Storage technologies and access time Which device type has the highest (slowest) access time among the following?

Introduction / Context:
Access time is the delay between a read/write request and the beginning of data transfer. Understanding relative access times across storage tiers is foundational for performance tuning and systems design.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• Cache resides close to the CPU and is orders of magnitude faster than disks.
• Magnetic disks (hard drives) have mechanical latency and seek time but are faster than legacy floppy disks.
• “Swapping devices” commonly refer to disk-based backing store used for paging; typical latency is similar to or better than floppy disks due to higher rotation speed and density.

Concept / Approach:

Compare typical latencies: cache in nanoseconds; hard disks in milliseconds; floppy disks also in milliseconds but with slower rotation speed and longer seek/settle times, yielding higher (worse) access times than hard disks. Therefore, among the listed options, floppy disks are slowest.

Step-by-Step Solution:

Verification / Alternative check:

Historical metrics: cache tens of nanoseconds; HDD seek + rotational latency ~ 5–15 ms; 3.5 inch floppy average access ~ 100–300 ms. The floppy is clearly slowest.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:

b: Cache has the lowest access time. c: Swapping devices are usually hard disks or SSDs, faster than floppies. d: Hard disks are faster than floppies due to higher RPM and better mechanics.

Common Pitfalls:

Assuming “swapping devices” means something slower than floppies; in real computing environments, floppies are not used for virtual memory.

Final Answer:

Floppy disk