Which one of the following is not a type of magnetic storage system?

Question

Which one of the following is not a type of magnetic storage system?

1. A. Magnetic tape
2. B. Compact disk (Correct answer)
3. C. Hard disk
4. D. Floppy disk

Correct Answer

Option B — Compact disk

Detailed Solution & Explanation

The correct answer is Compact disk.

Key Points

• A compact disk (CD) is an optical storage medium, not a magnetic one — data is written and read using a laser beam that detects pits and lands on the disc surface.
• Magnetic tape, hard disk and floppy disk all store data by magnetising particles on a coated surface, and are read by a magnetic head.
• The question asks which is not magnetic, so the optical medium is the answer.

Additional Information

• The three storage families worth distinguishing are magnetic (HDD, tape, floppy), optical (CD, DVD, Blu-ray) and solid-state / semiconductor (SSD, pen drive, memory card).
• Because optical media carry no magnetic charge, they are unaffected by stray magnetic fields — one practical reason they were long favoured for archival storage.