The memory cell is the fundamental building block of computer memory. The memory cell is an electronic circuit that stores one bit of binary information and it must be set to store a logic 1 and reset to store a logic 0. Its value is maintained/stored until it is changed by the set/reset process. The value in the memory cell can be accessed by reading it.
Layout for the silicon implementation of a six transistor SRAM memory cell.
32x32 core memory plane storing 1024 bits of data.
Intel 1103, a 1970 metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) chip.
Die of the MT4C1024 (1994) integrating one-mebibit of DRAM memory cells.
Random-access memory is a form of electronic computer memory that can be read and changed in any order, typically used to store working data and machine code. A random-access memory device allows data items to be read or written in almost the same amount of time irrespective of the physical location of data inside the memory, in contrast with other direct-access data storage media, where the time required to read and write data items varies significantly depending on their physical locations on the recording medium, due to mechanical limitations such as media rotation speeds and arm movement.
A 64 bit memory chip die, the SP95 Phase 2 Buffer Memory produced at IBM mid 60s, versus memory core iron rings
Example of writable volatile random-access memory: Synchronous Dynamic RAM modules, primarily used as main memory in personal computers, workstations, and servers.
8GB DDR3 RAM stick with a white heatsink
These IBM tabulating machines from the mid-1930s used mechanical counters to store information.