Overview

We’ll now turn our attention to how data is actually stored in memory and, in particular, how it is moved and cached to improve performance of a program.

Basic Learning Objectives

Before class, you should be able to:

  • Explain the tradeoffs of different kinds of memory
  • Explain how a direct-mapped cache works

Advanced Learning Objectives

After class, you should be able to:

  • Identify if a given cache is direct-mapped, fully associative, or set associative
  • Interpret given cache parameters to identify where data is stored

Resources

Read the following:

Checks

Submit answers to the following on Moodle:

  • What are the primary storage devices of a typical computer ordered by capacity?
  • What are the pros and cons of a direct-mapped cache design?