The main memory is otherwise called as Random Access Memory. This is available in computers in the form of Integrated Circuits (ICs). It is the place in a computer where the Operating System, Application Programs and the data in current use are kept temporarily so that they can be accessed by the computer’s processor. The smallest unit of information that can be stored in the memory is called as a bit. The memory can be accessed by a collection of 8 bits which is called as a byte. The bytes are referred by ‘B\ If a computer has 1 megabyte of memory, then it can store 10,48,576 bytes (or characters) of information. [Hence 1MB is 1024KB and 1 KB is 1024 Bytes, So 1024 X 1024 =10,48.576 Bytes],
Types of RAM:
There are two basic types of RAM
1. Dynamic RAM (DRAM)
2. Static RAM (SRAM)
These two types differ in the technology they use to hold data. Dynamic RAM being a common type needs to be refreshed frequently. Static RAM needs to be refreshed less often, which makes it .faster.
Hence, Static RAM is more expensive than Dynamic RAM.