Academic Integrity: tutoring, explanations, and feedback — we don’t complete graded work or submit on a student’s behalf.

Suppose you’re reading a 250 MB file from a hard drive using a sequential access

ID: 3677872 • Letter: S

Question

Suppose you’re reading a 250 MB file from a hard drive using a sequential access pattern. Using typical hard drive specs, about how long does the read take? a) 0.5 sec b) 2.0 sec c) 10 sec. ______________________

Suppose you’re reading a 250 MB file from a hard drive using a random access pattern, where the file is split is located in 1000 different locations across the drive. Using typical hard drive specs, about how long does this read take? a) 0.5 sec b) 2.0 sec c) 10 sec _________________________

Explanation / Answer

Suppose you’re reading a 250 MB file from a hard drive using a sequential access pattern. Using typical hard drive specs, about how long does the read take?   
Answer:
b) 2.0 sec
Because the average speed is 80-160 MB per second.

Suppose you’re reading a 250 MB file from a hard drive using a random access pattern, where the file is split is located in 1000 different locations across the drive. Using typical hard drive specs, about how long does this read take?
Answer:
c) 10 sec
Because the average speed is 120 MB / sec