Types of Memories

Mainly there are 2 types of memories used in a computer. They are

1. Primary Memory ( RAM &ROM)

2. Secondary Memory ( Hard Disk, Floppy, CD-ROM, Tape Drive)

1. PRIMARY Memory: Main storage or immediate access storage, which is a part of the central processing unit.

       It is called primary memory because it is like human memory. It is able to store data randomly, which can be recalled whenever it is required. The computer can retrieve any item of data or any instructions stored in primary memory at lightening speed.

2. SECONDARY Memory:Auxiliary memory storage or backing storage, which is external to the central processing memory.

           These are known as external or auxiliary memory. These are the devices that hold lot of information, which may be transferred for use during processing as and when required, and for storing As compared to primary or main memory, secondary memory has much larger capacity to store the data. Cost wise it is cheaper but it is not as fast as the Primary memory. Computer thus takes more time to retrieve data from secondary storage devices. Ex: Hard Disk, Floppy disk, CD-ROM, Magnetic tapes.