Name: Sanam khan

MPA-II
Assignment #1


4mputer Mem4ry are internal st4rage areas in the c4mputer used t4 either temp4rarily 4r
permanently st4re data 4r instructi4ns t4 be pr4cessed. There are I4ur basic types 4I c4mputer
mem4ry: ache Mem4ry, RAM, Virtual Mem4ry and Hard Drives. With m4dern PU`s running
at speeds 4I 1 gigahertz 4r higher, it is hard I4r c4mputer mem4ry t4 keep up with the extreme
am4unt 4I data being pr4cessed.
Mem4ry is 4ne 4I the m4st imp4rtant things that is inc4rp4rated int4 c4mputers, be it lapt4p
c4mputers 4r Ps. There are vari4us c4mputer mem4ry types installed, depending up4n the
actual need I4r Iuncti4ning and speciIicati4ns 4I the system. The c4mputer mem4ry relates t4 the
many devices and c4mp4nents that are resp4nsible I4r st4ring data and applicati4ns 4n a
temp4rary 4r a permanent basis. It enables a pers4n t4 retain the inI4rmati4n that is st4red 4n the
c4mputer. With4ut it, the pr4cess4r w4uld n4t be able t4 Iind a place which is needed t4 st4re the
calculati4ns and pr4cesses. There are diIIerent types 4I mem4ry in a c4mputer that are assigned a
task 4I st4ring several kinds 4I data. Each has certain peculiarities and capacities.

Computer Memory types

Random Access Memory (RAM)
RAM is a l4cati4n within the c4mputer system which is resp4nsible I4r stacking away data 4n a
temp4rary basis, s4 that it can be pr4mptly accessed by the pr4cess4r. The inI4rmati4n st4red in
RAM is typically l4aded Ir4m the c4mputer's hard disk, and includes data related t4 the
4perating system and certain applicati4ns. When the system is switched 4II, RAM l4ses all the
st4red inI4rmati4n. The data remains st4red and can be retained 4nly when the system is running.

When the RAM gets Iull, the c4mputer system is m4re likely t4 4perate at a sl4w speed. The data
can be retrieved in any rand4m 4rder. Generally, there are tw4 types 4I RAM; namely Static
RAM (SRAM) and Dynamic RAM (DRAM). When many pr4grams are running 4n the
c4mputer simultane4usly, the virtual mem4ry all4ws the c4mputer t4 search in RAM I4r mem4ry
p4rti4ns which haven't been utilized lately and c4py them 4nt4 the hard drive. This acti4n Irees
up RAM space and enables the system t4 l4ad diIIerent pr4grams.

Read Only Memory (ROM)
This type 4I mem4ry is active, regardless 4I whether the system is turned 4n 4r is switched 4II. It
is a kind 4I permanent n4n-v4latile st4rage mem4ry. As the name 'read 4nly' suggests, the
c4ntents in it cann4t be changed 4r m4diIied. It is an integrated circuit which is pre-pr4grammed
with imp4rtant data that sh4uld necessarily be present I4r the c4mputer t4 carry 4ut its n4rmal
Iuncti4nalities.

Cache
ache is a kind 4I RAM which a c4mputer system can access m4re resp4nsively than it can in
regular RAM. The central pr4cessing unit l44ks up in the cache mem4ry beI4re searching in the
central mem4ry st4rage area t4 determine the inI4rmati4n it requires. This rules 4ut the need I4r
the system t4 search I4r inI4rmati4n in larger and bigger mem4ry st4rage areas, which in turn
leads t4 a Iaster extracti4n 4I data.

Computer Hard Drive
These devices are imp4rtant data st4rage c4mp4nents that are installed in the PU. Their
mem4ry ranges widely, and a user may ch44se the mem4ry depending 4n the data needed t4 be
st4red and accessed. N4wadays, hard drives having a mem4ry capacity 4I 120 gigabytes t4 500
gigabytes are n4rmally used.

Flash Memory
This is a n4n-v4latile kind 4I mem4ry which is intended t4 c4ntribute t4 p4rtable st4rage and a
c4nvenient transIer 4I data Ir4m 4ne c4mputer t4 an4ther. The data in it can be erased and re-
pr4grammed as per the user's requirements. It 4nly has a speciIic number 4I erase and write
cycles that it can withstand, aIter which it creates a tendency t4 l4se 4ut 4n the st4red
inI4rmati4n. Mem4ry cards and USB Ilash drives are s4me m4des 4I this type 4I mem4ry
st4rage.

These are just the c4mm4n and main c4mputer mem4ry types which Iacilitate mem4ry and data
st4rage. H4wever, there are many subtypes which are s4rted 4ut acc4rding t4 the mem4ry-related
Iuncti4nalities they perI4rm and the requirements they serve.

Different RAM Types and its uses
SDRAM (Synchronous DRAM)
Alm4st all systems used t4 ship with 3.3 v4lt, 168-pin SDRAM DIMMs. SDRAM is n4t an
extensi4n 4I 4lder EDO DRAM but a new type 4I DRAM alt4gether. SDRAM started 4ut
running at 66 MHz, while 4lder Iast page m4de DRAM and EDO max 4ut at 50 MHz. SDRAM
is able t4 scale t4 133 MHz (P133) 4IIicially, and un4IIicially up t4 180MHz 4r higher. As
pr4cess4rs get Iaster, new generati4ns 4I mem4ry such as DDR and RDRAM are required t4 get
pr4per perI4rmance.
DDR (Double Data Rate SDRAM)
DDR basically d4ubles the rate 4I data transIer 4I standard SDRAM by transIerring data 4n the
up and d4wn tick 4I a cl4ck cycle. DDR mem4ry 4perating at 333MHz actually 4perates at
166MHz * 2 (aka P333 / P2700) 4r 133MHz*2 (P266 / P2100). DDR is a 2.5 v4lt
techn4l4gy that uses 184 pins in its DIMMs. It is inc4mpatible with SDRAM physically, but uses
a similar parallel bus, making it easier t4 implement than RDRAM, which is a diIIerent
techn4l4gy.
.
Rambus DRAM (RDRAM)
Despite it's higher price, Intel has given RDRAM it's blessing I4r the c4nsumer market, and it
will be the s4le ch4ice 4I mem4ry I4r Intel's Pentium 4. RDRAM is a serial mem4ry techn4l4gy
that arrived in three Ilav4rs, P600, P700, and P800. P800 RDRAM has d4uble the
maximum thr4ughput 4I 4ld P100 SDRAM, but a higher latency. RDRAM designs with
multiple channels, such as th4se in Pentium 4 m4therb4ards, are currently at the t4p 4I the heap
in mem4ry thr4ughput, especially when paired with P1066 RDRAM mem4ry.