which peripheral acts as a portable storage device?

The peripheral that acts as a portable storage device is a USB flash drive (also called a pen drive, thumb drive, or memory stick).

Quick Scoop

• In basic computer knowledge questions, when asked “Which peripheral acts as a portable storage device?” the expected answer is usually USB flash drive.

• A USB flash drive connects to the computer via the USB port and uses flash memory to store and transfer files between devices, so it is treated as a portable storage peripheral.

• Other portable storage devices exist (like external hard drives and memory cards), but in common exam or quiz contexts, the single best-fit answer to that exact question is USB flash drive.

TL;DR: The correct peripheral is the USB flash drive.