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UNDERSTANDING COMPUTER MEMORY
by Vern Ziglar
http://www.flapcomputer.com
With computers, most people know they have memory systems
but few people have a real understanding of the various
types of memories computers have. Interestingly, different
types of computer equipment uses different memory.
For example, some of the memory types that you would
typically find with a computer as well as other peripheral
devices would include the following:
* BIOS
* Cache
* Dynamic RAM
* Flash Memory
* Memory Sticks
* RAM
* ROM
* Static RAM
* Video Memory
* Virtual Memory
For the most part, the memory is used for the same type of
transaction, storing information for fast retrieval. As an
example, every time your computer has to access its hard
drive to retrieve information, it runs slower. The more
information the computer can keep in its memory, the faster
the system runs. So, the different types of memory
function in different ways, but almost all of them store
data, even if only temporarily, to help the computer
process faster.
Your computer will operate at peak efficiency if all the
components of the computer are working together well. The
computers CPU, operating system, hard drive and all memory
must be working and functioning together for your computer
to be optimal. Your computer uses its memory every time
it~s turned on.
In this case, after the computer has been turned off and
then you turn it back on, the data is loaded from the
read-only memory known ROM. Next, the computer performs
a power-on-self-test or POST, which ensures that all the
computer~s components are functioning normally. One aspect
of POST is the memory controller, which works by checking
all the memory addresses with a quick read/write operation.
With this, the test makes sure there are no errors on the
memory chips. From there, the data is written to a bit,
as well as read from a bit.
Now, the basic input/output system known as BIOS is loaded
from ROM. Additionally, BIOS provides basic information
about the storage devices, boot sequence, plug and play
capability, security, and so on. Next, the operating
system or OS is loaded from the hard drive into the RAM.
Since the OS is extremely critical to the computer, it is
always a part of the RAM when the computer is turned on.
With that, the CPU can gain immediate access to the OS to
help improve performance and functionality.
Every time you open a computer application, like Microsoft
Word, the instructions for running the program are loaded
into RAM. Most often, the most critical program
instructions are loaded into RAM immediately, and any
additional instructions are loaded as needed only. Once you
have the application open, any files that you subsequently
open will also load into RAM. When you are finished with
a file, always save and close the file. The file is then
written to the drive that you specify for storage, and the
information is purged out of RAM. The purpose of the
purging is to keep the RAM memory from overload, which
could slow the performance of the computer system down
considerably.
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