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Volatile storage holds data only as long as power is applied – data is lost when power is cut.

Examples of volatile storage:

• Random Access Memory (dynamic or static RAM)

Examples of non-volatile storage:

• Flash memory
• Disk drives
• Magnetic tape

The term volatile can also refer to an attribute of data objects or memory regions that can be accessed by independent input/output processes or devices. Effectively, these values are subject to change over time by external factors, code, or devices, making the values appear to be unpredictable. This thwarts many types of optimizations.