Memory

We know how computers process information, but how does this information get stored?

Computers can only understand 1s and 0s, so information is also stored in 1s and 0s. We measure amounts of memory by the number of binary digits, or bits, eventually building up to bytes, megabytes, gigabytes, and terabytes.

While all memory is stored as some number of bits, these bits are not all stored in the same way. Turns out, there are many different kinds of memory that are used for different purposes. In this section, we’ll talk about random access memory (RAM), hard disk drives (HDD), flash memory, and more. We’ll go over why there are so many kinds of memory in the first place and the trade-offs that must be made when assembling a machine, optimizing for performance, speed, and cost.

• Videos

  • Dane Hartman on Bits, Bytes, Kilobytes, Megabytes, Gigabytes, Terabytes
  • TED-Ed on How Computer Memory Works
  • Crash Course on Memory & Storage

• Notes

  • Memory

• Supplementary Resources

  • While the demonstration of going shopping for some new computers is a little older in this video, you should still go through it yourself, drawing some comparisons by visiting the Apple, Lenovo, Dell, or other computer company’s sales page. Here’s Carey Holzman on HDD vs SSD - What is the difference?

• Problem

  • Tech Spotlight