Data independence MCQs in DBMS

1. Which of the following storage media is known for having the fastest data access time?

(A) Magnetic Tape

(B) Hard Disk Drive (HDD)

(C) Solid State Drive (SSD)

(D) Optical Disc

2. In the context of DBMS, what is a ‘block’?

(A) A collection of records

(B) The smallest unit of data that can be read or written

(C) A data type

(D) A storage location in RAM

3. Which of the following is primarily used for archival storage due to its sequential access nature?

(A) SSD

(B) HDD

(C) Magnetic Tape

(D) Flash Drive

4. In a DBMS, the term ‘seek time’ refers to:

(A) The time taken to move the disk arm to the desired track

(B) The time taken to transfer data from the disk to memory

(C) The time taken to process a query

(D) The time taken to retrieve a block of data from cache

5. What is the purpose of using RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) in data storage?

(A) To increase data access time

(B) To provide fault tolerance and improve performance

(C) To decrease storage capacity

(D) To encrypt data

6. Which of the following RAID levels offers mirroring but no striping?

(A) RAID 0

(B) RAID 1

(C) RAID 5

(D) RAID 10

7. In a magnetic disk, data is organized into concentric circles called:

(A) Sectors

(B) Tracks

(C) Blocks

(D) Cylinders

8. What is the main advantage of using an SSD over an HDD?

(A) Higher storage capacity

(B) Lower cost per GB

(C) Faster data access speed

(D) Larger physical size

9. Which of the following is a type of non-volatile memory used in storage devices?

(A) RAM

(B) Cache Memory

(C) Flash Memory

(D) Registers

10. Which component of a hard disk drive (HDD) is responsible for reading and writing data?

(A) Platter

(B) Spindle

(C) Read/Write Head

(D) Actuator Arm

11. In a disk drive, what is ‘rotational latency’?

(A) The time taken to spin up the disk

(B) The time taken to move the read/write head to the correct track

(C) The delay waiting for the disk to rotate to the correct position

(D) The time taken to transfer data from the disk to the memory

12. Which type of storage device typically has the highest capacity?

(A) SSD

(B) HDD

(C) Optical Disc

(D) Flash Drive

13. What is the function of a ‘sector’ in the context of disk storage?

(A) To store a single record

(B) To divide the disk into logical units

(C) To store a fixed amount of data within a track

(D) To organize data hierarchically

14. Which of the following is an advantage of using magnetic tapes for data storage?

(A) Fast random access

(B) High durability and long-term storage

(C) Low cost per MB

(D) Small physical size

15. What does the ‘write-through’ method in caching ensure?

(A) Data is written to cache only

(B) Data is written to main memory only

(C) Data is written simultaneously to cache and main memory

(D) Data is never written to cache