In-memory processing

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The term is used for two different things:

1. In computer science, in-memory processing (PIM) is a computer architecture in which data operations are available directly on the data memory, rather than having to be transferred to CPU registers first.^[1] This may improve the power usage and performance of moving data between the processor and the main memory.
2. In software engineering, in-memory processing is a software architecture where a database is kept entirely in random-access memory (RAM) or flash memory so that usual accesses, in particular read or query operations, do not require access to disk storage.^[2] This may allow faster data operations such as "joins", and faster reporting and decision-making in business.^[3]

Extremely large datasets may be divided between co-operating systems as in-memory data grids.