Memory Hierarchy

Submitted by: SUBMITTED TO:

Hitesh Ahuja
ER. ROHIT YADAV
Roll no. 34
(Bachelors of Computer
Applications)

UNIVERSITY OF LUCKNOW
 Memory
CONTENTS
 Types of memory
 Memory Hierarchy

 Registers

 Cache Memory

 Primary Memory

 Secondary Memory
 WHAT IS MEMORY ?

Memory is an internal storage area in

computer, which is used to store data and
programs either temporarily or permanently.
TYPES OF MEMORY
 Primary Memory
It holds instructions and data when a program
is executing.
 Secondary Memory

It holds data and programs that are not

currently in use and provides long-term storage.
MEMORY HIERARCHY
 REGISTERS
 Registers are high-speed storage areas within
the CPU, but have the least storage capacity.
 Registers are not referenced by their address, but
are directly accessed and manipulated by the
CPU during instruction execution.
 Registers store data, instructions, addresses and
intermediate results of processing.
 Registers are often referred to as the CPU’s
working memory.
TYPES OF CACHE MEMORY
Level 1 (L1) Cache
It is also called primary or internal cache. It is built directly into
the processor chip. It has small capacity from 8 Km to 128 Kb.

Level 2 (L2) Cache

It is slower than L1 cache. Its storage capacity is more, i.e.
From 64 Kb to 16 MB. The current processors contain advanced
transfer cache on processor chip that is a type of L2 cache. The
common size of this cache is from 512 kb to 8 Mb.

Level 3 (L3) Cache

This cache is separate from processor chip on the
motherboard. It exists on the computer that uses L2 advanced
transfer cache. It is slower than L1 and L2 cache. The personal
computer often has up to 8 MB of L3 cache.
PRIMARY MEMORY
Primary memory is internal memory of the computer.
It is also known as main memory and Temporary memory .
Primary Memory holds the data and instruction on
which computer is currently working.
Primary Memory is nature volatile. It means when power
is switched off it lost all data.

Primary memory is categorized into two main types-

 Random Access Memory (RAM), and

 Read Only Memory (ROM)

TYPES OF PRIMARY MEMORY
 RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY
 It is also called as read write memory or the main
memory or the primary memory.
 The programs and data that the CPU requires
during execution of a program are stored in this
memory.
 It is a volatile memory as the data loses when the
power is turned off.
 RAM is further classified into two types- SRAM
(Static Random Access Memory) and DRAM
(Dynamic Random Access Memory).
TYPES OF RAM
 READ ONLY MEMORY
 Stores crucial information essential to operate
the system, like the program essential to boot
the computer.
 It is not volatile.

 Always retains its data.

 Used in embedded systems or where the

programming needs no change.
 Used in calculators and peripheral devices.

 ROM is further classified into 4 types-

ROM, PROM, EPROM, and EEPROM.
 TYPES OF ROM
PROM (Programmable read-only memory) – It can be
programmed by user. Once programmed, the data
and instructions in it cannot be changed.
EPROM (Erasable Programmable read only memory) It
can be reprogrammed. To erase data from it, expose it
to ultra violet light. To reprogram it, erase all the
previous data.
EEPROM (Electrically erasable programmable read
only memory) – The data can be erased by applying
electric field, no need of ultra violet light.
 SECONDARY MEMORY
 The secondary memory is also called the storage
device of computer.
 The secondary memory stores much larger amounts
of data and information (for example, an entire
software program) for extended periods of time.
 The data and instructions stored in secondary
memory must be fetched into RAM before processing
is done by CPU.

Magnetic tape drives, magnetic disk drives, optical

disk drives and magneto-optical disk drives are
the different types of storage devices.
 Magnetic Tapes

Magnetic Disks

TYPES OF SECONDARY DEVICES

 MAGNETIC TAPE
 Magnetic tape is a plastic tape with magnetic coating .
 It is a storage medium on a large open reel or in a
smaller cartridge or cassette (like a music cassette).
 Magnetic tapes are cheaper storage media. They are
durable, can be written, erased, and re-written.
 Magnetic tapes are sequential access devices, which
mean that the tape needs to rewind or move forward to
the location where the requested data is positioned in
the magnetic tape.
 Due to their sequential nature, magnetic tapes are not
suitable for data files that need to be revised or updated
often.
 They are generally used to store back-up data that is not
frequently used or to transfer data from one system to
other.
FEATURES OF MAGNETIC TAPE

 Inexpensive storage device

 Can store a large amount of data

 Easy to carry or transport

 Not suitable for random access data

 Slow access device

 Needs dust prevention, as dust can harm the

tape
 Suitable for back-up storage or archiving
 MAGNETIC DISK
Magnetic disk is a direct access secondary
storage device. It is a thin plastic or metallic
circular plate coated with magnetic oxide
and encased in a protective cover. Data is
stored on magnetic disks as magnetized
spots.
 FEATURES OF MAGNETIC DISK
 Cheap storage device
 Can store a large amount of data

 Easy to carry or transport

 Suitable for frequently read/write data

 Fast access device

 More reliable storage device

 To be prevented from dust, as the read/write head flies

over the disk.
 Any dust particle in between can corrupt the disk.
 Thus memory hierarchy is
tradeoff between cost, access
time, size and all this needs to
be taken into account when
designing the memory hierarchy
for computer system.
THANK YOU