Which storage medium on many routers is used to hold the Internetwork Operating System image?

Which storage medium on many routers is used to hold the Internetwork Operating System image?

• A. NVRAM
• B. RAM
• C. FLASH
• D. ROM

Answer: (C)

Non-volatile storage is used for the router’s operating system image so it survives power cycles and can be updated. The IOS image is kept in flash memory, which is rewritable and retains data without power. When the router boots, the bootloader reads the image from flash into RAM to run it, but the image's primary home is flash. RAM is volatile and holds the running code and data only while the device is powered, so it isn’t used for long-term storage of the OS. NVRAM stores startup configuration, not the OS image, and ROM contains a basic bootstrap or a small, fixed OS for recovery rather than the main IOS.

Non-volatile storage is used for the router’s operating system image so it survives power cycles and can be updated. The IOS image is kept in flash memory, which is rewritable and retains data without power. When the router boots, the bootloader reads the image from flash into RAM to run it, but the image's primary home is flash. RAM is volatile and holds the running code and data only while the device is powered, so it isn’t used for long-term storage of the OS. NVRAM stores startup configuration, not the OS image, and ROM contains a basic bootstrap or a small, fixed OS for recovery rather than the main IOS.