What is Computer Memory? and its types?

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Hello friends! Do you know what is Computer Memory and what are its types ? You must have heard about computer memory at one time or the other, if you have not heard then no problem, today I will give you through this article what is computer memory and what are its types. I am going to give information about this. Read Also : What is Algorithm? How to write more easily? complete information

If you have this question, then you have come to the right place today, today through this article you will get to know a lot of information about computer memory, so stay tuned with the half article and read it till the end. Computer memory is a part of the computer that is used to store data safely.

If I explain it in simple language, then it is a kind of Physical Device which is used to store all the Data, Information and Instruction permanently and temporarily in the computer. If the computer does not have computer memory, then it can be very difficult to store all these important data securely.

That’s why it is very important to have computer memory so that all the data that is already present in the computer is stored in a safe place by computer memory. Let me clear all the doubts related to computer memory.

What is computer memory? What is Computer Memory

So first of all we know what is computer memory, computer memory is such a space where all the data, information and instructions of the computer are kept very carefully and carefully and all those Tatas are processed when They are needed.

If I explain it in simple language, then computer memory is like the memory of our brain, which works to keep all our information safe in one place. Memory in computer is usually divided into small parts of numbers which are called Cells in technology language. Each Cells or Location has a Unique Number Address which varies from Zero to Memory Size Minus One.

Computer memory is a very important part of any computer because without it the computer cannot complete even a single task, that is why it is very important to have computer memory in the computer. There are two different basic types of computer memory, first Primary Memory / Volatile Memory and Secondary Memory / Non Volatile Memory.

types of computer memory

what is Computer Memory
what is Computer Memory

How many types of computer memory are there, many people search this question daily on the Internet and try to find the answer to this question, but many people do not get the exact answer to this question, but today you will get the answer to this question. Because I am going to tell you how many types of computer memory are there.

Computer memory is a very big device in itself, in which many functions are done automatically, computer memory works with small tasks, if there is no computer memory in your computer, then it becomes impossible to run your computer, that is why computer If there is any device, then it is the most important computer memory.

There are mainly three types of computer memory which are as follows –

  1. ✅ Cache Memory
  2. ✅ Primary Memory/Main Memory
  3. ✅ Secondary Memory

What is Cache Memory?

Cache Memory is one of the fastest memory of the computer because it runs very High Speed ​​Semiconductor Memory which helps a lot in Speed ​​Up the CPU. If we talk about its function, then it acts like a buffer between CPU and Main Memory.

Cache memory is used to hold data and parts of programs that are frequently used by the CPU. Data and program parts are operated from Disk to Primary Memory and then from Primary Memory to Cache Memory from where CPU can access them easily.

What is Primary Memory / Main Memory?

Primary Memory / Main Memory usually holds only that Data and Informations in which the computer is working now, it has very Fixed Capacity and the data gets lost in it when the power is completely turned off.

Primary Memory / Main Memory is usually made of Semiconductor Device and it is not as fast as the memory register. The data and instructions that need to be processed reside inside this main memory.

How many types of primary memory are there?

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There are two types of primary memory which are as follows –

  1. ✅ RAM
  2. ✅ ROM

What is RAM?

The full form of RAM is Random Access Memory, it is a part of the main memory of a computer which is directly connected to the CPU. RAM is usually used to read and write data that the CPU randomly accesses and RAM is a type of memory volatile. Once the main switch is turned off, all the information stored in it is lost. .

What is ROM?

The full form of ROM is Read Only Memory, this memory is a type of Memory Non Volatile, in which once the Main Power is turned off, all the data and information stored in it is not lost. ROM is mainly used for Calculators and Peripheral Device.

What is secondary memory?

Secondary memory is the third and last part of computer memory. We know this type of memory as Non Volatile Memory or External Memory. This type of memory is much slower than the main memory and its main use is usually to store data or information completely permanently. is used for.

Do you know guys?

CPU cannot directly access Secondary Memory, for this CPU has to use Input and Output method first, I mean that the contents of Secondary Memory is first transferred to Main Memory and only then its contents CPU can access such as for example CD-ROM, DVD, Flash Drive, Hard Drive etc.

Unit of Computer Memory

Friends, the way seconds have been made to measure distance, kilometers have been made to measure distance and grams have been made to measure weight, in the same way, to measure the capacity of computer memory, the unit of computer memory has also been determined, which we Also called computer unit.

