System Memory

Computer memory is a generic term for all of the different types of data
storage technology that a computer may use, including RAM & ROM.
Computer memory is of two basic type – Primary memory (RAM and ROM) and
Secondary memory (hard drive, CD,etc.). Random Access Memory (RAM) is
primary-volatile memory and Read Only Memory (ROM) is primary-non-
volatile memory.

1. Random Access Memory (RAM)

The most important things to understand about RAM are that RAM memory is
very fast, it can be written to as well as read, it is volatile (so all data stored in
RAM memory is lost when it loses power)
• It is also called as read write memory or the main memory or
the primary memory.
• The programs and data that the CPU requires during execution of a
program are stored in this memory.
• It is a volatile memory as the data loses when the power is turned off.
• RAM is further classified into two types- SRAM (Static Random-Access
Memory) and DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory).
DRAM: DRAM stands for Dynamic RAM, and it is the most common type of
RAM used in computers. The oldest type is known as single data rate (SDR)
DRAM, but newer computers use faster dual data rate (DDR) DRAM. DDR
comes in several versions including DDR2, DDR3, and DDR4, which offer
better performance and are more energy efficient than DDR. DRAM consists
of a one capacitor and one transistor.

Characteristics of Dynamic RAM

• Short data lifetime
• Needs to be refreshed continuously
• Slower as compared to SRAM
• Used as RAM
• Smaller in size
• Less expensive
• Less power consumption
SRAM: SRAM stands for Static RAM, and it is a particular type of RAM which
is faster than DRAM, it has six transistors in each cell. For those reasons
SRAM is generally only used as a data cache within a CPU itself or as RAM in
very high-end server systems. A small SRAM cache of the most imminently-
needed data can result in significant speed improvements in a system
Characteristic of Static RAM
• Long life
• No need to refresh
• Faster
• Used as cache memory
• Large size
• Expensive
• High power consumption

The common types of DRAM (Dynamic RAM)

Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM): . In late 1996, SDRAM began to appear in

systems. Unlike previous technologies, SDRAM is designed to synchronize
itself with the timing of the CPU. This enables the memory controller to know
the exact clock cycle when the requested data will be ready, so the CPU no
longer has to wait between memory accesses.
SDRAM can stand for SDR SDRAM (Single Data Rate SDRAM), where the I/O,
internal clock and bus clock are the same. For example, the I/O, internal clock
and bus clock of PC133 are all 133 Mhz. Single Data Rate means that SDR
SDRAM can only read/write one time in a clock cycle.

Rambus DRAM (RDRAM) It was popular in the early 2000s and was mainly used
for video game devices and graphics cards, with transfer speeds up to 1 GHz.
 (DDR SDRAM) Stands for "Double Data Rate." It is an advanced version of
SDRAM, a type of computer memory. DDR-SDRAM, sometimes called "SDRAM
II," can transfer data twice as fast as regular SDRAM chips. This is because DDR
memory can send and receive signals twice per clock cycle.
DDR1 SDRAM has been succeeded by DDR2, DDR3, and most recently, DDR4
SDRAM

Standard (Approximate Operating Voltage Associated RAM Clock Approximate Transfer

Year Introduced) Rates Rates

SDRAM (1993) 3.3 V 66 – 133 MHz 100 – 166 MT/s

DDR SDRAM (2000) 2.6 V, 2.5 V 100 – 200 MHz 200 – 400 MT/s

DDR2 SDRAM (2003) 1.8 V, 1.55 V 200 – 400 MHz 400 – 1066 MT/s

DDR3 SDRAM (2007) 1.5 V, 1.35 V 400 MHz – 1066 MHz 800 – 2133 MT/s

DDR4 SDRAM (2014) 1.2 V 1066 – 1600 MHz 1600 – 3200 MT/s
Types of RAM Slots
SIMM
Single inline memory modules (SIMMs) were the standard type of RAM module
used during the 1980s and 1990s. Single In-Line Memory Modules (SIMM) is
that the little circuit boards having notches wherever the RAM chips are fixed.
SIMM connectors and therefore the slot situated on the motherboard are
created of metal (gold or tin). In SIMM, Pins present in either facet are
connected. There are two type of SIMM presents, one with 30 pins and another
one is with 72 pins.

