Flash memory

Flash memory is a type of non-volatile memory that can be electronically erased and reprogrammed. Its name was invented by Toshiba to express how much faster it could be erased -'in a flash' which means 'very quickly'.

Unlike RAM, which is volatile, flash memory retains the information stored in the chip when the power is turned off. This makes it ideal for use in digital cameras, laptops, network switches, video game cards, mobile phones and portable multimedia players. In addition, it offers fast read access times (although not as fast as RAM), with transfer rates of 12MB per second. Unlike ROM chips, flash memory chips are rewritable, so you can update programs via software.

Flash memory is used in several ways. For example flash memory cards are used to store images on cameras, to back up data on PDAs, to transfer games in video consoles, to record voice and music on MP3 players or to store movies on MP4 players. They are as small as a stamp, and capacity can range from 8MB to several gigabytes. The only limitation is that flash cards are often not interchangeable between devices.

/“Infotech. English for computer users.” Cambridge 4^th edition/

1. What storage devices can you name?

2. How does a hard drive work? How is the speed measured?

3. What recommendations are given to prevent a disk corruption?

4. What will be the future of hard drives?

5. What is the difference between CD and DVD?

6. What formats of CD and DVD can you name?

7. How does a DVD drive record data?

8. What is the difference between Blu-ray and DVD?

9. What is Flash memory? Where does the name come from?

10. How does flash memory differ from other types of memory?

11. Where can flash memory be used? What are the limitations?

Exercise 7. Find Russian equivalents for the following words or word combinations from the text.

revolution per minute to organize the disk surface a circular track the read/write head an entry for the directory a partition seek time to confuse transfer rate to be sensitive to a head crash to spin a virus scanner to back up the hard drive to boot to reduce power consumption

an optical disc to occupy space secure and stable to use a laser beam a pit a double sided disc a dual layer disc a read-only unit a write-once device a rewritable disc data archiving interactive content a DVD burner/ recorder a built-in DVD drive to be behind

Exercise 8. Complete the sentences using the information from the text

1. Magnetic storage devices store data by… .

2. A hard drive spins at… .

3. When the disk is formatted, the operating system … .

4. The average time required for the read/write heads to move and find data… .

5. Hard drives are very sensitive to… .

6. To minimize the risk of data loss or corruption… .

7. The fact that optical discs are not affected by magnetic fields means that … .

8. CDs come in three different formats… .

9. HD-DVD and Blu-ray discs are… .

10. A Blu-ray disc has a capacity … .

11. Unlike RAM, which is volatile, flash memory retains… .

Text 3

Exercise 9. Read the text. Answer the questions.