Access time is the time delay or
latency between a request to an electronic system, and the access being completed or the requested data returned
* In a
computer
A computer is a machine that can be programmed to Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as C ...
, it is the time interval between the instant at which an
instruction control unit initiates a call for
data
In the pursuit of knowledge, data (; ) is a collection of discrete values that convey information, describing quantity, quality, fact, statistics, other basic units of meaning, or simply sequences of symbols that may be further interpreted ...
or a request to
store data, and the instant at which delivery of the data is completed or the storage is started.
See also
*
Memory latency
''Memory latency'' is the time (the latency) between initiating a request for a byte or word in memory until it is retrieved by a processor. If the data are not in the processor's cache, it takes longer to obtain them, as the processor will hav ...
*
Mechanical latency
*
Rotational latency Higher performance in hard disk drives comes from devices which have better performance characteristics. These performance characteristics can be grouped into two categories: access time and data transfer time (or rate).
Access time
The ''access ...
*
Seek time Higher performance in hard disk drives comes from devices which have better performance characteristics. These performance characteristics can be grouped into two categories: access time and data transfer time (or rate).
Access time
The ''access ...
References
Network access
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