What Is It

SELECT MEASURING INSTRUMENTS

MEMORY

Memory is used most often to identify fast, temporary forms of storage.

When the information is kept in memory, the CPU can access it much more
quickly. Most forms of memory are intended to store data temporarily.

READ-ONLY MEMORY (ROM)

Read-only memory (ROM) chips are located in the

motherboard. ROM chips contain instructions that can be https://www.pngall.com/wp-
directly accessed by the CPU. content/uploads/6/Microcontr
oller-PNG-HD-Image.png

Basic instructions for booting the computer and loading the operating
systems are stored in ROM. ROM chips retain their contents even when the
computer is powered down. The contents cannot be erased or changed by
normal means.

RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY (RAM)

Random Access Memory (RAM) is the temporary https://www.techspot.com/new

storage for data and programs that are being accessed by the s/58832-tech-primer-ddr4-
memory.html
CPU.

RAM is volatile memory, which means that the contents are erased
when the computer is powered off. The more RAM in a computer, the more
capacity the computer has to hold and process large programs and files, as
well as enhance system performance.

Early computers had RAM installed in the motherboard as individual

chips. The individual memory chips, called Dual Inline Package (DIP) chips,
was difficult to install and often became loose on the motherboard. To solve
this problem, designers soldered the memory chips on a special circuit board
called a memory module.

SIMMs and DIMMs

SIMMs (Single Inline Memory Module) have 30-pin

and 72-pin configurations.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SIMM#/me
DIMM (Dual Inline Memory Module) is a circuit dia/File:SIMM_30_68_72.png

board that holds SDRAM, DDR SDRAM and DDR2

SDRAM.
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 DDR (Double Data Rate) technology doubles the maximum bandwidth
of SDRAM, DDR2 offers faster performance while using less technology.
DDR3 operates at even higher speeds than DDR2; however, none of these
DDR technologies are backward- or forward- compatible.

CACHES AND REGISTERS

Caches are designed to alleviate this bottleneck by

making the data used most often by the CPU instantly
available.
https://www.makemysaffar.com/2020/09/wh
at-is-memory-register-in-computer.html
Registers are memory cells built right into the
CPU that contain specific data needed by the CPU, particularly the Arithmetic
and Logic Unit (ALU). An integral part of the CPU itself, they are controlled
directly by the compiler that sends information for the CPU to process.

STORAGE DRIVES

Storage drives read or write information on magnetic or optical storage

media. The drive can be used to store data permanently or to retrieve
information from a media disk. Storage drives can be installed inside the
computer case, such as a hard drive. For portability, some storage drives can
connect to the computer using a USB port, a FireWire port, or a SCSI port.
These portable storage drives are sometimes referred to as removable drives
and can be used on multiple computers.

Hard Drive

A hard drive, or hard disk drive, is a magnetic storage

device that is installed inside the computer. The hard drive is
used as permanent storage for data. In a Windows computer, https://computer.howstuffw
the hard drive is usually configured as the C: drive and drive.htm
orks.com/virtual-hard-

contains the operating system and applications. The hard drive

is often configured as the first drive in the boot sequence. The storage capacity
of a hard drive is measured in billions of bytes, or gigabytes (GB). The speed
of a hard drive is measured in revolutions per minute (RPM). Multiple hard
drives can be added to increase storage capacity. Traditional hard drives are
magnetic. Magnetic hard drives have drive motors designed to spin magnetic
platters and the drive heads. In contrast, the newer solid state
drives (SSDs) do not have moving parts. Because there are no
drive motors and moving parts, the SSD uses far less energy
than the magnetic hard drive. Non-volatile flash memory chips
https://en.wikipedia.or manage all storage on an SSD, which results in faster access to
g/wiki/Solidstate_drive data, higher reliability, and reduced power usage. SSDs have
the same form factor as magnetic hard drives and use ATA or SATA interfaces.
SSDs can be installed as a replacement for magnetic drives.

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Optical Drive

An optical drive is a storage device that uses lasers to

read data on the optical media. There are three types of
optical drives: Compact Disc (CD), Digital Versatile Disc
(DVD) and Blu-ray Disc (BD). CD, DVD, and BD media can http://www.gcsecs.com/optical-
disk-drive.html

be pre-recorded (read-only), recordable (write once), or re-

writable (read and write multiple times).

