Difference Between Primary and Secondary Memory
In this post, we will understand the difference between primary memory and secondary memory.
Primary Memory
It comes under the category of volatile and non-volatile memory.
It is also known as internal memory.
The data can be directly accessed by the processing unit.
Since it is a volatile memory, data can’t be retained if power fails.
It can hold data/information currently being used by the processing unit.
The capacity of primary memory is usually within the range of 16 to 32 GB.
It can be accessed by a data bus.
It is expensive in comparison to secondary memory.
Following are the types of Primary Memory −
Secondary Memory
It is a non-volatile memory.
It is also known as Backup memory or Additional memory or Auxiliary memory.
The data can’t be accessed directly by the processor.
It needs to be copied from secondary memory to primary memory first, and then accessed by a CPU.
Since it is non-volatile, data can be retained in case of a power failure.
It stores a considerable amount of data and information.
The capacity of secondary memory ranges from 200GB to some terabytes.
It can be accessed using I/O channels.
It is less expensive in comparison to primary memory
Following are the types of Secondary Memory −
Published on 19-Apr-2021 06:10:40
