High cost and speed, small storage capacity
Controls intepretation and execution instructions
(the brain)
Active when machine is powered up
Central processing unit
DRAM
Volatile - if computer loses power, data is lost
Main memory
Hotels most frequently used data
Has read and write capabilities
Non-volatile read only
Directly connected to CPU and processes subsets
of data
Cache
Volatile - temporary from a storage perspective
Other
ROM
Processing and
storage devices
Run a set of programs called firmware that activate
when computer is turned on (drivers)
Non-volatile - stores data for long periods
Secondary memory
Hard drive - conventional rotating disks with high
power consumption
SSD - robust, faster, less power consumption
Cloud storage, memory cards, external hard drives,
flash drives, CD-ROM