Storage is the retention of data on physical or cloud media. It keeps files, photos, videos, and programs when the power is off. Memory is temporary. Storage is permanent. Your computer has both. Storage is measured in gigabytes and terabytes. A phone with 128 GB can hold thousands of photos. A data center with petabytes can hold the world's knowledge.

Storage comes in many forms. Hard disk drives use spinning magnetic platters. Solid-state drives use flash memory with no moving parts. They are faster, quieter, and more durable. USB drives and memory cards use flash too. Cloud storage keeps data on remote servers. Tape is still used for archives.

Types of storage

• HDD: magnetic, cheap, high capacity
• SSD: flash, fast, durable
• USB flash: portable, convenient
• Memory card: cameras and phones
• Cloud: remote, accessible anywhere
• Tape: archival, long-term

Storage is not infinite. It fills up. Photos, videos, and applications grow. Backups matter. A failed drive can lose years of work. The cloud helps, but it is not immune to failure. Redundancy is the rule. Store data in more than one place.