Table of Contents
Computer’s Primary and Secondary Storage
Storage Device/Media
Data needs to be stored for later use on storage media. The two types of storage media are:
- Primary storage media
- Secondary storage media
Primary storage media
Random Access Memory (RAM)
- It is the internal storage area of the machine.
- Random Access Memory (RAM)
- This is the memory that the computer uses for storing the programs and their data while working on them.
- RAM has the following characteristics:
- Data within the RAM can be read or modified, i.e. you can either read from the RAM or write onto it. Hence it is called
ROM (Read Only Memory)
- It is an internal permanent storage memory.
- ROM contains permanently recorded instructions that are vital for starting the computer.
- One set of instruction in ROM is called the ROM-BIOS
- All machine-level instructions are stored in the ROM.
Secondary storage media
Compact Disk (CD ROM) Floppy Disk Cartridge Tape Magneto-Optical Disk USB drive / Pen Drive Memory Stick Hard Disk
About Memory Size
1 Nibble = 4 bits 1Byte = 8 bits 1 Kilobyte (KB) = 1024 Bytes 1 Megabyte (MB) = 1024 KB 1 Gigabyte (GB) = 1024 MB 1 Terabyte (TB) = 1024 GB 1 Petabyte (PB) = 1024 TB 1 Exabyte (EB) = 1024 PB 1 Zettabyte = 1024 EB