Top 10 Differences between Primary and Secondary Memory - Infographic

PRIMARY MEMORY

Primary memory is also known as Main memory or Internal memory
In primary memory, data is directly accessed by the processing unit.
Semi conductor chips are used to store information in primary memory.
Information stored is temporary and it can be lost when there is a sudden power cut.
Data operated and stored in uniform manner.
Primary memory devices are more expensive than secondary storage devices.
Nature of Parts of Primary memory varies. RAM- volatile in nature. ROM- Non-volatile
It is very fast in interacting with micro processor.
Primary memory has limited storage capacity.
Examples: RAM, ROM, Cache memory, PROM, EPROM, Registers etc

Secondary memory is also known as External memory or Auxiliary memory
In secondary memory, data is first transferred to main memory and then routed to processing unit.
Magnetic disk, optical disks are used to store information in secondary memory.
Information stored is permanent unless one deletes it intentionally.
Data stored is not uniform in secondary memory.
Secondary memory devices are less expensive when compare to primary memory devices.
It’s always Non-volatile in nature.
It is little slow in interacting with micro processor.
Whereas secondary memory can store bulk amounts of data in a single unit.
Examples: Magnetic Tapes, Optical Disc, Floppy Disks, Flash memory [USB drives], Paper Tape, Punched cards etc.

15 Comments

Amanda Samuels on February 2, 2018 at 1:59 am

this information was very helpful…. thank you..

tumeliso on February 13, 2018 at 8:33 pm

very useful thank you very much

chuks ewuzie on September 8, 2018 at 10:17 am

this was very useful… nice writings

Manish on December 20, 2019 at 10:31 pm

Thanks very much very useful concept…
Reply

Meenakshi guptha on March 23, 2019 at 7:12 am

Thanks for this information it is very helpful

Musfirah on February 20, 2020 at 8:38 pm

It was so informative and helpful to me
Reply

Mohamed Lamin Dumbuya on March 30, 2019 at 4:04 am

Thanks for your wonderful lectures.

AKII WALTER on April 25, 2019 at 11:18 pm

I have really enjoyed the information in this site. Bravo for the work done

TAKUDZWA CHARIGA on May 28, 2019 at 11:30 pm

THIS IS GOOD . SIMPLE AND DIRECT

Draco on June 6, 2019 at 9:01 pm

Very useful, helpful and it is very easy to understand thre concept… Thanks

Harry Potter on June 6, 2019 at 9:03 pm

Very easy….. Merci

Dami on October 23, 2019 at 7:46 am

Thank you

ian demarblz on December 18, 2019 at 4:29 pm

this info is helpful and easy to understand

Gracious on January 30, 2020 at 3:57 am

Very helpful and easily understood

Musfirah on February 20, 2020 at 8:38 pm

It was so informative and helpful to me