What does a bank refer to in computer terminology?

Answer: Most of us think of banks as places where we can deposit and withdraw money. In the computer world, the term "bank" is a bit more ambiguous. It can mean several different things, but most often it refers to a memory bank. Memory banks are similar to financial banks, except they serve as a data repository rather than a place to store money.

A bank may also refer to a set of memory modules, such as SIMMs or DIMMs. Memory modules are sometimes organized into different groups on a motherboard and each group is called a bank.

Finally, the term "bank" can be loosely used to describe a general storage area for computer data. For example, a person might say he uploaded a backup copy of his document to an online data bank. Once the document is stored in the data bank, the user can retrieve it at a later time.

Published: July 29, 2009 — by Per Christensson