記憶媒体(きおくばいたい)

Composed of 記憶(きおく) (memory, recording) + 媒体(ばいたい) (medium, carrier, vehicle). Literally 'memory medium.' 媒体(ばいたい) is a productive compound element also used in 広告(こうこく)媒体(ばいたい) (advertising medium) and 情報(じょうほう)媒体(ばいたい) (information medium).

Common collocations

• 記憶媒体(きおくばいたい)に保存(ほぞん)する: to save to a storage medium
• 記憶媒体(きおくばいたい)を接続(せつぞく)する: to connect a storage device
• 外部(がいぶ)記憶媒体(きおくばいたい): external storage medium
• 記憶媒体(きおくばいたい)の容量(ようりょう): the capacity of a storage medium
• 記憶媒体(きおくばいたい)を廃棄(はいき)する: to dispose of a storage medium

Typical examples

• USBメモリ: USB memory stick
• SDカード / microSDカード: SD card, microSD card
• 外付(そとづ)けハードディスク: external hard disk
• SSD: solid-state drive
• CD / DVD / ブルーレイ: optical discs
• 磁気(じき)テープ: magnetic tape (used for long-term backup)
• フロッピーディスク: floppy disk (historical)

Similar words

• 記録媒体(きろくばいたい): recording medium — a near-synonym, perhaps slightly more common in contexts involving recording (audio, video, photography) rather than general data storage.
• 記憶装置(きおくそうち): storage device — emphasizes the device hardware (with built-in controller electronics) rather than the bare medium; includes RAM and CPU cache as well as external storage.
• ストレージ: storage — an increasingly common loanword in IT contexts, often referring to cloud storage or data storage systems.
• メディア: media — the loanword, used casually for the same concept (e.g. DVDメディア = 'DVD media').

Usage

In corporate information-security policies, '記憶媒体(きおくばいたい)' is a standard keyword — the phrase 記憶媒体(きおくばいたい)管理(かんり) ('storage media management') refers to the entire set of rules governing how employees can use, transport, and dispose of storage devices that might contain confidential data.

Register

Formal and technical. Common in written IT and business contexts. In casual speech, Japanese speakers use more specific words: USBメモリ, SDカード, ハードディスク, etc.