Memory Flashcards

What is RAM?: RAM (Random Access Memory) is temporary, volatile storage used by the CPU to hold data currently being processed. It is lost when power is off.
What is ROM?: ROM (Read-Only Memory) is non-volatile memory that permanently stores firmware/BIOS instructions. Data is retained when power is off.
What is Cache Memory?: Cache is ultra-fast memory located close to the CPU. It stores frequently used data/instructions to speed up processing (L1, L2, L3 levels).
What is virtual memory?: Virtual memory uses a portion of the hard disk as if it were RAM, allowing programs larger than physical RAM to run.
What is DRAM?: Dynamic RAM stores each bit in a capacitor and must be refreshed thousands of times per second. It is the common type of RAM in computers.
What is SRAM?: Static RAM uses flip-flops to store bits. It is faster and more expensive than DRAM and is used for CPU cache memory.
What is a register?: A register is the smallest and fastest memory directly inside the CPU, used to hold the data currently being executed.
What is the memory hierarchy?: Registers → L1 Cache → L2 Cache → RAM → SSD/HDD → Cloud. Faster memory is smaller and more expensive.
What is secondary storage?: Secondary storage is non-volatile long-term storage (HDD, SSD, USB). Much larger capacity but slower than RAM.
What is memory address?: A memory address is a unique number identifying each location in RAM where a byte of data is stored.
What is RAM?: Random Access Memory
What is the full form of ROM?: Read Only Memory
Which memory is volatile?: RAM
Which memory is non-volatile?: ROM
Which memory loses data when power is off?: RAM
Which memory keeps data after power is off?: ROM
Which memory is used by CPU for current work?: RAM
Which memory stores firmware?: ROM
Which is faster: RAM or hard disk?: RAM
Which is faster: cache memory or RAM?: Cache memory
Where is cache memory located?: Near or inside CPU
What is cache memory used for?: Fast data access
Which memory is the fastest in a computer?: CPU registers
Where are registers located?: Inside CPU
Which storage is used for permanent data?: Secondary storage
Give one example of secondary storage.: Hard disk
Is SSD primary or secondary storage?: Secondary storage
Is RAM primary or secondary memory?: Primary memory
Is ROM primary or secondary memory?: Primary memory
Which memory is used during booting?: ROM
What does BIOS usually store in?: ROM
What is virtual memory?: Disk space used as RAM
Which is faster: SRAM or DRAM?: SRAM
Which RAM needs refreshing?: DRAM
Which RAM is used in cache memory?: SRAM
Which RAM is commonly used as main memory?: DRAM
What is a memory address?: Unique location number
Arrange memory from fastest to slowest.: Registers, Cache, RAM, Storage
Why is cache memory used?: To reduce CPU waiting time
What is memory hierarchy?: Order of memory by speed and cost
What is cache locality?: Reuse of nearby or recent data
What is temporal locality?: Reusing recently accessed data
What is spatial locality?: Accessing nearby memory locations
What is cache hit?: Data found in cache
What is cache miss?: Data not found in cache
What is cache hit ratio?: Cache hits divided by total accesses
What is cache miss penalty?: Extra time after a cache miss
What is L1 cache?: Smallest and fastest CPU cache
What is L2 cache?: Middle-level CPU cache
What is L3 cache?: Larger shared CPU cache
What is write-through cache?: Writes update cache and memory
What is write-back cache?: Writes update memory later
What is cache coherence?: Keeping shared cache data consistent
What is a dirty bit?: Marks modified cache block
What is a cache line?: Fixed-size block in cache
What is direct-mapped cache?: Each block maps to one cache line
What is set-associative cache?: Block maps to one cache set
What is fully associative cache?: Block can go anywhere
What is page fault?: Needed page not in RAM
What is paging?: Dividing memory into fixed pages