We explain what a RAM is, what it is for and how it works. Also, the types of RAM and their characteristics.
What is RAM memory?
In computing, RAM (acronym forRandom AccessMemory, or Random Access Memory) is a type of operating memory of the computers and computer systems, where most of the software will run: the operating system itself, the app software and others programs similar.
Its name comes from the fact that it can be recorded or recovered information of it without the need for a sequential order (as it happens in the ROM memory orRead-Only Memory, Read Only Memory), but RAM can be accessed as quickly as possible, with an equal wait time for any memory location.
RAM memory is also a form of temporary memory, which when shutting down or restarting the system returns to blank. This is considering that at system startup, the basic operating modules (such as POST or BIOS), often inscribed in ROM, do a check of the RAM memory to make sure that it is operational and that the memory can be dumped into it. software required to start the system.
This type of memory is not always soldered to the motherboard (in video game consoles, for example, it is), but rests on removable and replaceable printed circuit boards in the same, known asRAM modules. Each module has a number of memory chips and a specific capacity, currently measured in megabytes (1024 kilobytes) or gigabytes (1024 megabytes).
RAM memory types
Today there are two contrasting types of RAM:
- SRAM. Acronym forStatic Random AccessMemory (that is: Static Random Access Memory), designates a type of memory that is based on semiconductors and capable of maintaining the data no need for cooling circuits, as long as it is kept powered. Of this type are NVRAM memories (No N-volatile Random AccessMemory, or non-volatile RAM) and MRAM (Magnetoresistive Random AccessMemory, or magnetic RAM).
- DRAM. Acronym forDynamic Random AccessMemory (that is: Dynamic Random Access Memory), bases its technology in capacitors, which, as they progressively lose charge, require a refresh circuit that checks their charge and replenishes it. It was invented in the late 1960s and is the type most used today, as it allows the creation of modules with an enormous density of positions and a high speed of recovery. Of this type are Asynchronous DRAM and SDRAM (Synchronous Dynamic Random AccessMemory, or synchronous DRAM).
What is RAM for?
RAM is electrically connected to a memory hub device.
As stated before, RAM is the operating memory of the computer system. It is the place where the various programs will be executed and remain active, from the very operating system even the applications we use.
For this reason, it can happen that by keeping too many applications active simultaneously, the RAM capacity of the system is depleted and this affects the quality and the computing capacity.
The RAM memory is electrically connected to a memory concentrator device, which manages the incoming and outgoing signals of the same, generally consisting of three types of instruction: addressing, data and control signals.
RAM memory and ROM memory
The differences between RAM and ROM have to do with:
- RAM memory is always open to intervention and information retrieval, at any time, while what is stored in ROM can only be retrieved and not tampered with.
- RAM memory allows indiscriminate access to information, from any position or moment; while ROM requires sequential access to it.
- RAM is much faster than ROM, so often the data contained in the latter is sent and executed in the former.
- RAM memory is removable, upgradeable, replaceable, while ROM modules usually come installed or soldered to the motherboard by the manufacturer of the computer and cannot be manipulated by the Username.