Memory and Storage and a

little bit.

Types of Memory
RAM

(Random access memory )

(RAM)

is the best known form of computer

memory. RAM is considered "random access"
because you can access any memory cell
directly if you know the row and column that
intersect at that cell.
When a computer is powered on, certain
operating system files (such as MS XP files)
load into RAM from the hard disk. These files
remain in RAM as long as the computer has
continuous power.

RAM Continued
Think

of RAM as the workspace on top of

your desk. Just as the top of your desk
needs a certain amount of space to hold
papers, a computer needs a certain
amount of memory to store programs,
data and information.
The more RAM a computer has the faster
the computer it will respond.

Types of RAM
DRAM

(Dynamic) RAM

Chips must be re-energized constantly or they will lose

their contents

SDRAM

Chips are much faster than DRAM because they are

synchronized to the system clock.

DDR

(Double Data Rate) SDRAM

Even faster than SDRAM because they transfer data

twice for each clock cycle

SRAM

(Synchronous) DRAM

(Static) RAM

Chips do not need be re-energized as much as DRAM

and are therefore faster and more reliable. They are also
far more expensive.

Device Typical Access Time

Static RAM (SRAM) 5-15 nanoseconds
Dynamic RAM (DRAM) 50-70
nanoseconds
Hard disk drive 6-12 milliseconds
CD-ROM Drive 80-800 milliseconds
Access time is the speed at which data is
retrieved by the storage device

ROM (Read Only Memory)

Read-only memory (ROM), also known as firmware, is

an integrated circuit programmed with specific data when
it is manufactured. ROM chips are used not only in
computers, but in most other electronic items as well.
ROM Types
There are five basic ROM types:
ROM
PROM
EPROM
EEPROM
Flash memory

ROM Continued
Data

stored in these chips is non-volatile it

is not lost when power is removed.
Data stored in these chips is either
unchangeable or requires a special
operation to change (unlike RAM, which
can be changed as easily as it is read).
This means that removing the power
source from the chip will not cause it to
lose any data.

BIOS (basic input/output system)

One

of the most common uses of Flash

memory is for the basic input/output
system of your computer, commonly
known as the BIOS (pronounced "byeose").
On virtually every computer available, the
BIOS makes sure all the other chips, hard
drives, ports and CPU function together.

Types of Storage Devices

Floppy

disks.

Double

density (DD) disks offer up too 800K

High density (HD) disks offer up to 1.44MB
Advantages
Robust
Universal
Portable
Protected

Disadvantages
Limited

Capacity

Floppy Donts

Zip Drive
A "zip

drive" is basically just a piece of

hardware that reads disks that are a bit
chunkier in size than that of a floppy disk.
How much memory each disk holds can
vary but it's about 100Mb.

CD ROM Drive
CDs

can hold up to 680Mb and most

machines nowadays come equipped with
a cd writer. This is simply a piece of
hardware that lets you read information
from a CD and then write information onto
a CD as well.

CD Donts
Stack discs

Expose the disc to

excessive heat or
sunlight

Touch the
underside of the
disc

Write on the label

side of the disc

Eat, drink or
smoke near a disc

Magnetic Tape
These

are larger storage devices that are

generally used in servers as file back-up
media.
They are like standard audio tape
cassettes but have the ability to store a lot
more information.
They hold up to 24Gb

USB (Pen) Drive

A small,

portable flash memory card that plugs

into a computers USB port and functions as a
portable hard drive with up to 2GB of storage
capacity.
USB flash drives are touted as being easy-touse as they are small enough to be carried in a
pocket and can plug into any computer with a
USB drive. USB flash drives have less storage
capacity than an external hard drive, but they
are smaller and more durable because they do
not contain any internal moving parts.

Hard Disks
A magnetic

disk on which you can store

computer data.
The term hard is used to distinguish it from a
soft, or floppy, disk.
Hard disks hold more data and are faster than
floppy disks. A hard disk, for example, can store
anywhere from 10 to more than 100 gigabytes
A single hard disk usually consists of several
platters.
Each platter requires two read/write heads, one
for each side. All the read/write heads are
attached to a single access arm so that they
cannot move independently.

Hard Disks Continued

Hard disks and cassette tapes also share the major

benefits of magnetic storage -- the magnetic medium can
be easily erased and rewritten, and it will "remember" the
magnetic flux patterns stored onto the medium for many
years.
The tape in a cassette-tape deck moves over the head at
about 2 inches (about 5.08 cm) per second.
The information on a hard disk is stored in extremely
small magnetic domains compared to a cassette tape's.
The size of these domains is made possible by the
precision of the platter and the speed of the medium.

Hard disks Continued

A hard-disk platter can

spin underneath its
head at speeds up to
3,000 inches per
second (about 170 mph
or 272 kph)!
Data is stored onto the
disk in the form of files.
A file is simply a named
collection of bytes.

Bits & Bytes

In

the world of computers, information is digital.

This information is made up of discrete units.
These discrete units are called: Bits.
Bit: (Binary digit) is the smallest unit of
information a computer can process
Bits have only two values: 1 or 0
A collection of 8 bits is called a byte.
Bytes are bigger than bits.

Bytes cont
A collection

of 8 bits can represent 256

different messages:

28 = 256
By mixing and matching combinations of
Ons and Offs you can get 256 different
messages.

Examples

=0
128

64

32

16

Examples

=1
128

64

32

16

Examples

=2
128

64

32

16

Examples

=3
128

64

32

16

Examples

=4
128

64

32

16

Examples

= 10
128

64

32

16

Examples

= 255
128

64

32

16

Note: we get 256 possible characters

because we start at 0 and go to 255
which is 256 separate numbers.

ASCII
To make

words, sentences, and

paragraphs fit into the computers binarycode circuitry, a unique piece of code was
devised to represent each letter, digit, and
special character as a unique string of
bits.
ASCII (pronounced as-kee) is the most
widely used code

ASCII
American

Standard Code
Using only 8 bits ASCII has a set of 256
individual characters, for all letters (upper and
lower case), numbers and some special
characters
Unicode is possibly going to replace ASCII.
Unicode has a 65,000 character set. This will be
done by using 2 bytes (16 bits) per character.

Instructions using Binary

Bits

can represent data stored on a

computer.
A string of bits can also represent an
instruction
01101010

could tell the CPU to add two

numbers together.

More

on this shortly

Special Modifier Terms

Term
Byte
K (kilobyte)
also KB

Value
A group of 8 bits.
About 1000 bytes of information.
Technically 1K is 1024, because
1024 is 210

MB (megabyte) Approximately 1000K, or 1 million

bytes
GB (gigabyte)

Approximately 1000MB

TB (terabyte)

Approximately 1 million
megabytes.

The End