Hardware-Specific Storage - OCR Computer Science A Level

Question	Answer
What is Primary Storage?	> Storage that the CPU can access quickly (compared to secondary storage) > Small capacity > Usually volatile > Includes RAM, ROM, and registers
What is Secondary Storage?	> Non-volatile > Large(r) capacity > Slow access speed compared to primary - physically further away (e.g., usually connected via a slow cable) > Stores OS, applications, and files when they are not in use
What is Tertiary Storage?	> Non-volatile storage away from a personal PC > Used for long term backups of data > Used in large facilities to store large amounts of data
What is RAM?	> Random access memory > Contains the OS (while the computer is running), open programs, and open files > Contains the data / instructions being executed / executed on by the CPU > Volatile
What is ROM?	> Read only memory > Non-volatile > Contains the BIOS, which contains instructions on how to load the OS (mainly the OS' kernel) Computer boots -> Load BIOS -> System Checks -> Load OS to RAM
What is Virtual Memory?	> Secondary storage used as additional RAM > CPU moves data that hasn't been recently used into virtual memory > Extremely slow data transfer as compared to RAM

Resource summary

	Created by Malachy Moran-Tun about 3 years ago

	Copied by Malachy Moran-Tun almost 3 years ago