Direct access may refer to any of the following:
- Sometimes called machine access or random access, direct access describes a computer’s ability to locate and retrieve data from a storage device immediately.
In contrast, sequential access starts at the beginning of a data source and reads all information in order until the requested data is found. A hard drive is an excellent example of a device capable of directly accessing data.
- When referring to a telephone call, see local bypass.
Access, Hard drive terms, Machine, Random-access file, Sequential access
