direct access
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." Disks and memories (RAMs, ROMs, PROMs, etc.) are the major direct access devices. See magnetic disk and RAM.
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| Early Direct Access |
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| 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.) |
direct access
a method of reading data from a computer file without reading through the file from the beginning as on a disk or drum
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