Difference Between Primary and Secondary Memory

Hello, readers welcome to new post. Here we will discuss Difference Between Primary and Secondary Memory. There are 2 main types of memory used in computer systems. The basic difference between these memory units is that primary memory is the main memory of PCB that stores data and information. While secondary memory is auxiliary memory for data storage.

The memory unit that exists in the internal circuit of a PC is called primary memory and outer memory is called secondary memory. In this post, we will discuss these two memory types in detail and their basic differences. So let’s get started.

Difference Between Primary and Secondary Memory

What is Primary Memory

• The primary memory unit is considered as the main memory unit of the system. Since it exists in the internal circuit of the computer access of data is high speed from this memory unit

• This memory is volatile which means data will be lost when the power is off from it.
• Primary memory is more expensive than secondary memory units. Its storage range is less than the secondary memory unit

Types of Primary Memory

• There are two main types of primary memory.

RAM

• Ram stands for random access memory called main memory of the computer. It is also named as temporary memory or cache memory. it is volatile memory data lost when power is not connected.

ROM

• It is a permanent memory unit called read-only memory. It is a nonvolatile memory unit that stores data when power is not connected. The creator of this device decides the values of this unit and it stores the data permanently and is not reset by the users

What is Secondary Memory

• Every category of strong devices that can store more data is called a secondary memory unit. Their data accessing speed is less than the primary memory unit

• These units have a larger capacity to store data in GB to TB. These units are called backup and mass storage
• The computer sends the commands and data to the RAM and secondary storage
• Then the primary memory is slow less expensive and stores larger data
• It is not directly accessed by the processor
• can access through output and input channel
• It has the ability to transfer data as well have optical and magnetic types of memory

Secondary Memory Types

• The main types of Secondary memory are

• Magnetic Tape
• USB
• Optical Drivers
• Slash
• Mass Storage devices
• magnetic tape:  They can store larger quantities of data and are used as a backup module and called serial access storage
• USB: It is a commonly used module easy to write and removable has a larger size
•  Optical Drivers: It uses lasers for reading the data and CDs, and DVDs are an example
• SSD: Stands for solid-state drivers which give the constant value of flash memory faster than hard drivers

Primary vs Secondary Memory

Primary memory

• The computer’s primary memory is the main memory used for storing data temporarily.
• It is a temporary memory.
• This memory is high-speed compared to secondary memory since can easily access the CPU.
• It is volatile for nonvolatile for ROM
• Primary memory devices are high-cost as compared to secondary memory.
• Memory devices for this memory type are  semiconductor
• It holds data used by the processing unit.
• Its capacity is about 16 to 32 GB.
• This memory is also called Main memory or Internal memory.
• It is accessed through the data bus
• Basic examples are RAM, ROM,  PROM, EPROM, Registers, Cache memory,  etc.

Secondary memory

• Secondary memory is defined as extra storage that is used for storing data permanently.
• It is a non-volatile memory and retains data when power is off
• It is not directly accessed through the CPU.
• Secondary memory devices are low cost as compared to primary memory devices.
• The secondary memory devices come with magnetic and optical memories.
• It has features to hold data that are not currently used by the processing unit.
• It stores larger data and has a capacity in the range of 200 GB to some terabytes.
• It is also called External memory or Auxiliary memory.
• Its common examples are Hard Disk, Floppy Disk, and Magnetic Tapes.

That is all about the Difference Between Primary and Secondary Memory all details has been explained if you have any further query ask in the comments. Thanks for reading have a good day see your next post.