Information and Communication Technology

2.1.13 Random Access Memory (RAM)

RAM is a type of memory that can be read from or written to. This is therefore a read/write random access memory. This memory stores the input data and the program that users give to the computer for immediate execution. RAM is volatile , meaning that it loses its contents when the power is shut off. Random access means that the storage cells of a RAM memory are organised so that the access time of any cell is the same for all. This is achieved by arranging the memory cells in a two-dimensional array as shown below.