Computer Memory

            Computer memory(Random Access Memory) is a component in your computer that allows for short- term data access. Since your system's moment-to moment operations are almost performed using short -term data access, such as, loading application, browsing the webs or editing a spreadsheet, the speed and amount of memory you have plays a critical role in your system's performance.

           Whether it's loading and running applications, responding to commands, or toggling between multiple programs at once, memory is almost being actively used by your computer. If you turn on your computer, load Excel, and begin working on a spreadsheet, you'll have just used memory in several different ways. However, on an advanced level, RAM does not load the application fully and it only loads what is needed at that time. For example, let's take VLC media player for playing a blu-ray movie of size 7GB. If your RAM is only 4GB and you cannot fit the whole movie in it. in addition, you should also use your RAM for other smaller necessary processes, so what the RAM does is to allocates a fixed memory for the movie. let's say 250MB space in the RAM(that's around 5 minutes of movie) for that movie. Once that 250 mb is played, it loads the next 250MB and discards the previous information/movie part. So at any point of time, your movie occupies only 250 mb of space in the RAM even though it is of 7GB. This is a continuous process, so we cannot diffrentiate and the process runs smoothly and fast.

        In a way, memory is like your desk. It allows you the space to work on all sorts of projects, and the larger your desk, the more papers, folders, and tasks you can have out at once. If you leave your desk and want to put your projects away, you might decide to put them in a filing cabinet for safekeeping your storage drive. Therefore, it is very important for you to have a big computer memory. If your system is slow or unresponsive, a memory upgrade is one of the easiest and most cost-effective ways to improve performance.

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Writing reference:

http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/support-what-does-computer-memory-dram-do

https://www.quora.com/How-does-Computer-Memory-work

Picture reference:

http://previews.123rf.com/images/ruslan_kokarev/ruslan_kokarev0908/ruslan_kokarev090800025/5370576-Computer-memory-modules-Close-up-Fragment-Narrow-depth-of-field--Stock-Photo.jpg
https://www.tutorialspoint.com/computer_fundamentals/images/primary_memory.jpg