What is the role of secondary storage?

The role of secondary storage is primarily associated with archiving data for long-term retention. Unlike primary storage, which is designed for immediate access to data that is actively being used by a computer's processor, secondary storage provides a way to keep data that is not constantly needed but must be retained over time. This includes files, applications, and databases that might not be in frequent use but are important for future reference or compliance needs.

Secondary storage devices, such as hard drives, solid-state drives, and external storage options, allow users and organizations to store vast amounts of data economically and securely. This is crucial for tasks like backup, disaster recovery, and legal retention policies, where data must be kept for extended periods.

The other options do not accurately describe the main function of secondary storage. Immediate access to data is the function of primary storage, volatile data refers to data that is lost when power is turned off (typically found in RAM), and increasing processing speed is more closely related to CPU performance or primary storage speed enhancements. Thus, the correct characterization of secondary storage is indeed as a medium for long-term data archiving.