Removable media

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In

• Optical discs, e.g. Blu-rays (both standard and UHD versions), DVDs,^[4] CDs
• Secure Digital, Memory Stick
• Magnetic storage media
  • Floppy and Zip disks (now obsolete)
  • Disk packs (now obsolete)
  • Magnetic tapes
    (now obsolete)
• Paper data storage, e.g. punched cards, punched tapes (now obsolete)

Examples of removable media that are standalone

• USB flash drives^[5]
• Portable storage devices
  • Dedicated external solid-state drives (SSD)
  • Enclosured mass storage drives, i.e. modified hard disk drives (HDD)/internal SSDs
• Peripheral devices
  that have integrated data storage capability
  • Digital cameras
  • Mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets and handheld game consoles
  • Portable media players
• Other external or dockable peripherals that have expandable removable media capabilities, usually via a
  USB port or memory card reader
  • USB hubs
  • Wired or wireless printers
  • Network routers, access points and switches

Using removable media can pose some computer security risks, including viruses, data theft and the introduction of malware.^[6]

History

The earliest form of removable media,

The CD-ROM was introduced in 1985, providing much higher capacity than a floppy disk, however could not be written to. This was resolved in 1990 with the introduction of the CD-R.^[16][17] The CD-RW, introduced in 1997 allowed the CD to be written to multiple times, rather than just once, as with the CD-R.^[18] DVD versions of these formats introduced in the late 1990s provided further increases in capacity.^[19] Additional capacity improvements were achieved with Blu-ray in 2006.^[20]

The turn of the millennium saw the widespread introduction of

Storage is intended to be used to access data that is access less often. Memory on the other hand is used to access data that is used on a more frequent basis. One of the problems with the earliest computers was how to store data. In the 1950s the International Business Machines (IBM) was trying to solve this problem.^[23]

The first floppy disk was developed under the supervision of Alan Shugart in the late 1960s. The floppy disk was not introduced to the public until the 1970s by IBM. But, like any man-made product the floppy disk came with its pros and cons, such as it being cheap and portable while also having severely limited data storage.^{[citation needed]}

Risks

The use of removable media creates a risk of data loss in the event that the media is lost or stolen. This can lead to the compromise of large amounts of sensitive data, which can result in significant damage to the reputation of a business, as well as possible financial penalties.^[24] This risk can be minimised by company policies that reduce the use of removable media when transporting and storing data, and by encrypting the contents of removable media. Prior to the disposal or reuse of removable media, appropriate steps should be taken to ensure that all data previously stored on the device is not accessible.^[6] Additionally, any device holding sensitive data should be kept secure when not in use.^[24]

Removable media can also be used as a

• Disk enclosure
• Secure Digital card (SD card)

References