What is memory?
Memory is often used as a catch-all term for data storage. That is, any type of storage is referred to as memory. However, grouping all types of storage together is not accurate. In actuality, there are two types of memory that are used in digital devices such as a computer or PLC.
Memory
Though it is easy to conflate storage with memory, in reality, memory is just temporary storage. This short-term memory is often referred to as random-access memory (RAM). RAM is used for a machine’s immediate operations; for example, for running software such as the operating system or PLC code.
RAM allows the central processing unit (CPU) to quickly access program information from a storage device. As such, RAM can be thought of as temporary, high-speed memory. Fundamentally, RAM in itself is a microchip. However, for devices such as personal computers and even some PLCs, RAM will come packaged in a circuit board that contains multiple RAM chips. This whole device...
