The permanent holding place for digital data, until purposely
erased. Storage implies a repository that retains its content
without power. Storage mostly means magnetic disks, solid state
disks and USB drives. The term may also refer to magnetic tapes
and optical discs (CDs, DVDs, etc.). Storage specifically does
not mean the computer's main memory. Main memory, which
comprises DRAM and SRAM chips, is a temporary workspace for
executing instructions and processing data, and these chips do
not hold their content when the power is turned off.| Storage
Vs. Memory - More Confusing All the Time Over the years, some
vendors have referred to disks and tapes as "memory" products,
which blurs the distinction between storage and memory. To
further confuse things, "memory" cards in digital cameras and
the flash "memory" in USB drives are storage devices that do, in
fact, hold their content without power. See memory, dynamic RAM
and static RAM. For summaries of all storage technologies, see
magnetic disk, magnetic tape a