Review and survey of mass memories

Abstract

Prior to the advent of electronic digital computers, large files of data and records were stored primarily in printed form or in punched cards for use with standard tabulating and business machine equipment. The introduction of electronic digital computers in the late 1940's, and their commercial applications in the early 1950's, led to the requirement for storing (in a machine readable code and media) large volumes of data generated by computers that were expected to be used again by the computer. These large external files were stored primarily in punched cards and on magnetic tapes. Until approximately 1955, these serial off-line storage devices provided the only method of storing large volume files of computer records that were to be used by the computer again at a later time. Their applications suffered from the inherent disadvantages of serial access and lack of online availability, under computer control, of all records in the file.