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Primary Storage Presentation

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11 views5 pages

Primary Storage Presentation

Uploaded by

ayesha.memon2046
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Primary Storage

Presentation

By
Ayesha Abdul Qadir
O1
Primary Storage
● Primary storage is directly accessed by the CPU
● Computer systems need both primary and secondary storage to operate
● Both types of storage play a crucial role in the operation of a computer system

Why do you need primary storage?

● A computer needs primary storage because access times are considerably faster than secondary
● This means the time taken to complete operations such as the Fetch-Execute Cycle is dramatically
reduced
● Primary storage holds the data and instructions that the CPU needs to access whilst the computer is
turned on
● Due to the fast access times, primary storage is used as short-term, working memory, in hardware that
is directly connected to the CPU such as RAM, and components that reside inside the CPU such as
Cache and Registers
● Performance of primary storage means a much higher cost which limits the amount that is used
● For example, RAM is commonly purchased in 16 or 32 gigabytes whereas secondary storage such as
a hard drive is in terabytes
RAM
● RAM (Random Access Memory) is primary storage that is directly connected to the CPU and
holds the data and instructions that are currently in use
● RAM is volatile which means the contents of RAM are lost when the power is turned off
● For the CPU to access the data and instructions they must be copied from secondary storage
● RAM is very fast working memory, much faster than secondary storage
● RAM is read/write which means data can be read from and written to
● In comparison to ROM, it has a much larger capacity
● There are currently two types of RAM technology:
Dynamic RAM(DRAM)
Static RAM(SRAM)

RAM
Types of RAM
● DRAM (pronounced DEE-RAM), is widely used as a computer’s main memory. Each DRAM memory
cell is made up of a transistor and a capacitor within an integrated circuit, and a data bit is stored in the
capacitor. Since transistors always leak a small amount, the capacitors will slowly discharge, causing
information stored in it to drain; hence, DRAM has to be refreshed (given a new electronic charge)
every few milliseconds to retain data.
● SRAM (pronounced ES-RAM) is made up of four to six transistors. It keeps data in the memory as long
as power is supplied to the system unlike DRAM, which has to be refreshed periodically. As such,
SRAM is faster but also more expensive, making DRAM the more prevalent memory in computer
systems.
ROM
● ROM (Read Only Memory) is primary storage that holds the first instructions a computer needs
to start up (Bootstrap)
● ROM contains the BIOS (Basic Input Output System)
● ROM is a small memory chip located on the computer's motherboard
● ROM is fast memory, much faster than secondary storage but slower than RAM
● ROM is non-volatile which means the contents of ROM are not lost when the power is turned
off
● ROM is read only which means data can only be read from
● In comparison to RAM, it has a much smaller capacity

ROM

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