store and burn on your computer does not last a very long time. That’s why that question is from a book that’s probably on its 20th revision (and nothing has been revised) and the advice is from 1991. Back in the old days it was true. Now with consumer level crap all over it isn’t an absolute. 

 

No, it´s only an extremely retarded question that can be answered in many ways.  In 1991, it might have been best to save the information on a piece of paper before backing it up.  That may still go for information in 2018 and later.

 

Mind you, the question doesn´t ask what to use for backup but what to use to save information you want to backup, and that can be pretty much anything that can be used to store information.

8 hours ago, Thermosman said:

organic molecule? it is an aluminum film

I don´t know for sure, only that it´s something organic, and IIRC the organic stuff was just the stuff the data is actually written to, so that can´t be great for durability.  CDs aren´t organic, so you better keep your data on CDs than DVDs ...

 

[TheRandomness]

5 minutes ago, Supercian411 said:

 

Im in year 10 and that question just frustrated me and im pretty sure my teacher is a tech support scammer .

GSCE? Yeah, they purposefully teach you some things wrong to make sure you pass the GCSE.