The time required for the computer to locate and transfer data in the storage device is called the data access time.
- Explanation: Access time is a critical performance metric in computing that measures how quickly data can be retrieved from a storage device. This includes both the time to locate the data and the time to transfer it to the CPU or memory.
Electronic memories have no moving parts.
- Explanation: Electronic memories, such as RAM (Random Access Memory) and SSDs (Solid State Drives), use electric circuits to store data, which results in faster access times and greater reliability compared to mechanical components like spinning disks or moving read/write heads found in older storage technologies.
Magnetic cores were the main elements used for primary memory in digital computers for many years.
- Explanation: Magnetic core memory was widely used in computers from the 1950s to the 1970s. It consisted of tiny magnetic rings through which wires were threaded to write and read data, serving as the primary memory before semiconductor memory became prevalent.
MOS is more commonly used for memory at present.
- Explanation: Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (MOS) technology is the foundation for modern semiconductor memory, including DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) and SRAM (Static Random Access Memory). MOS transistors are used extensively due to their scalability and efficiency.
Magnetic disks constitute the secondary storage media.
- Explanation: Magnetic disks, such as hard disk drives (HDDs), provide secondary storage, which is used for storing data long-term. Unlike primary storage (RAM), secondary storage retains data even when the computer is powered off.
Data are stored in binary codes in primary as well as in secondary storage.
- Explanation: Both primary (RAM) and secondary (HDD, SSD) storage use binary codes, which consist of 0s and 1s, to represent and store data. Binary coding is fundamental to digital computing.
Data access time is shorter in electronic memories than that in electromechanical memories.
- Explanation: Electronic memories, such as RAM and SSDs, provide much faster data access times compared to electromechanical memories like hard disk drives (HDDs), which have moving parts that slow down data retrieval.
Electronic memories have larger capacities for data storage.
- Explanation: Modern electronic memories, especially solid-state drives and advanced RAM modules, offer significantly larger storage capacities compared to older technologies. This is due to advancements in semiconductor fabrication and storage density.