RAM (Random Access Memory)

RAM is essentially your device’s short-term memory. It temporarily stores (remembers) everything that runs on your PC, like your web browser, your opened applications or the game you’re playing. Any program you load on your computer is first transferred from Hard Disk to RAM. Data that resides in the short-term memory, or RAM, can be read from anywhere at almost the same speed. Because it has a hard-wired connection to your system, there’s no real latency in cabling or connection.

RAM doesn’t remember everything forever, however. It’s a “volatile” technology, meaning that once it loses power, it forgets everything. That makes it perfect for handling the multitude of high-speed tasks that your system throws at it on a daily basis. But it’s also why we need storage systems like hard drives and SSDs, which actually hold our information when you turn the system off.