RAM does NOT = hard drive. RAM is your random access memory that runs off one or more circuit boards that plug into your motherboard. Your hard drive in an encased drive that also attaches to your mother board and is your storage drive. RAM is volatile memory in which applications run when you open them. It's completely separate from hard disk space.
The symbol != means “not equal to” in SQL.
Didn't I say that? Right here: "note that RAM != hard drive".
Oh, wait. I just saw the posts further down.
I wasn't taught to use <> for NOT equals. I do know that slashing through an equals sign means NOT equals, and the convention at my school (and in programming) is that != means NOT equals. [No, I don't use it because it's "cool"; I use this convention because it's what I was taught.]