1.3.10

Random Access Memory

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Random Access Memory

Random Access Memory (RAM) is one of the two types of main memory found in computers. General purpose computers usually contain a large amount of RAM. The features of RAM are:

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Volatile

  • RAM is volatile. This means that it will lose its contents when power is lost (i.e. if the computer is switched off).
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Fast

  • RAM is much faster to access than secondary storage such as Hard Disk Drives (HDDs).
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Expensive

  • RAM is much more expensive per unit capacity than secondary storage media.
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Random access

  • Random Access means that any part of the memory can be accessed non-sequentially and as quickly as any other part of the memory.

Jump to other topics

1Components of a Computer

2Software & Software Development

3Exchanging Data

4Data Types, Data Structures & Algorithms

5Legal, Moral, Cultural & Ethical Issues

6Elements of Computational Thinking

6.1Thinking Abstractly

6.2Thinking Ahead

6.3Thinking Procedurally

6.4Thinking Logically

6.5Thinking Concurrently

7Problem Solving & Programming

8Algorithms

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