DIMM
DIMM (Dual In-Line Memory Module) also has metal connectors similar to
SIMM, but either of the sides of the connector does not rely on the other.
Advanced motherboards use 168, 184, 240 pin DIMMs. It consumes 3.3 volts
of power and can store from 32 MB up to 1GB of memory.
Pins
DIMM and SIMM are manufactured with pins which enable them to connect to
the PC’s motherboard. The typical SIMM module has 72 pins, while the most
common pin configuration of the DIMM module is 168 pins. Other DIMM
configurations include 100, 144, 172, 184, 204, 214 and 240 pins.
Comparison Chart
BASIS FOR
SIMM DIMM
COMPARISON

Basic Pins present in either DIMM pins are independent.

side are connected.

Channel 32 bit 64 bit

Power consumption 5 volts 3.3 volts

Storage provided 4MB to 64 MB 32MB to 1 GB

Applications 486 CPU and early Modern Pentium PCs are enabled
Pentium computers use with DIMM modules.
SIMM.

BIOS
BIOS stand for Basic Input and Output System, Which is a small chip in
motherboard. But it is one of the important chips in motherboard. It has
predefined software.
BIOS are also called as CMOS BIOS. CMOS stands for Complementary Metal
Oxide Semiconductor. It has predefined Software, which checks the each and
every component of motherboard, when we turn on the CPU that is called
POST. POST stands for Power on Self Test, after which the system starts
booting up
It stores the setting of motherboard components and its specifications, Date,
time and passwords. In motherboard there is a battery to give power to BIOS
chip to store the settings. There is a jumper to reset the setting of BIOS. It is
useful, when BIOS software Corrupted.
There is a option to see BIOS settings on start-up. Intel Motherboards have F2
button, Mercury Motherboards have Del button and branded systems have F10
button to change or Entering setting of a BIOS. When you press the key at
startup, BIOS settings will be on screen. You can see system configuration and
other settings here.
This is the Award BIOS options. they are Standard CMOS features, Advanced
BIOS features, Advanced Chipset features, Integrated Peripherals, Power
Management Setup, PnP/PCI configurations, PC Health Status,
Frequency/Voltage Control, Load Fail-safe Defaults, Load Optimized Defaults,
Set Supervisor Password, Set User Password, Save & Exit Setup and Exit Without
Saving, and below the shortcut keys Esc to Quit, F10 to Save & Exit setup,
Arrow keys to select Items and to change the values +/-, PU/PD.

Standard CMOS setting: - In these settings, Date, Time settings, disk drive
settings, how many drives have detected or not. In this motherboard, hard
drives connected to IDE channel 0 Master, that means Primary Master and DVD
RW connected to IDE channel 4 Master. Floppy drive settings, if your system
has floppy disk drives, you must enable Drive A. Bottom of this window, there
are some option to change settings.
Advanced settings: Hard disk boot priority settings for using more than one
hard drives, select hard drive for boot. At the same CD-ROM boot priority
important options are first boot and second boot devices. First boot always in
Hard disk, but whenever you format your system, you must change first boot
device as CD drive to boot from bootable CD.

Advanced Chipset settings: These settings for Graphics purpose. Your system
has Installed AGP cards, these settings are automatically enabled. But you have
to select or change card memory here.
Load fail safe defaults settings: load fail safe default settings are used to
restore the default settings of BIOS
Supervisor password: is used to set password to all BIOS settings. To create
password, just select the option and enter password and conformation. User
password is used to login. This option is to view the all BIOS settings. If you
want to change option supervisor password is must.
Last two options are used to save or not options. Save & exit option is saving
your settings and without saving option is not saving option.

