A Level Computer Science OCR Practice Exam

What is one characteristic of Virtual Memory?

1. It stores data permanently.

2. It extends main storage using the hard drive.

3. It is unaffected by application performance.

4. It duplicates main memory data automatically.

The correct answer is: It extends main storage using the hard drive.

Virtual Memory is a memory management technique that allows the operating system to use a portion of the hard drive as if it were additional RAM. By doing this, it effectively extends the amount of memory that the system can use. This is particularly useful when running multiple applications or handling large processes that require more memory than what is physically available via RAM. The operating system handles the movement of data between the RAM and the hard drive, allowing programs to operate as though they have access to a larger memory space than is actually installed. This capability enables systems to run more efficiently, especially when dealing with memory-intensive tasks. Regarding the other options, they don’t adequately describe the function of Virtual Memory. Permanent data storage is a characteristic of non-volatile memory such as hard drives or SSDs, not Virtual Memory. Application performance can indeed be affected by how Virtual Memory is utilized, particularly if the system has to frequently swap data between RAM and the hard drive. Automatic duplication of main memory data does not occur with Virtual Memory; instead, the operating system manages what is stored in memory and what is stored on the disk to optimize performance.