Types Of Memory In Computers
Memory is actually the internal storage in the computer and the memory can be either physical memory or virtual memory. RAM or main memory is present in certain amount in every computer and a computer having 1 megabyte of memory can hold almost one million bytes of different information. There are different types of memory in computers which have their own respective characteristics. The hard disc drive is considered to be the long term memory of the computer and is generally used to store different type of documents, games, music, images, and other files. The HDD type of memory in computers is able to store a massive quantity of data and have the capacity of storing more than 2 terabytes.
RAM or random access memory are considered to be the most commonly used types of memory in computers and are exclusively electronic. RAM has the ability to approach any type of information any time and is considered to be the quickest type of memory. In addition, RAM is thought to be a short term memory because the documents or files stored in it are only for a short time. The information in the RAM is stored in the form of hundreds of electronic circuits. Other types of memory in computers are of flash memory which is actually non-volatile in nature. Flash memory is not as fast as that of RAM, but one of its advantages is that it is very durable and they can bear any kind of rough handling. This positive point is quite helpful in making the flash memory suitable for various portable uses. However, the negative point is that the flash memory is comparatively very slow and can read only 22 megabytes/s.
Dynamic random access memory or DRAM is one of the most broadly used types of memory in computers. This type of memory stores various data for minimum time period and needs to be refreshed on regular basis. VRAM or video random access memory is the type of memory in computer that is considered to be an interpretation of the fast-page memory and is usually found in video accelerator cards. Sam or serial access memory is actually the exact opposite of RAM and is capable to storing a series of several memory cells. Sam is considered to be very useful with the memory buffers of the computer such as video card’s texture buffer memory.
The types of memory in computers used to store any program are known as PROM, but once it is utilized it can’t be wiped out. In the same way, EPROM is a peculiar type of PROM that can however be erased by the direct exposure to the ultraviolet light. On the other hand, the EEPROM is the type of computer memory that can be removed by the direct exposure to any electrical charge. Shadow ram is also a type of computer memory which allows the transport of certain chosen segments of the BIOS code from the ROM to the RAM memory.
