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Computer Memory.......... : Presented By: Pooja Kushwah

This document summarizes the classification of computer memory. It describes primary memory, which is directly accessed by the CPU and includes RAM and ROM. RAM is temporary and volatile, while ROM provides permanent storage of basic instructions. Secondary or auxiliary memory is slower but larger for long-term storage and includes magnetic disks, tapes, optical disks, USB flash drives, and mass storage devices like disk arrays and tape drives. Primary memory interacts directly with the CPU, while secondary memory communicates indirectly through main memory.

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85 views

Computer Memory.......... : Presented By: Pooja Kushwah

This document summarizes the classification of computer memory. It describes primary memory, which is directly accessed by the CPU and includes RAM and ROM. RAM is temporary and volatile, while ROM provides permanent storage of basic instructions. Secondary or auxiliary memory is slower but larger for long-term storage and includes magnetic disks, tapes, optical disks, USB flash drives, and mass storage devices like disk arrays and tape drives. Primary memory interacts directly with the CPU, while secondary memory communicates indirectly through main memory.

Uploaded by

yash
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Computer Memory..........

Presented By:
Pooja Kushwah
The diagrammatic representation of the classification of computer
memory is shown below:
When the main memory holds instructions and data when a
program is executing, the auxiliary memory or secondary memory
holds data and programs which are not currently in use and
furnishes long term storage.
The primary memory and secondary memory are further classified
into distinct groups and those are explained in the below diagram:
Primary memory:
Primary memory is the only type of memory which is directly
accessed by the CPU. The CPU continuously reads
instructions stored in the primary memory and executes them.
Any data that has to be operated by the CPU is also stored.
The information is transferred to various locations through the
BUS. Primary memories are of two types. They are:

 RAM
 ROM
 RAM: It stands for Random Access Memory. Here data can be stored
temporarily, so this type of memory is called as temporary memory or volatile
memory because when power fails the data from RAM will be erased. The
information stored in the RAM is basically loaded from the computer’s disk and
includes information related to the operating system and applications that are
currently executed by the processor. RAM is considered random access
because any memory cell can be directly accessed if its address is known. RAM
is of distinct types like

 SRAM
 DRAM
 VRAM.
 ROM: It stands for Read Only Memory. In this, the data will be
furnished by the manufacturers regarding the system, so this
information can simply be read by the user but cannot add new data
or it cannot be modified.

 PROM – Programmable Read Only Memory

 EPROM – Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory

 EEPROM – Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only


Memory
Secondary memory:
Secondary memory or auxiliary memory consists of slower and less
expensive device that communicates indirectly with CPU via main
memory. The secondary memory stores the data and keeps it even
when the power fails. It is used to store or save large data or
programs or other information. The secondary storage devices are
explained below:

 Magnetic disks
 Magnetic tape
 Optical disk
 USB flash drive
 Mass storage devices
1.Magnetic disks: Magnetic disks are made of rigid
metals or synthetic plastic material. The disk platter is
coated on both the surfaces with magnetic material and
both the surfaces can be used for storage. The magnetic
disk furnishes direct access and is for both small and
large computer systems. The magnetic disk comes in
two forms:

 Floppy disks
 Hard disks
 2. Magnetic tape: magnetic tape is serial access storage medium
and it can store a large volume of data at low costs. The
conventional magnetic tape is in reels of up to 3600 feet made of
Mylar plastic tape. The tape is one-half inch in width and is coated
with magnetic material on one side. The reel of tape is loaded on
a magnetic tape drive unit. During any read/write operation, the
tape is moved from one spool to another in the same way as in
the audiocassette tape recorder. The magnetic tape is densely
packed with magnetic spots in frames across its width.
3. Optical drives: optical drives are a storage medium from which data
is read and to which it is written by lasers. Optical disks can store
much more data up to 6GB. Optical store devices are the most widely
used and reliable storage devices. The most widely used type of
optical storage devices are explained below:

 CD – ROM
 DVD – ROM
 CD – RECORDABLE
 CD – REWRITABLE
 PHOTO – CD
4. USB flash drives: USB flash drives are removable, rewritable and are
physically much smaller drives, which have the weight of less than
30g. In the year of 2010, the storage capacity of the USB flash drives
was as large as 256GB. Such devices are a good substitute for floppy
disks and CD – ROMs as they are smaller, faster, have thousands of
times more capacity, and are more durable and reliable. Until 2005,
most desktop and laptop computers had floppy disk drives, but
nowadays floppy disk drives have been abandoned in favor of USB
ports. The USB connector is often protected inside a removable cap,
although it is not likely to be damaged if unprotected. USB flash drives
draw power from the computer through external USB connection. The
most widely used USB flash drives are the memory cards.
5. Mass storage devices: Mass storage devices refer to the
saving of huge data in a persistent manner. Mass storage
machines can store up to several trillion bytes of data and
hence are used to store or save large databases, such as the
information of customers of a big retail chain and library
transactions of students in a college. Some of the commonly
used mass storage devices are explained below:

 Disk array
 Automated tape
 CD – ROM jukebox
Thank You

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