Term of the Moment
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Redirected from: random access
Definition: direct access
(1) See Microsoft DirectAccess.
(2) The ability to read or write a specific storage location without having to go through any locations before or after it. Generally synonymous with "random access." Magnetic disks, SSDs, optical data discs and RAM are the primary direct access hardware in a computer.
Access Via Software First
Data are commonly accessed by first scanning an index or by a direct access computation that determines their storage addresses. See index, direct access method and random file.
Early Direct Access
(2) The ability to read or write a specific storage location without having to go through any locations before or after it. Generally synonymous with "random access." Magnetic disks, SSDs, optical data discs and RAM are the primary direct access hardware in a computer.
Access Via Software First
Data are commonly accessed by first scanning an index or by a direct access computation that determines their storage addresses. See index, direct access method and random file.
Using a deck of 3x14" magnetic cards, NCR's CRAM was a direct access storage device in the 1960s. By the end of that decade, magnetic disks were becoming mainstream. See CRAM for more details. (Image courtesy of NCR Corporation.)