Memory

Computer Organization (2022/2023)

Eng. Hossam Mady
Teaching Assistant and Researcher at Aswan Faculty of Engineering
 DRAM and SRAM

• One distinguishing characteristic of RAM is that it is possible

both to read data from the memory and to write new data into
the memory easily and rapidly.
• The other distinguishing characteristic of RAM is that it is
volatile. A RAM must be provided with a constant power supply.
If the power is interrupted, then the data are lost.
 DRAM and SRAM

• The two traditional forms of RAM used in computers are DRAM

and SRAM.
• A dynamic RAM (DRAM) is made with cells that store data as
charge on capacitors. The presence or absence of charge in a
capacitor is interpreted as a binary 1 or 0. Because capacitors
have a natural tendency to discharge, dynamic RAMs require
periodic charge refreshing to maintain data storage.
 DRAM and SRAM

• In contrast, a static RAM (SRAM) is a digital device that uses the

same logic elements used in the processor. In a SRAM, binary
values are stored using traditional flip-flop logic-gate
configurations. A static RAM will hold its data as long as power is
supplied to it.
• Both static and dynamic RAMs are volatile; that is, power must
be continuously supplied to the memory to preserve the bit
values.
 DRAM and SRAM

• A dynamic memory cell is simpler and smaller than a static

memory cell. Thus, a DRAM is more dense (smaller cells more
cells per unit area) and less expensive than a corresponding
SRAM.
• SRAMs are generally somewhat faster than DRAMs. Because of
these relative characteristics, SRAM is used for cache memory
(both on and off chip), and DRAM is used for main memory.
 Types of ROM

• As the name suggests, a read-only memory (ROM) contains a

permanent pattern of data that cannot be changed. A ROM is
nonvolatile.
• While it is possible to read a ROM, it is not possible to write new
data into it.
• The advantage of ROM is that the data or program is
permanently in main memory and need never be loaded from a
secondary storage device.
 Types of ROM
• Programmable ROM (PROM): Like the ROM, the PROM is
nonvolatile and may be written into only once.
➢ For the PROM, the writing process is performed electrically.
➢ Special equipment is required for the writing process.
➢ Provides flexibility and convenience.
• Erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM):
➢ Erasure process can be performed repeatedly.
➢ EPROM is more expensive than PROM, but it has the advantage of the
multiple update capability.
 Types of ROM
• Electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM):
➢ It can be written into at any time without erasing prior contents; only the byte or bytes
addressed are updated.
➢ The EEPROM combines the advantage of nonvolatility with the flexibility of being
updatable in place.
➢ EEPROM is more expensive than EPROM
• Flash memory:
➢ It is intermediate between EPROM and EEPROM in both cost and functionality.
➢ it is possible to erase just blocks of memory rather than an entire chip. However, flash
memory does not provide byte-level erasure.
 Magnetic Disk

• A disk is a circular platter constructed of nonmagnetic material,

called the substrate, coated with a magnetizable material.
Traditionally, the substrate has been an aluminum or aluminum
alloy material.
• Data are recorded on and later retrieved from the disk via a
conducting coil named the head; in many systems, there are two
heads, a read head and a write head.
• During a read or write operation, the head is stationary while the
platter rotates beneath it.
 Data Organization and Formatting

• The head is a relatively small device capable of reading from or

writing to a portion of the platter rotating beneath it.
• This gives rise to the organization of data on the platter in a
concentric set of rings, called tracks.
• Each track is the same width as the head. There are thousands of
tracks per surface.
 Data Organization and Formatting

• Adjacent tracks are separated by gaps. This prevents, or at least

minimizes, errors due to misalignment of the head or simply
interference of magnetic fields.
• Data are transferred to and from the disk in sectors (Figure 6.2).
There are typically hundreds of sectors per track, and these may
be of either fixed or variable length.
• Adjacent sectors are separated by intra-track (inter-sector) gaps.
Data Organization and Formatting
 Physical Characteristics

