Storage media refers to physical devices that receive and retain electronic data for applications and users and make the data available for retrieval. Examples of storage media include hard drives, CDs, DVDs, USB flash drives, magnetic tapes, and non-volatile memory cards. The type of media needed to hold the data depends on the datas business value, applicable compliance regulations, performance and availability requirements, and other factors. Storage media can be internal to a computing device, such as a computers SSD, or a removable device such as an external HDD or USB flash drive. The term storage medium can refer to a storage device in its entirety or to an individual component thats used in conjunction with or is part of another system. For instance, the internal HDDs and SSDs in computers are commonly referred to as storage media, as are CDs, but the CD drive itself is thought of as a storage device or system, rather than storage medium.