Defining Memory
A host of terms and acronyms relate to the memory technology used in personal computers. A technician must understand the key concepts involved and be able to identify the distinctions between the major memory components, and to distinguish between memory and storage.
All computer memory is used to hold binary strings of data destined to be manipulated by the CPU. Think of memory as a vast bank of switches with two positions: on or off. Off is given the value of "0"; on is given the value of "1." This allows the switches to hold binary data based on whether they are open or closed. By stringing a series of switches together, larger numbers and code values can be represented.