One of the basic and fundamental functions of computers is data storage. The computer has components that store digital data and record media used for computation. The stored data is in the form of bits and bytes. Fast but temporary storage in the computer is often referred to as memory while storage can refer to storage devices that are not directly accessible by the central processing unit. Computers use different types of memory organized in a storage hierarchy, in the central processing unit. The memory hierarchy consists of CPU registers, SRAM caches, external caches, DRAM, paging systems, and virtual memory on the computer's hard disk. Initially, storage devices were called memory, but nowadays memory refers to a random access memory (RAM) which is a semiconductor storage device. The first computers produced used magnetic drums and William tubes for data storage, which had low access rates (Parsons & Oja, 2011, p 76). The computer has two main types of data storage, which include primary storage and secondary storage. There are two classifications of primary memory, which are directly accessible to the central processing unit, commonly called random access memory (RAM) and read-only memory (ROM). RAM which is working memory has two main forms: static RAM (SRAM) and dynamic RAM (DRAM). SRAM is faster, more expensive, and consumes less power than DRAM. The CPU continuously and constantly reads instructions from RAM. In terms of data storage, RAM capacity is low. It has a remarkable access speed and is expensive. RAM consists of the processor cache and processor registers. Processor registers located inside the CPU help load… middle of paper… rage. It involves robotic mechanisms that remove and insert mass storage media into a storage device, copied to secondary storage. It is used to store rarely used information because it is slower than secondary storage. It is useful for extremely large data stores. The highly regarded elements of storage devices are capacity, performance, volatility, mutability, accessibility, addressability, capacity, and power consumption (Lee, 2010, p 119). In conclusion, the computer has components that help store digital data and record media used for computation. It stores data in the form of bits and bytes. The fast but transient storage in the computer is called memory while storage can refer to the storage devices that are not directly accessible by the central processing unit. Computers use different types of memory organized in a storage hierarchy, in the central processing unit.