Melinda Cooper's Blog

Computer memory or computer storage; that is the magical question. As I watched the lecture on Storage, I was very surprised by the differences in memory and storage. I surprisingly found out that they are completely different. But all in the same, they are both very important, but in different aspects. Often times, computer memory and computer storage can be confused with each other, hence the reason my blog is “Muddy” this week. They are completely different components of computers with completely different purposes.

A computers memory is most commonly referred to as RAM. RAM stands for random access memory. Computer RAM is measured in megabytes and gigabytes. Most computers can handle between 1GB and 8GB of RAM memory. RAM is a simple computer chip that plugs into your computers motherboard. Computer memory’s purpose is for instant storage. Your computer needs instant storage to allow applications and processes to run up to speed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_memory

A computers storage is different from RAM in that it is permanent high capacity memory. Computer storage takes place within your computer’s hard drive. Computer storage and hard drive capacity is measured in gigabytes. The total capacity is 250GB. You can not store more than that unless you add more storage. Computer storage is used to store everything on your computer. Once something is in storage it will stay there until is manually deleted by a computer user. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_storage

To sum it up, computer RAM memory and computer hard drive storage work in combination with each other. For example, when you add a file or application to your computer, it is saved to the hard drive. Then when you go access that file from the hard drive, the actual process of using the application is then stored to the computer’s RAM. I hope you have enjoyed my crash course in computer memory and computer storage.