GATE CS 2026 Set 1 — Question 59
Go beyond PYQs with Success TrackerAI-powered personalised practice and doubt support. Unlimited practice on eligible plans; AI usage limits apply.NAT+2 / -0HardDisk Structure & Access TimeI/O OrganizationComputer Organization & Architecture
Computer Organization & Architecture → I/O Organization → Disk Structure & Access Time
Last updated
Question
Consider a hard disk with a rotational speed of rpm. The time to move the read/write head from a track to its adjacent track is millisecond. Initially, the head is on track . The number of sectors per track is . The sector size is bytes. It is necessary to transfer data from randomly located sectors in each of the following tracks in the order: and .The total time for the data transfer (in milliseconds) from the hard disk is _________.
(rounded off to one decimal place)
(rounded off to one decimal place)
Correct answer
77.3 to 77.3
Solution
To calculate the total time for data transfer, we need to sum the seek time, rotational latency, and transfer time for all requested sectors.1. Rotational Parameters:
The head moves in the order: Track .
There are sectors in each of the tracks, totaling sectors. Since they are "randomly located", each sector access is treated as an independent request requiring an average rotational latency.
Total Time = ms.
- Rotational speed () = rpm = rotations per second.
- Time for one full rotation () = s = ms.
- Average rotational latency () = ms.
- Transfer time for one sector () = ms.
The head moves in the order: Track .
- Seek to : ms = ms.
- Seek to : ms = ms.
- Seek to : ms = ms.
- Total Seek Time () = ms.
There are sectors in each of the tracks, totaling sectors. Since they are "randomly located", each sector access is treated as an independent request requiring an average rotational latency.
- Total sectors = .
- Time per sector access = ms.
- Total access time = ms.
Total Time = ms.
Continue learning with Success Tracker
A step still unclear? Work through it with support
Use Success Tracker to ask about the reasoning, then try another GATE CS question to check your understanding.
AI-powered practice· Unlimited practice on eligible plans
- PYQs with solutions
- Attempt available previous-year questions, then compare your reasoning with the worked solution. Coverage varies by stream.
- Practice that adapts
- Choose a topic, work on weaker areas and bookmark questions to revisit. Your attempts feed your progress tracking.
- AI doubt support
- Ask follow-up questions about a step or concept while practising, instead of stopping at the final answer.
Unlimited practice is available on eligible plans. Free practice and AI usage have limits; check the current plan allowances before choosing.
This page stays readable without an account. AI responses can be wrong; check them against the solution and source material.
More questions on I/O Organization
2026 Set 1 Q14Match each addressing mode in List I with a data element or an element of a data structure (in…2026 Set 1 Q15Consider a processor P whose instruction set architecture is the load-store architecture. The…2026 Set 1 Q16Which one of the following dependencies among the register operands of different instructions can…2026 Set 2 Q18Consider the following two statements about interrupt handling mechanisms in a CPU. S1: In…2026 Set 1 Q38The size of the physical address space of a processor is bytes. The capacity of a cache…