What is the difference between Memory and Storage?

Memory and Storage play different roles and have different functions in a computer.

Memory is the primary workspace of a computer, used to store running programs, data, and temporary information. It serves as the computer’s temporary storage with fast and random access. Memory capacity is typically measured in bytes, with common units being gigabytes (GB) and megabytes (MB).

Storage is the permanent storage of a computer, used to store operating systems, applications, files, and other long-term data. The capacity of storage devices is typically much larger than that of memory, allowing for the storage of large amounts of data, including documents, photos, videos, and more. While the access speed of storage devices is relatively slow, they can permanently retain data, even if the computer loses power.

In short, memory is used for temporarily storing data and programs that are currently being used, allowing the computer to quickly access and process them; whereas storage is used for long-term preservation of data and files, even when the computer is shut down or restarted, the data will not be lost.