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Computer Science > Memory And Storage > Flashcards

Memory And Storage Flashcards

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1
Q

What does RAM stand for?

A

Random Access Memory

RAM is the main memory in a computer that can be read and written to.

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2
Q

What is the characteristic of RAM?

A

Volatile

RAM is volatile, meaning it loses its data when power is off.

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3
Q

What does ROM stand for?

A

Read Only Memory

ROM is non-volatile memory that stores essential instructions needed to boot the computer.

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4
Q

What type of memory is ROM?

A

Non-volatile

ROM retains its data even when the power is turned off.

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5
Q

Define volatile memory.

A

Temporary memory that requires power to retain its data

When power is lost, volatile memory loses all its stored information.

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6
Q

What is non-volatile memory?

A

Permanent memory that keeps data even when power is off

Examples include ROM and hard drives.

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7
Q

What happens when RAM is full?

A

Data is moved to Virtual Memory

The operating system manages this process by swapping data between RAM and secondary storage.

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8
Q

What is Virtual Memory?

A

A location on secondary storage used when RAM is full

It allows the operating system to extend the available memory by using disk space.

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9
Q

What is Primary Storage?

A

Memory directly accessed by the CPU

Includes RAM, ROM, Cache, and Registers.

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10
Q

Fill in the blank: RAM stores data, files, and programs currently in _______.

A

use

This allows the CPU quick access to data that is actively being processed.

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11
Q

What is secondary storage?

A

Secondary storage is non-volatile. It is where all data (the operating system, applications and user files) are stored when not in use.

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12
Q

What are solid state storage devices?

A

Solid State Drives (SSDs) are storage devices with no moving parts. SSDs have fast read/write speeds.

E.g. SSD Internal / External drive, USB Stick, SD Card

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13
Q

What is optical storage?

A

Optical storage includes CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray. Optical storage is very cheap per GB and is very portable.

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14
Q

What is magnetic storage?

A

Magnetic storage includes hard drives and magnetic tape. Both of these have a large storage capacity and have a low cost per GB.

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15
Q

What does capacity refer to in storage devices?

A

The amount of data that can be stored on the device.

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16
Q

What is reliability in memory and storage?

A

The shelf life of the media; how long it will retain data so that it can be accessed reliably and without error in the format in which it was originally saved.

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17
Q

What does speed refer to in memory and storage?

A

How quickly data can be accessed from or written to the media.

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18
Q

What is portability in the context of memory and storage?

A

Can the media be easily moved about? This depends on both the size and weight of the media.

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19
Q

How is cost defined in memory and storage?

A

How expensive the media is in terms of cost per gigabyte of storage.

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20
Q

What does durability mean in memory and storage?

A

How resistant the media is to damage; whether it is rugged enough to survive knocks, scratches, etc.

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21
Q

What is a BIT?

A

A single binary digit (1 or 0)

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22
Q

What is a NIBBLE?

A

4 bits or half a byte

23
Q

What is a BYTE?

A

8 bits

A byte is enough to hold one typed character e.g. b

24
Q

How many bytes are in a KILOBYTE?

A

1000 bytes

25
Q

How many kilobytes are in a MEGABYTE?

A

1000 kilobytes

26
Q

What is a gigabyte?

A

1000 megabytes

A DVD movie ~ 4 - 8 GB

27
Q

What is a terabyte?

A

1000 gigabytes

1 TB ~ 250,000 photos
1 TB ~ 250 films

28
Q

What is a petabyte?

A

1000 terabytes

1 PB ~ 11,000 movies
1 PB ~ storing 4,000 photos per day over an entire lifetime

29
Q

What is denary?

A

In our standard number system, we have 10 digits: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9. This is called denary, decimal or base 10.

30
Q

What is binary?

A

Binary only uses two different digits: 0 and 1. Computers use this system as they are made up of switches which can be on or off.

31
Q

What is overflow in binary arithmetic?

A

During binary arithmetic, you could get a result that requires more bits than the CPU is expecting - this is called overflow.

32
Q

What is a binary shift?

A

A binary shift moves every bit in a binary number left or right a certain number of places. Gaps at the beginning or end of a number are filled with 0s.

33
Q

What is hexadecimal?

A

Hexadecimal (or base 16) uses 16 different digits: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F. Large numbers can be written simply using Hex instead of binary.

34
Q

What are alphanumeric characters?

A

Alphanumeric characters are used to make words and strings. They include uppercase and lowercase letters, the digits 0 - 9, and symbols like: ? £ and +.

35
Q

What is a character set?

A

Character sets are collections of characters that a computer recognises from their binary representation.

36
Q

What is ASCII?

A

ASCII is the most commonly used character set in the English-speaking world. ASCII uses 7 bits.

37
Q

What is Extended ASCII?

A

Extended ASCII uses 8 bits. It allows for 256 characters.

38
Q

What is Unicode?

A

Unicode uses 16 bits and aims to cover every possible character or symbol in all major languages.

39
Q

What is a pixel?

A

A pixel is the smallest identifiable area of an image. Each pixel is a single colour and is given a binary value which represents that colour.

40
Q

What is Colour Depth?

A

Colour Depth is the number of bits used for each pixel.

e.g. 2 bits 2^2 = 4 colours, 3 bits 2^3 = 8 colours, 4 bits 2^4 = 16 colours.

41
Q

What is Resolution?

A

Resolution is the number of pixels in the image, often given as width x height.

42
Q

What is Metadata?

A

Metadata is the information stored in an image file about the picture.

e.g. file format, height, width, colour depth, resolution.

43
Q

How is sound recorded in analogue?

A

Sound is recorded by a microphone as an analogue signal.

44
Q

What are Analogue signals?

A

Analogue signals are pieces of continually changing data.

45
Q

Why do Analogue signals need conversion?

A

Analogue signals need to be converted into digital data so that computers can read and store sound files.

46
Q

What is Hertz?

A

Frequency is measured in Hertz. A frequency of 1 Hertz means that something happens once every second.

47
Q

What is Sound Sampling?

A

The process of converting an analogue signal into a digital signal is called Sound Sampling. The amplitude of the wave is sampled at regular intervals.

48
Q

What is Sample Rate?

A

Sample Rate is how many samples you take in a second, measured in Hertz. A common sample rate is 44,100 samples per second, which is 44,100 Hz or 44.1 kilohertz.

49
Q

What is Bit Depth?

A

Bit Depth is the number of bits available for each sample. For example, CD quality sound uses 16 bits per sample (2^16 = 65,536 values). A DVD uses 24 bits (2^24 = 16 million values).

50
Q

How do you calculate File Size for sound?

A

File Size (in bits) = Sample Rate (in Hz) x Bit Depth x Duration (in seconds).

51
Q

What is Data Compression?

A

Data Compression is the process where we make files smaller. We try to make the compressed file as close to the original as possible.

52
Q

What is Lossy Compression?

A

Lossy Compression removes data from the file. This reduces the number of bits in the file so the file size is lower. The file cannot be returned to the original.

53
Q

What is Lossless Compression?

A

Lossless Compression uses an algorithm to find groups of repeating data. When data is uncompressed it is restored exactly as it was in the original.

Computer Science (11 decks)

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