OPERATING SYSTEM (OS)

An operating system is system software that works as an interface between a user and the
computer hardware, that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides
common services for computer programs. (A computer program is a collection of instructions
that performs a specific task when executed)
The primary objective of an operating system is to make computer system convenient to use
and to utilize computer hardware in an efficient manner.
The operating system performs the basic tasks such as receiving input from the keyboard,
processing instructions and sending output to the screen. Without an operating system, a
computer is useless.

The operating system manages a computer's hardware resources, including:

• Input devices such as a keyboard and mouse.

• Output devices such as display monitors, printers and scanners.
• Network devices such as modems, routers and network connections.
• Storage devices such as internal and external drives.

Process Management: It manage all the User and system Process.

Memory Management: Operating System also Manages the Computer Memory that is
provided to the process.
Extended Machine: It is behaves like an Extended Machine that Provides us Sharing of
Files between Multiple Users.
Mastermind: It performs Many Functions that's why we can say that Operating System is
a Mastermind.

Graphical user interface (GUI):

Modern operating systems use a graphical user interface (GUI). A GUI is a type of user interface
which allow people to interact with a computer and help to use your mouse to
click icons, buttons, and menus, and everything is clearly displayed on the screen using a
combination of graphics and text.
Each operating system's GUI has a different look and feel, so if you switch to a different
operating system it may seem unfamiliar at first. However, modern operating systems are
designed to be easy to use, and most of the basic principles are the same.
Before GUIs, computers had a command-line interface, which is non-graphical meant users
had to type every single command to the computer and the computer would only display
text.MS dos is a command line interpreter.
TYPES OPRATING SYSTEM:
The three most common operating systems for personal computers
are Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac OS, and Linux.

Microsoft Windows:
Microsoft created the Windows operating system in the mid-1980s. There have been many different
versions of Windows, but the most recent ones are Windows 10 (released in 2015), Windows 8
(2012), Windows 7 (2009), and Windows Vista (2007).

1. MS DOS (Microsoft Disk Operating System)

MS-DOS is a non-graphical command line operating system derived from 86-DOS that
was created for IBM compatible computers. MS-DOS originally written by Tim Paterson
and originally introduced by Microsoft in August 1981 and was last updated in 1994.
Today, MS-DOS is no longer used; however, the command shell, more commonly
known as the Windows command line is still used by many users.
MS-DOS is a command-line and is navigated by using MS-DOS commands. For example,
if you wanted to see all the files in a folder in Windows you would double-click the
folder to open the folder in Windows Explorer. In MS-DOS, to view that same folder
you would navigate to the folder using the cd command and then list the files in that
folder using the command. and there are over 100 different commands that have been
used in MS-DOS and the Windows command line.

2. Windows 1.0 – 2.0 (1985-1992)

Introduced in 1985, Microsoft Windows 1.0 was named due to the computing boxes,
or "windows" that represented a fundamental aspect of the operating system. Instead
of typing MS-DOS commands, windows 1.0 allowed users to point and click to access
the windows.

In 1987 Microsoft released Windows 2.0, which was designed for the designed for the
Intel 286 processor. This version added desktop icons, keyboard shortcuts and
improved graphics support.
3. Windows 3.0 – 3.1 (1990–1994)
4. Windows 95 (August 1995)
5. Windows 98 (June 1998)

MacOS
macOS (previously called OS X) is a line of operating systems created by Apple. It comes
preloaded on all Macintosh computers, or Macs. Some of the specific versions include
Mojave (released in 2018), High Sierra (2017), and Sierra (2016).
Operating systems for mobile devices
The operating systems we've been talking about so far were designed to run
on desktop and laptop computers. Mobile devices such as phones, tablet computers,
and MP3 players are different from desktop and laptop computers, so they run operating
systems that are designed specifically for mobile devices. Examples of mobile operating
systems include Apple iOS and Google Android.