Various storage devices used by an operating system can be arranged as follows…
2014
Various storage devices used by an operating system can be arranged as follows in increasing order of accessing speed :
- A.
Magnetic tapes → magnetic disks → optical disks → electronic disks → main memory → cache → registers
- B.
Magnetic tapes → magnetic disks → electronic disks → optical disks → main memory → cache → registers
- C.
Magnetic tapes → electronic disks → magnetic disks → optical disks → main memory → cache → registers
- D.
Magnetic tapes → optical disks → magnetic disks → electronic disks → main memory → cache → registers
Attempted by 2063 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D
Correct order from slowest to fastest: Magnetic tapes → optical disks → magnetic disks → electronic disks → main memory → cache → registers
Magnetic tapes: very slow sequential-access storage with high latency; placed first as the slowest.
Optical disks (CD/DVD): higher access latency and lower random-access performance than magnetic disks, so they are slower than magnetic disks.
Magnetic disks (hard drives): faster random access than optical disks but slower than electronic (solid-state) storage.
Electronic disks (solid-state): no mechanical movement, so they provide faster access than magnetic disks.
Main memory (RAM): much faster than any disk-based storage; used for active data and instructions.
Cache: smaller and closer to the CPU than main memory, so it is faster.
Registers: storage inside the CPU with the lowest access latency and highest speed.
Summary: arrange storage from slowest to fastest as magnetic tapes → optical disks → magnetic disks → electronic disks → main memory → cache → registers.