RAM disk

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RAM disk (RAM drive, virtual disk) A portion of a computer's RAM memory made to behave as though it were a disk. It can be written to and read from as though it were a real disk but it is very much faster. However, it will generally have a lower capacity than a hard disk. The contents of the RAM disk are not preserved when the computer is switched off. In portable computers, battery-backed CMOS RAM – with its extremely low power consumption – is often used to overcome this problem.

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