• The head may either be fixed or movable with respect to the

radial direction of the platter.
➢ In a fixed-head disk, there is one read-write head per track. All of the heads
are mounted on a rigid arm that extends across all tracks. such systems are
rare today.
➢ In a movable-head disk, there is only one read-write head. Again, the head is
mounted on an arm. Because the head must be able to be positioned above
any track, the arm can be extended or retracted for this purpose.
 Physical Characteristics

• The disk itself is mounted in a disk drive, which consists of the arm, a
spindle that rotates the disk, and the electronics needed for input and
output of binary data.
➢ A nonremovable disk is permanently mounted in the disk drive; the hard disk
in a personal computer is a nonremovable disk.
➢ A removable disk can be removed and replaced with another disk. (A disk
may be moved from one computer system to another).
 Physical Characteristics
• For most disks, the magnetizable coating is applied to both sides
of the platter, which is then referred to as double sided. Some
less expensive disk systems use single-sided disks.
• Some disk drives accommodate multiple platters stacked
vertically a fraction of an inch apart. Multiple arms are provided
(Figure 6.5). Multiple–platter disks employ a movable head, with
one read-write head per platter surface. All of the heads are
mechanically fixed so that all are at the same distance from the
center of the disk and move together.
Physical Characteristics
 Physical Characteristics

• Thus, at any time, all of the heads are positioned over tracks that
are of equal distance from the center of the disk. The set of all
the tracks in the same relative position on the platter is referred
to as a cylinder.
• For example, all of the shaded tracks in Figure 6.6 are part of one
cylinder.
Physical Characteristics
 Disk Performance Parameters

• When the disk drive is operating, the disk is rotating at constant

speed. To read or write, the head must be positioned at the
desired track and at the beginning of the desired sector on that
track. Track selection involves moving the head in a movable
head system or electronically selecting one head on a fixed-head
system.
• On a movable head system, the time it takes to position the head
at the track is known as seek time.
 Disk Performance Parameters
• Once the track is selected, the disk controller waits until the
appropriate sector rotates to line up with the head. The time it takes
for the beginning of the sector to reach the head is known as
rotational delay, or rotational latency.
• The sum of the seek time, if any, and the rotational delay equals the
access time.
• Once the head is in position, the read or write operation is then
performed as the sector moves under the head; this is the data
transfer portion of the operation; the time required for the transfer is
the transfer time.
 SSDs & HDDS

• Hard Dis Driver (HDD) uses magnetism, which allows you to

store data on a rotating platter. The faster the platter spins, the
quicker an HDD can perform.
• Solid State Drive (SSD) is a non-volatile storage device that
stores and retrieves data constantly on solid-state flash memory.
However, this data is stored on interconnected flash memory
chips instead of platters, which makes them faster than HDDs. It
provides better performance compared to HDD.
 SSDs & HDDS

• SSDs have the following advantages over HDDs:

➢ Higher performance
➢ Durability
➢ Longer lifespan
➢ Lower power consumption
Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID)
• One of the best ways to prevent data loss is RAID.
• In a RAID setup, the data is copied on multiple disks. So that in
the event of a disk failure, no data would be lost.
• There are four common types of RAID:
• RAID 0
• RAID 1
• RAID 5
• RAID 10
 RAID 0
• In fact RAID 0 shouldn't even be called RAID because not only
does it not provide fault-tolerance, it actually increases the
chance for data loss.
• In a RAID 0, the data is not duplicated, but it's actually spread or
striped across two or more separate disks.
• If one of these disks fails, the data will be lost.
• The only reason why you would want to use RAID 0 is speed.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-OCdTeZLac
RAID 0
 RAID 1

• In a RAID 1 set up the data is copied on more than one disk.

