OCR GCSE - Computer Science - Paper 1 - Memory

Question	Answer
What is Primary Memory?	> Memory, such as RAM, that holds currently or frequently used data / instructions > Volatile memory - data is wiped if power is lost
What is Secondary Memory?	> Memory, such as a HDD, that holds files and documents stored on a computer > Non-volatile memory - data is not lost if power is lost
What is RAM?	> Type of memory in the computer that is part of the fetch-decode-execute cycle > Contains: currently used data / instructions; currently open programs; the operating system etc.
What is ROM?	> Read-Only Memory > (In a computer) stores the Kernel and BIOS, which are the instructions to load the operating system run
What is Virtual Memory?	Using secondary storage as additional RAM / primary memory, because it's the 90s again
Why would Virtual Memory be Useful?	(especially in older computers) sometimes there is not enough RAM to store all the currently running programs and data
What is Flash Memory?	> Special type of memory that can be written over (similar to RAM) but is non-volatile > No moving parts > Fast read / write speeds > Requires little power

Resource summary

	Created by Malachy Moran-Tun about 3 years ago