Introduction to Memory & Storage

Memory and Storage are the 2 major components of a computer or PC. Both work in collaboration with PC/Laptop processor to access or process data like processing of information for an application, but in this blog, we are going to focus on the difference between memory and storage (memory vs storage).

Memory

Memory (RAM – Random Access Memory) is computer hardware component that is capable of storing information temporarily while storage is a hardware component that is non-volatile where data can stay even when the computer isn’t being used and is turned off.

Related- RAM vs ROM

Memory is of 2 types i.e.

• DRAM and
• SRAM,

Storage

An example of storage can be many like HDD (Hard Disk Drive), SDD (Solid State Drive), USB drive, SD Card, CompactFlash, DVD etc.

Differences

• Memory has a big benefit that it processes data very fast. In fact, it can access data and information instantly. On the other hand, storage is considerably slower than memory devices and cannot access or modify data as fast.
• In terms of cost, memory components are considerably cheaper compared to storage. SSDs and HDDs are known to be higher in price than memory (RAM) in the market.
• Another significant specification that differs memory from storage is the data storage size limit. While memory (RAM) is lately known to reach up to GBs, Storage has crossed GB landmark and has reached TB and above the limit.
• RAM is placed within the device, however, storage devices are versatile and have flavours which may be placed internally or externally.

Comparison Table: Memory vs Storage

To illustrate the above-shared points, below table clearly articulates the difference between memory and storage –

PARAMETER	MEMORY	STORAGE
Definition	Computer hardware component that is capable of storing information temporarily.	A hardware component that is non-volatile where data can stay even when the computer isn’t being used and is turned off
Type	Temporary storage if data	Permanent storage of data
Examples	RAM (DRAM,SRAM)	HDD, SDD, USB drive, SD Card , CompactFlash, DVD etc.
Volatile / Non-volatile	Volatile	Non-volatile
Processing speed	Very fast. RAM (memory) can access data and information instantly	Slower than memory devices. Storage devices cannot access or modify data as fast as the memory.
Cost	Cheaper than storage	Expensive than memory
Size	Upto GBs	Much Larger than memory and goes upto TBs and above
Placement	Internal	Internal or external
Duration	Usually for storing data for short time	Usually for storing data for long time

Download the comparison table: Memory vs Storage

Related- AWS S3 (Simple Storage Service)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rashmi Bhardwaj

Founder of AAR TECHNOSOLUTIONS, Rashmi is an evangelist for IT and technology. With more than 12 years in the IT ecosystem, she has been supporting multi domain functions across IT & consultancy services, in addition to Technical content making.

You can learn more about her on her linkedin profile – Rashmi Bhardwaj