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Storage Quiz

  1. Describe the functions of random access memory (RAM) and read-only memory (ROM).

RAM is the short-term memory of your computer, and said to be "volatile" meaning anything stored in RAM will be lost when powered off.

ROM is the permanent memory of your device, primarily used to store the BIOS of a computer

  1. List two basic differences between RAM & ROM.

RAM is Volatile: It is temporary. ROM is Non-Volatile: It is permanent.

RAM is for "Doing": It is used for reading and writing data at high speeds, typically while using apps. ROM is for "Starting": It is primarily "read-only," meaning the computer usually only looks at it to follow instructions. It holds the "firmware" needed to boot up the hardware before the operating system even loads.

  1. Complete the following:

RAM stands for Random Access Memory. It is where a programs instructions are stored after they have been loaded from disk so that they can be accessed more quickly by the CPU.

Instructions and data are stored in binary format at specific locations called memory addresses which can be accessed in any order.

The main memory is made of dynamic RAM which is slower (but cheaper) than static RAM as it needs to be constantly recharged or refreshed.

  1. Complete the following:

RAM is used to store data and programs in use by the computer.

The memory can be divided into chunks called pages. If there is not enough memory to load more data, some is moved to a paging file on the hard disk drive. The data that is swapped out is the least used.

Moving the data in and out of memory slows the execution of the program.

If the memory is very low then the computer may have to continually swap data in and out, this if called disk thrashing.

  1. From lowest to hightest denomination put these in order:

TERABYTE (TB) GIGABYTE (GB) MEGABYTE (MB) KILOBYTE (KB) BYTE NIBBLE BIT