Average access time measures the total expected latency for a storage drive or memory module to locate and transfer a requested block of data. For mechanical drives, it combines the average seek time to move the head and rotational latency waiting for the sector to spin into position. Lower access times directly translate to a more responsive system, especially during random read and write workloads.
We swapped the old arrays for solid state drives because the average access time on the spinning disks was bottlenecking the database.
Related terms
Average seek time
The typical time it takes a hard drive actuator arm to position the read and write head over a requested data track.
Seek time
The duration required for a hard drive's read/write head to move to the correct track on the disk platter.
Latency
The time it takes for a packet of data to travel from its source to its destination.