If we talk about the smallest unit, then the smallest unit in computer memory is called Bit, in which only one Binary Digit 0 or 1 can be stored. To measure computer memory, I will show you a table below where you can see computer memory. We can see the units of measurement in increasing order.

1 Bit0 to 1
4 Bit1 nibble
8 Bit1 Byte
1000 Byte1 KB
1024 KB1 MB
1024 MB1 GB
1024 GB1 TB
1024 TB1 PB
1024 PB1 EB
1024 EB1 ZB
1024 ZB1 YB

Friends, this is the unit of measuring computer memory, so that you can easily forgive the speed of computer memory and you can see how it is working, usually its unit is used to measure memory. Is.


Why do we need computer memory? (Why do we need a computer memory)

In computer we need computer memory to store different types of data like text, image, video, audio, documents etc. 

If we do not store these data, then we will not be able to retrieve it when needed, in such a situation it is necessary to store these data. So that we can retrieve that data when we need it.

Friends, till now you must have come to know what is memory and why do we need computer memory. 

Features of Memory

Following are the different features of memory system:

1. Location

It represents the internal or external location of memory in the computer. Internal memory is inbuilt in the computer. It is also known as primary memory. Examples of primary memory are registers, cache and main memory. Whereas, external memory is a storage device separate from the computer, such as a disk, tape, USB pen drive.

2. Capacity

This is the most important feature of computer memory. The storage capacity may differ between external and internal memory. The storage capacity of an external device is measured in terms of bytes, while internal memory is measured with bytes or words. 

3. Access Methods

Memory can be accessed through four modes of memory.

1. DMA : As the name specifies, Direct Memory Addressing (DMA) is a method that allows Input/Output (I/O) devices to access or retrieve data directly from or to main memory.

2. Sequential Access Method : Sequential Access Method is used in data storage devices to read stored data sequentially from computer memory. Whereas, the data retrieved from Random Access Memory (RAM) can be in any order.

3. Random Access Method -: It is a method used for random access to data from memory. This method is the opposite of SAM (Sequential Access Method). 

4. Associative Access Method -: It is a special type of memory which optimizes direct accessing of stored information on the basis of memory address.

4. Unit of transfer

As the name suggests, a unit of transfer measures the transfer rate of bits that can be read or written to a memory device. The transfer rate of data in external and internal memory may be different.

Internal memory -: The transfer rate of bits is mostly equal to the word size.

External memory -: The transfer rate of bit or unit is not equal to the word size. It is always more than one word.

5. Performance

The performance of memory is mainly divided into three parts.

Access Time -: In random access memory, it represents the total time taken by memory devices to send an address to the memory to perform a read or write operation.

Memory Cycle Time -: The total time to access a memory block plus the additional time required before starting another access.

Transfer rate -: It describes the transfer rate of data used to transmit memory to or from external or internal memory devices. Bit transfer can be different for different external and internal devices.

6. Physical types

It defines the physical types of memory used in computers such as magnetic, semiconductor, magneto-optical and optical.

7. Organization

It defines the physical structure of the bits used in the memory.

8. Physical characteristics

It specifies the physical behavior of the memory as volatile, non-volatile or non-erasable memory. Volatile memory known as RAM requires power to retain the stored information, and if there is a power loss, the stored data will be lost. Non-volatile memory is a permanent storage memory that is used to retrieve any stored information even when the power is turned off. Non-erasable memory is a type of memory that cannot be erased after it is created like ROM because it is programmed at the time the ROM is created.


FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions

How many types of memory are there? 

There are mainly three types of memory in a computer -: primary memory, secondary memory and cache memory. I have told you about all these memories in detail above.

What is primary memory? 

Primary memory is the main memory of the computer which stores all the data and information of the program currently running in the CPU. When the CPU needs any data related to the program, it receives that data from the primary memory.

Explain what is computer memory?

Computer memory is a part of a computer that works to securely store all the data and information kept in the computer.

How many types of cache memory are there?

Case memory is of three types L1, L2 and L3

How many types of memory are there?

There are mainly three types of memory, the first is primary memory, then the second is secondary memory and finally the cache memory.

Conclusion

So today we have learned in great detail about what is Computer Memory and its types in this article, I sincerely hope that you have liked this article of mine and I have tried to convey as much information as possible to you in this article. Hope you have understood all those things, you can come to our website to read more such excellent articles, thank you.