
Ask HN: Could there be data loss from DRAM while system is Up and Running ?? - mridulv09
https:&#x2F;&#x2F;miuv.blog&#x2F;2018&#x2F;11&#x2F;24&#x2F;could-there-be-a-data-loss-in-dram-while-my-system-is-up&#x2F;<p>Recently I was reading some article. It really struck me that RAM sitting on our systems has to be refreshed again and again in a timely fashion to ensure that the contents stored by the memory cells are intact.<p>Could there be any data loss due to some external factors in DRAM.
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pwg
> It really struck me that RAM sitting on our systems has to be refreshed
> again and again in a timely fashion to ensure that the contents stored by
> the memory cells are intact.

This is nothing new. A need to refresh the contents has been a fact since the
invention of DRAM.

> Could there be any data loss due to some external factors in DRAM.

If you mean: Is there a probability, no matter how small, of data loss from
DRAM by external factors, then the simple answer is yes.

A cosmic ray could hit a DRAM cell in one of the memory chips of your computer
at just the right spot to cause a bit to flip state (i.e., change from 0 to 1
or 1 to 0). Assuming a system without ECC on the DRAM subsystem.

But the probability of this occurring to you, specifically, on the single
computer you are using is so low that you may as well ignore it, because you
have a significantly higher probably of data loss from user action (you delete
something you should not have deleted) or simple power failure (i.e., tree
limb falls, taking out power feed to your home) or any of multiple other
reasons for data loss.

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mridulv09
[https://miuv.blog/2018/11/24/could-there-be-a-data-loss-
in-d...](https://miuv.blog/2018/11/24/could-there-be-a-data-loss-in-dram-
while-my-system-is-up/)

