Random access memory

nounStandard termTelecom & IT

The primary volatile working memory in a computer system where active data and machine code are stored.

Random access memory provides fast read and write access to a storage medium, allowing the processor to retrieve data in any order without sequential delays. Because it is volatile, it loses all stored information when power is removed. Engineers size it based on the simultaneous workload capacity required by the operating system and applications.

Heard on the job

The server keeps crashing because it runs out of random access memory during the nightly database compile.

Also heard as

  • RAM