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Most computer operating systems use the concept of virtual memory, allowing the utilization of more primary storage capacity than is physically available in the system. As the primary memory fills up, the system moves the least-used chunks to a swap file or page file on secondary storage, retrieving them later when needed. If a lot of pages are ...
The term memory is often synonymous with the terms RAM, main memory, or primary storage. Archaic synonyms for main memory include core (for magnetic core memory) and store. [3] Main memory operates at a high speed compared to mass storage which is slower but less expensive per bit and higher in capacity.
Main memory (Primary storage) – GiB [citation needed] [original research] in size. Best access speed is around 10 GB/s. [9] In the case of a NUMA machine, access times may not be uniform; Disk storage (Secondary storage) – Terabytes in size. As of 2017, best access speed is from a consumer solid state drive is about 2000 MB/s [10]
Volatile memory, in contrast to non-volatile memory, is computer memory that requires power to maintain the stored information; it retains its contents while powered on but when the power is interrupted, the stored data is quickly lost. Volatile memory has several uses including as primary storage.
The most widely used form of primary storage today [as of?] is a volatile form of random access memory (RAM), meaning that when the computer is shut down, anything contained in RAM is lost. However, most forms of non-volatile memory have limitations that make them unsuitable for use as primary storage.
In operating systems, memory management is the function responsible for managing the computer's primary memory. [1]: 105–208 The memory management function keeps track of the status of each memory location, either allocated or free. It determines how memory is allocated among competing processes, deciding which gets memory, when they receive ...
Single-level storage (SLS) or single-level memory is a computer storage term which has had two meanings. The two meanings are related in that in both, pages of memory may be in primary storage or in secondary storage (disk), and that the physical location of a page is unimportant to a process.
Disk partitioning or disk slicing [1] is the creation of one or more regions on secondary storage, so that each region can be managed separately. [2] These regions are called partitions. It is typically the first step of preparing a newly installed disk after a partitioning scheme is chosen for the new disk before any file system is created.