Question

Which of the following secondary storage devices has the fastest access time: Optical Drive, Magnetic Tape Drive, Hard Disk Drive (HDD), or Solid State Drive (SSD)?

• A. Solid State Drive (SSD)
• B. Optical Drive
• C. Magnetic Tape Drive
• D. Hard Disk Drive (HDD)

Hint:

When comparing storage devices, SSDs are always the fastest in terms of access time due to the absence of moving parts.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

Among the given secondary storage devices:
- Optical Drives are relatively slow because they involve mechanical movement.
- Magnetic Tape Drives are the slowest, as they require sequential access to data stored on the tape.
- Hard Disk Drives (HDDs) are faster than magnetic tapes but slower than solid-state drives due to the mechanical nature of spinning disks.
- Solid State Drives (SSDs) provide the fastest access times because they use flash memory and have no moving parts, allowing for near-instantaneous data retrieval.
Thus, the fastest access time is provided by the Solid State Drive (SSD). 
Therefore, the correct answer is \( \boxed{(a)} \).