• So in the event of a single disk failure, such as getting destroyed
by a laser beam, then no data loss would happen because the
other disk would have a duplicate copy.
RAID 1
 RAID 5

• In order to use RAID 5 you need to have 3 or more disks. RAID 5

is probably the most common setup that is used because it's fast
and it can store a large amount of data.
• So in a RAID 5 setup, data is not duplicated, but its striped or
spread across multiple disks. And in addition to the data, there is
another very important piece of information that is being evenly
spread across all the disks, and this information is called parity,
and parity is used to rebuild the data in the event of a disk failure.
 RAID 5

• If 4 disks (1 terabyte each), that totals 4 terabytes is used in

RAID 5 set up, the total amount that will be used for data storage
would be 3 terabytes, because the equivalent of 1 entire disk
would be used to store parity.
RAID 5
 RAID 10

• RAID 10 is basically what the name says, its combining RAID 1 and
RAID 0 together, and you need to use a minimum of 4 disks. So in a
RAID 10 set up, a set of 2 disks are mirrored using a RAID 1 set up.
• Then both sets of the two disks are striped using RAID 0. So RAID 10
benefits from the fault tolerance of RAID 1 and the speed of RAID 0.
• But the downside in a RAID 10, is that you can only use 50% of the
capacity for data storage. So if you are using four disks in a RAID 10
setup, you can only use two of them for actual storage.
RAID 10
 RAID 5 VS RAID 6

• In a RAID 5 setup, if 1 disk were to fail you would not lose any
data because RAID 5 is designed to handle a single disk failure so
all you would have to do is replace the failed disk with a new one
and then RAID 5 would use the parity information from the other
disks to rebuild the data on the new hard drive.
• However, if 2 discs were to fail at the same time in a RAID 5
setup, then all the data would be lost.
 RAID 5 VS RAID 6

• Now in order to use RAID 6 you need to have 4 or more disks.

Now RAID 6 is just like RAID 5, where the data is striped across all
the disks and parity is also spread on all the disks.
• But the difference is in RAID 6, parity is spread twice on all the
disks and the reason for this double parity is so that it can handle
2 disks failure at the same time.
• So in a RAID 6 if 2 disks were to fail at the same time, which is
pretty rare, no data would be lost.
 RAID 5 VS RAID 6

• It's also important to note that the read performance from RAID
5 and RAID 6 are about the same but as far as writing data
• This is where RAID 6 suffers greatly because since RAID 6 has to
write 2 independent parity blocks instead of 1, the write
performance will be a lot slower when compared to RAID 5.
RAID 5 VS RAID 6
 Optical Memory
• The Compact Disk(CD) is a nonerasable disk that can store more than
60 minutes of audio information on one side.
• Compact Disk Read-Only Memory (CD-ROM) :A nonerasable disk
used for storing computer data. (can hold more than 650 Mbytes)
• Both the audio CD and the CD-ROM (compact disk read-only memory)
share a similar technology. The main difference is that CD-ROM
players are more rugged and have error correction devices to ensure
that data are properly transferred from disk to computer.
 Optical Memory

• CD Recordable (CD-R): Similar to a CD-ROM. The user can write

to the disk only once.
• CD Rewritable (CD-RW): Similar to a CD-ROM. The user can
erase and rewrite to the disk multiple times.
• The CD and DVD are the versions of an optical disk which mainly
differ in size and manufacturing method. Generally, a DVD can
store more data than a CD. CD have a single layer of pits.
Whereases DVD have a double layer of pits.
 Optical Memory

• Digital Versatile Disk (DVD): A technology for producing

digitized, compressed representation of video information, as
well as large volumes of other digital data. (up to 17 Giga bytes)
• DVD Recordable(DVD-R): Similar to a DVD-ROM. The user can
write to the disk only once.
• DVD Rewritable (DVD-RW): Similar to a DVD-ROM. The user
can erase and rewrite to the disk multiple times.
 Magnetic tape

• Tape systems use the same reading and recording techniques as

disk systems. The medium is flexible polyester (similar to that
used in some clothing) tape coated with magnetizable material.
• Tape is used to store large amount of data.
• A separate read/write header is provided for each bit position on
the tape, in order to read or write all bits of a character in
parallel.
Magnetic tape