Direct access

Direct access may refer to any of the following:

1. 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.

2. When describing a telephone call, see local bypass.

Access, DMA, Hard drive terms, Immediate access, Machine, Random-access file, Sequential access