Data buffer

Article summary

In computer science, a data buffer (or just buffer) is a region of memory used to store data temporarily while it is being moved from one place to another. Typically, the data is stored in a buffer as it is retrieved from an input device (such as a analog-to-digital converter) or just before it is sent to an output device (such as a digital-to-analog converter); however, a buffer may be used when data is moved between processes within a computer, comparable to buffers in telecommunications. Buffers can be implemented in a fixed memory location in hardware or by using a virtual data buffer in software that points to a location in the physical memory. In all cases, the data stored in a data buffer is stored on a physical storage medium. The majority of buffers are implemented in software, which typically use RAM to store temporary data because of its much faster access time when compared with hard disk drives. Buffers are typically used when there is a difference between the rate at which data is received and the rate at which it can be processed, or in the case that these rates are variable, for example, in a printer spooler or in online video streaming, a storage (hard disk or flash memory) based buffer may be used. In a distributed computing environment, data buffers are often implemented in the form of burst buffers, which provide distributed buffering services.…

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