The decompressed form of Cisco IOS Software and the running configuration are stored in DRAM
(Dynamic Random-Access Memory) on Cisco devices. DRAM is used as the main memory for the
device, where the operating system runs and the running configuration is stored. When a Cisco
device boots up, the IOS image is decompressed and loaded into DRAM, and the running
configuration is also held in this memory type. It’s important to note that DRAM is volatile memory,
which
means
its
contents
are
lost
when
the
device
is
powered
off
or
restarted12. Reference := Maintaining System Memory Configuration Guide, Cisco IOS Release
15M&T - Cisco, Types of memory on a Cisco device - Study-CCNA
