random access
[′ran·dəm ′ak‚ses] (computer science)
The ability to read or write information anywhere within a storage device in an amount of time that is constant regardless of the location of the information accessed and of the location of the information previously accessed. Also known as direct access.
A process in which data are accessed in nonsequential order and possibly at irregular intervals of time. Also known as single reference.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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 |
|---|
| 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.) |
Copyright © 1981-2025 by The Computer Language Company Inc. All Rights reserved. THIS DEFINITION IS FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY. All other reproduction is strictly prohibited without permission from the publisher.