Editing Data storage (section)

{{short description|Recording of information in a storage medium}}
{{about|all forms of data storage|data storage on computers in particular|Computer data storage}}
{{refimprove|date=February 2018}}

[[File:EdisonPhonograph.jpg|thumb|Edison cylinder phonograph {{Circa|1899}}. The [[phonograph cylinder]] is a storage medium. The phonograph may be considered a storage device especially as machines of this vintage were able to record on blank cylinders.]]
[[File:Reel-to-reel recorder tc-630.jpg|thumb|On a [[Reel-to-reel audio tape recording|reel-to-reel tape recorder]] (Sony TC-630), the recorder is data storage equipment and the [[magnetic tape]] is a data storage medium.]]
[[File:PersonalStorageDevices.agr.jpg|thumb|Various electronic storage devices, with a coin for scale]]
[[File:RNA-comparedto-DNA thymineAndUracilCorrected.png|thumb|upright|[[DNA]] and [[RNA]] can be considered as biological storage media.<ref name="rna">{{cite journal|title=The RNA World|journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]|first=Walter|last=Gilbert|author-link=Walter Gilbert|date=Feb 1986|pages=618|volume=319|doi=10.1038/319618a0|issue=6055|bibcode=1986Natur.319..618G|s2cid=8026658|doi-access=free}}</ref>]]
{{Memory types}}

'''Data storage''' is the recording (storing) of [[information]] ([[data]]) in a '''storage medium'''. [[Handwriting]], [[Phonograph record|phonographic]] recording, [[magnetic tape]], and [[optical disc]]s are all examples of storage media. Biological molecules such as [[RNA]] and [[DNA]] are considered by some as data storage.<ref name="rna"> </ref><ref>{{cite web|title=DNA seen through the eyes of a coder|first=Bert|last=Hubert|url=https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/amazing-dna/|date=9 January 2021|accessdate=12 September 2022}}</ref> Recording may be accomplished with virtually any form of [[energy]]. Electronic data storage requires electrical power to store and retrieve data. 

Data storage in a digital, machine-readable medium is sometimes called ''digital data''. Computer data storage is one of the core functions of a [[general-purpose computer]]. [[Electronic document]]s can be stored in much less space than paper [[document]]s.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.seas.gwu.edu/~shmuel/WORK/Differences/Chapter%203%20-%20Sources.pdf|title=The Difference between Electronic and Paper Documents|last=Rotenstreich|first=Shmuel|website=[[George Washington University]]|access-date=12 April 2016|archive-date=20 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200220013803/https://www2.seas.gwu.edu/~shmuel/WORK/Differences/Chapter%203%20-%20Sources.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Barcode]]s and [[magnetic ink character recognition]] (MICR) are two ways of recording machine-readable data on paper.