OCR GCSE Computing 8 marker

Question:
Kerry was originally going to use an optical storage device to transfer her files.
Discuss whether an optical or solid state device is the most appropriate media to transfer
these files.
You may want to consider the following characteristics in your answer:
• portability
• robustness
• capacity
• cost

Answer:
There are several reasons why optical storage could be used - it has a low cost per GB meaning that it is more convenient for her to buy - it is cheaper than a solid state device. Additionally, it is very light so is very portable and can be carried around easily meaning she can easily place her CD or DVD in any office that has the necessary equipment. Whilst it is low capacity this is not a problem for her necessarily as she only needs to store 5GB of data on this anyway.
However, there are also more reasons why solid state should be used also. It has a much higher capacity than optical storage so in case she needs more data there is always plenty of extra storage. Additionally, it has much faster speed of access than optical storage, as its data does not fragment unliek optical storage, which requires defragmentation software. They are as portable as CDs and DVDs as they are light but they are more convenient as no specialist equipment is required unlike optical storage which requires a CD reader or DVD reader - this is expensive. Solid State devices are also more robust as they have no moving parts unlike optical storage so do not break when dropped or scratched - a CD disk can easily become scratched and the data is corrupted - this means Kerry is less likely to lose all her important data for work which would have significantly set her back. The only major disadvantage of solid state devices is that they have a higher cost per GB than optical storage.
To conclude, Solid State storage is clearly the better storage to use as whilst it is more expensive than optical storage per GB, it is much more convenient to use in her office ensuring Kenny can efficiently do her work.

?/8 ?

Reply 1

xthundercloudx

Original post

by G9S

Question:
Kerry was originally going to use an optical storage device to transfer her files.
Discuss whether an optical or solid state device is the most appropriate media to transfer
these files.
You may want to consider the following characteristics in your answer:
• portability
• robustness
• capacity
• cost
Answer:
There are several reasons why optical storage could be used - it has a low cost per GB meaning that it is more convenient for her to buy - it is cheaper than a solid state device. Additionally, it is very light so is very portable and can be carried around easily meaning she can easily place her CD or DVD in any office that has the necessary equipment. Whilst it is low capacity this is not a problem for her necessarily as she only needs to store 5GB of data on this anyway.
However, there are also more reasons why solid state should be used also. It has a much higher capacity than optical storage so in case she needs more data there is always plenty of extra storage. Additionally, it has much faster speed of access than optical storage, as its data does not fragment unliek optical storage, which requires defragmentation software. They are as portable as CDs and DVDs as they are light but they are more convenient as no specialist equipment is required unlike optical storage which requires a CD reader or DVD reader - this is expensive. Solid State devices are also more robust as they have no moving parts unlike optical storage so do not break when dropped or scratched - a CD disk can easily become scratched and the data is corrupted - this means Kerry is less likely to lose all her important data for work which would have significantly set her back. The only major disadvantage of solid state devices is that they have a higher cost per GB than optical storage.
To conclude, Solid State storage is clearly the better storage to use as whilst it is more expensive than optical storage per GB, it is much more convenient to use in her office ensuring Kenny can efficiently do her work.
?/8 ?

I'm not a CS teacher but I've done OCR CS for GCSEs and I'm doing an A-level in it now with the same exam board being predicted an A*.
One thing I will say about CS especially with OCR is that you don't need to write such lengthy sentences - you could literally use bullet points with each one comparing SSD and optical to get full marks. Your answer is very long and repetitive so if you tend to struggle with time you may want to cut down on this, it's also not very clear and some points are only partially explained - make sure you explicitly link each point back to the question or explain why it matters for Kerry’s situation
Some general mistakes I've seen: optical storage does not use defragmentation software, that's magnetic storage. You said that SSD is 'as portable' as optical and I understand why you've said that but in actuality they are more portable as they aren't as fragile and a USB/SD card is much easier to carry around then a CD. When it comes to cost, for only 5GB the difference isn't as significant as SSD is much cheaper nowadays, it's a good thing to mention to show your knowledge but it doesn't need to be emphasised and you can link it to their scalability e.g. 'SSD tends to be more expensive than optical per GB but there is minimal price difference when it comes to 5GB - but if Kerry wants more storage in the future Optical would be much cheaper per GB'
Some good points: you've compared optical and SSD using all the given characteristics (but remember you can add more even if they are not given to maximise marks) and you've given a clear conclusion.
Overall I'd give it a 5 or 6

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