In context of computers, memory is one of vital part as it is the only part which is responsible for system performance and system storage capacity. As we know that memory is responsible for loading and execution of any application and also used to store its data which could be get used by the it later so it is very important to know the memory configuration of the system before loading or installing the application.
Now basically two types of memories are mentioned to be discussed in this topic i.e Virtual memory and Cache memory among which virtual memory is actually not a type of memory but it is a technique to increase the actual memory of the system.
Following are the important differences between Virtual Memory and Cache Memory.
Sr. No. | Key | Virtual memory | Cache memory |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Definition | For Virtual memory as mentioned above Virtual memory is not a memory but a technique to increase the actual memory of the system. | On other hand Cache memory is actual memory unit which supports the main memory which as result increases the accessing speed of CPU. |
2 | Type | Virtual memory is not a memory unit while it is a technique in order to increase the actual memory of the system. | On other hand Cache memory is actual memory unit. |
3 | Size | Virtual memory is large in size as compare to that of cache memory. | On other hand Cache memory is smaller in size as compare to that of virtual memory. |
4 | Data storage | In case of Virtual memory no data is get stored in this memory for increasing speed of accessing the data. | On other hand in case of cache memory application first fetched from main memory then its copy get stored in cache memory so that from next time application get fetched from cache memory not from main memory which increasing speed of accessing the data. |
5 | Management | Virtual memory is mainly manages by operating system of the system. | While cache memory is manages by the hardware of the system. |