External Flash Drive

An external flash drive, also known as a thumb drive,

is a removable storage device that connects to a USB port. https://computerized.code.blog
/2018/10/12/computer-input-
An external flash drive uses the same type of non-volatile and-output-devices/
memory chips as solid state drives and does not require
power to maintain the data. These drives can be accessed by the operating
system in the same way that other types of drives are accessed.

Types of Drive Interfaces

Hard drives and optical drives are manufactured with different

interfaces that are used to connect the drive to the computer. To install a
storage drive in a computer, the connection interface on the drive must be the
same as the controller on the motherboard. Here are some common drive
interfaces:

• IDE – Integrated Drive Electronics, also called

Advanced Technology Attachment (ATA) is an
early drive controller interface that connects
computers and hard disk drives. An IDE
https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/i
/ide.htm

interface uses a 40-pin connector.

• SATA – Serial ATA refers to the serial version of the

ATA drive controller interface. A SATA interface
uses a 7-pin data connector.
https://asianic.com.ph/product/acr

• SCSI – Small Computer System Interface is a drive

oss-sata-data

controller interface that can connect up to 15

drives. SCSI can connect both internal and
external drives. A SCSI interface uses a 50-pin, https://www.globalspec.com/learnmor

68-pin, or 80-pin connector. e/electrical_electronic_components/wi

res_cables/scsi_cables

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 What Is It

Carry Out Measurements and Calculation

DIGITAL REPRESENTATION

Information is represented and stored in a digital binary format within

a computer. The term bit is an abbreviation of binary digit and represents the
smallest piece of data.

A bit can have only two possible values, a one digit (1) or a zero digit
(0). A bit can be used to represent the state of something that has two states.

CONVERT DECIMAL NUMBERS TO BINARY

To convert a decimal number to binary, all you have to do is to divide

the number by 2. Get the quotient and the remainder. Bring down the
quotient, divide it by 2, and get the quotient and remainder again. Do it
repeatedly until the quotient results to 0. Copy the remainder from bottom to
top, and that is the binary equivalent.

Example: 30
Quotient Remainder
30/2 15 0
15/2 7 1
7/2 3 1
3/2 1 1
1/2 0 1

30 = 11110

Checking: 1 1 1 1 0 Multiplier
16 8 4 2 1 Equivalents
16 8 4 2 0 Results
16 + 8+4+2+0 = 30

CALCULATING DATA STORAGE

While a bit is the smallest representation of data, the most basic unit
of digital storage is the byte. A byte has 8 bits and is the smallest unit of
measure (UOM) used to represent data storage capacity. When referring to
storage space, we use the terms bytes (B), kilobytes (KB), megabytes (MB),
gigabytes (GB), and terabytes (TB).

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 One kilobyte is a little more than one thousand bytes, specifically 1,024.
A megabyte represents more than a million bytes or 1,048,576. A gigabyte is
1,073,741,824 bytes. A terabyte is 1,099,511,627,776.

Here is another conversion:

1 byte = 8bits
1kilobyte = 1,024 bytes
1 megabyte = 1,024 kilobytes
1 gigabyte = 1,024 megabyte
1terabyte = 1,024 gigabyte

When something is represented digitally, the greater the detail, the

greater the number of bits needed to represent it. A low-resolution picture
from a digital camera will use around 360KB, and a high-resolution picture
could use 2 MB or more.

Examples of components and devices that use byte storage include:

random access memory (RAM), hard disk drive space, CDs, DVDs, and MP3
players. CDs have a data storage capacity of approximately 700 MB. DVDs
have a data storage capacity of approximately 4.3 GB on a single-layer disc,
and approximately 8.5 GB on a dual-layer disc. BDs have a storage capacity
of 25 GB on a single-layer disc, and 50 GB on a dual-layer disc. Once we know
the size of a file or folder, it is possible to determine the number of bytes being
used.

Example:
A file is 25KB in size
1KB = 1,024Bytes
25 x 1,024 = 25,600Bytes in a 25KB file

If this 25KB file is stored in a 1MB folder, how many files can be
stored in that folder?
1Mb = 1,024Kb
1,024Kb/25Kb = 40.96
41 files can be stored in a 1Mb folder

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