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This
article explains about what are the different kinds of memory inside a computer
like internal and external memories in a computer, volatile and non-volatile memories
etc.
The registers
inside the processors have the fastest memory access which is followed by cache,
main memory; all these are internal in computer system. Externally, hard disk is
faster which is followed by optical disks and tapes.
Main
memory is cheaper but has more capacity than the cache. Tapes are cheaper but have
more capacity than the hard disk.
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Volatile
memory: This is a Random Access Memory (RAM). The data will be lost when we shutdown
the computer if it is not saved.
Non-volatile
memory: This is a Read Only Memory (ROM). The data will not be lost upon the shutdown
of computer.
When small amount of data has to be stored then Electrically Erasable
Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM) is used, for large amounts of data, flash
memory is used.
Generally
Dynamic RAM is used for main memory and Static RAM which is more expensive and faster
than dynamic RAM is used for cache memories.
Magnetic
disks stay as the most significant part of external memory and they can be regarded
as the foundation of external memory.
The hard disk in a personal computer is an
example of a non-removable disk of magnetic disk category and floppy disk is an
example of removable magnetic disks.
The original
type of secondary memory was Magnetic tape. These days also people are using them
because of their low cost. This tape is similar to the one we use in our home tape
recorders.
A Floppy disk is a kind of memory storage which can store data written
magnetically on its surface.
Now a days laptops and computers are not having the
floppy drives for accessing the floppies instead they are coming with CD burners.
Some come with swappable CD and floppy drives in which we can replace a CD drive
with the floppy drive and vice versa.
After the introduction of optical storage technology, it was widely used in almost
every computer systems.
Compared to the magnetic disks, the optical disks have longer
life and more reliable too.
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