Nonvolatile and Volatile Memory

Nonvolatile and Volatile Memory

There are two major classes of computer memory: Nonvolatile and Volatile. Nonvolatile Memory is retained even if the power is shut off. The setup data held in CMOS, discussed in the preceding lessons, is a good example of nonvolatile memory. If the data is lost when the computer loses power, the memory is said to be Volatile.

Memory Unit (MU)

Memory Unit:-

Memory unit that is also called Main Memory or Random Access Memory is the Primary Unit of the computer. The computer cannot start without Main memory. Main memory is directly accessible by CPU of the computer. The data is stored in main Memory before and after processing. It is a volatile Memory it means it only stores data when computer is turned on.

When we start a computer data from Hard disk is loaded in RAM. The most part of RAM is used by Operating System of the Computer. Remaining Main Memory is distributed between application software.

The Capacity of main memory is measured in Bytes. RAMs are available in GB (Gigabytes).