Professor Messer’s Free CompTIA A+ Certification Training Course – Personal Computer Storage

Chapter 7: Personal Computer Storage

Computer storage systems are a myriad of drive formats, cable connections, and removable drives. As the capacity of hard drives continues to increase, it becomes even more important for the CompTIA A+ certified professional to be familiar with all aspects of personal computer storage.

Understanding the fundamentals of personal computer storage is an important CompTIA A+ topic. In this module, we’ll provide you with an overview of computer storage systems, an explanation of disk geometry, and a description of how the master boot record manages to get your operating system started.

Parallel ATA has evolved from the original IBM AT and IDE standard into the high-speed PATA format that we use today. In this video, we’ll show you what the CompTIA A+ certified professional needs to know about configuring, cabling, and installing your PATA drives.

Serial ATA is the latest standard in high-speed hard drive storage, and it’s used in both large enterprise networks and consumer laptops and desktops. In this video, we’ll show you how SATA cables and configuration options are different than other available storage formats.

Small Computer Systems Interface is one of those computing standards that have been around for as long as anyone can remember. In this video, we’ll provide you with an overview of SCSI’s history and show you how to cable and install the latest generation of SCSI devices in desktops and servers.

Removable drives have been around since the floppy drive days, and the latest generation of USB, Firewire, and eSATA removable drives provide an amazing amount of storage in some of the smallest packages the industry has ever seen. In this video, we’ll show you how the latest removable and portable storage technologies work with today’s computing platforms.