Units of Memory, Hardware,
Software and Classification
of Computers
MODULE CODE: IT 6116
MODULE NAME: Basic Computer Application
FACILITATOR: Pangahela, R. A
Email:
[email protected] Phone: +255 742 926
569
Units of Memory, Hardware, Software and
Classification of Computers
Units of Memory
The memory unit is the principal storage of the
computer. All the data and instructions that the
computer needs at a moment are stored here. All
storage devices are characterized with the
following features:- 1. Speed 2. Volatility 3.
Access method 4. Portability 5. Cost and
capacity
Basic Units of Measurement
The components of the computer can recognize
only two states that is presence or absence of an
electrical signal. Two symbols used to represent
these two states are 0 and 1, and are known as
BITS (an abbreviation for BInary DigiTS). 0
represents the absence of a signal, 1 represents
the presence of a signal. A BIT is, therefore, the
smallest unit of data in a computer and can either
store a 0 or 1.
Since a single bit can store only one of the two
values, there can possibly be only four unique
combinations: 00 01 10 11
Bits are, therefore, combined together into larger
units in order to hold greater range of values.
BYTES are typically a sequence of eight bits put
together to create a single computer alphabetical or
numerical character. More often referred to in larger
multiples, bytes may appear as Kilobytes (1,024
bytes), Megabytes (1,048,576 bytes),
GigaBytes (1,073,741,824), TeraBytes (approx.
1,099,511,000,000 bytes), or PetaBytes (approx.
1,125,899,900,000,000 bytes).
Bytes are used to quantify the amount of data
digitally stored (on disks, tapes) or transmitted
(over the internet), and are also used to measure
the memory and document size.
Types of memory
Computers use several different types of memory.
They are:
1.Main Memory / Primary Memory units
‒ Two most important are
• RAM (Random Access Memory)
• ROM (Read-only Memory)
‒ They work in different ways and perform
different functions
‒ CPU Registers
‒ Cache Memory
2. Secondary Memory/Auxiliary Memory
Also termed as ‘auxiliary’ or ‘backup’ storage, it is
typically used as a supplement to main storage.
It is much cheaper than the main storage and
stores large amount of data and instructions
permanently. Hardware devices like magnetic
tapes, Floppy Disk,
Hard Disk, Optical disks, Compact Disk (CD),
Digital Versatile Disk (DVD) and Blu-ray Disc
(BD) fall under this category
Computer’s primary memory can be classified into
two types – RAM and ROM.
RAM or Random Access Memory is the central
storage unit in a computer system. It is the place in a
computer where the operating system, application
programs and the data in current use are kept
temporarily so that they can be accessed by the
computer’s processor. The more RAM a computer
has, the more data a computer can manipulate.
