Cache Memory
Cache Memory is a part of computer memory. Cache Memory is a type of Memory device which is a part of Memory Unit of the CPU. Cache Memory is usually considered as a tiny part of Random Access Memory (i.e. RAM) that has been allocated to keep operations that are often carried out. It helps in speeding up the processors as it does not have to search through the whole computer, therefore making the actions operate faster. Cache Memory is basically a high speed buffer between the CPU and the Main Memory.
The more the cache memory in a computer, the faster the computer will be running. As the cache memory will be larger, more of this memory is used and additional information is stored which reduces the speeds. Now- a- days, cache memory is being given a lot of weightage while buying a new computer system. This type of memory is also termed as SDRAM that is also known as high speed static memory. It is much quicker than DRAM as DRAM has to be constantly refreshed or will lose its contents.
It is not feasible for the CPU to fetch data directly from the disk drives as the disk drives are too slow (even in the case of faster hard disk drives available now- a- days). The CPU processes the requests to the RAM which locates the data and responds back to the CPU, but this process is very time consuming as the speed of RAM, compared to the CPU, is very slow. So to reduce this overhead, Cache memory is placed and the programs being executed again and again or the data being processed frequently is stored in cache memory. Cache memory needs not to search the locations and responds back to the CPU immediately when the request is made, which results in faster processing of the processor. It means that the CPU consults the Cache Memory and when it cannot find the instructions, it looks into the Main Memory. Cache Memory is also termed as a fast RAM.
When a required page is found in the Cache, it is called Cache Hit and when it is not found in the cache, it is termed as Cache Miss.
Some of the advantages of Cache memory are:
It provides faster accessing of the data
No time is wasted in retrieving the data for the primary or secondary memory.
Remember, Cache Memory is different from Cache.. Read this Extension reading about Cache
Article Source: http://www.trivology.com/articles/239/what-is-cache-memory.html
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