Info Tech Guide

Random Access Memory (RAM) is a type of computer memory that can be accessed randomly that is, any byte of memory can be accessed without touching the preceding bytes. RAM is the place in a computer where the Operating System, application programs, and data in current use are kept so that they can be quickly reached by the computer’s Processor.

RAM is much faster to read from and write to than the other kinds of storage in a computer, the hard disk, floppy disk, and CD-ROM.

However, the data in RAM stays there only as long as your computer is running. When you turn the computer off, RAM loses its data. When you turn your computer on again, your Operating System and other files are once again loaded into RAM, usually from your hard disk.

Every time you open a program, it gets loaded from the hard drive into the RAM. This is because reading data from the RAM is much faster than reading data from the hard drive. Running programs from the RAM of the computer allows them to function without any lag time.

The more RAM your computer has, the more data can be loaded from the hard drive into the RAM, which can effectively speed up your computer. In fact, adding RAM can be more beneficial to your computer’s performance than upgrading the Central Processing Unit

RAM is small, both in physical size (it’s stored in microchips) and in the amount of data it can hold. It’s much smaller than your hard disk. A typical computer may come with 256 million bytes of RAM and a hard disk that can hold 40 billion bytes.

RAM comes in the form of “discrete” (meaning separate) microchips and also in the form of modules that plug into holes in the computer’s motherboard. These holes connect through a bus or set of electrical paths to the Processor. The hard drive, on the other hand, stores data on a magnetized surface that looks like a phonograph record.

There are two types of Random Access Memory (RAM),the DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory)and the SRAM (Static Random Access Memory).The two types differ in the technology they use to hold data, with DRAM being the more common type. In terms of speed, SRAM is faster. DRAM needs to be refreshed thousands of times per second while SRAM does not need to be refreshed, which is what makes it faster than DRAM. DRAM supports access times of about 60 nanoseconds, SRAM can give access times as low as 10 nanoseconds. Despite SRAM being faster, it’s not as commonly used as DRAM because it’s so much more expensive.