What is "mass storage"

n. (context computing English) Any form of persistent data storage technology with high capacity relative to that of the high-speed non-persistent memory of computers of its time.

In computing, mass storage refers to the storage of large amounts of data in a persisting and machine-readable fashion. Devices and/or systems that have been described as mass storage include tape libraries, RAID systems, and a variety of computer drives such as hard disk drives, magnetic tape drives, magneto-optical disc drives, optical disc drives, memory cards, and solid-state drives. It also includes experimental forms like holographic memory and historic forms like drum memory, floppy disk drives and punched tape. Mass storage includes devices with removable and non-removable media. It does not include random access memory (RAM), which is volatile in that it loses its contents after power loss.