PC Interfaces
- Introduction
- Interfaces choices summary
- Interfaces speed summary
- Parallel interfaces
- Serial interface
- IDE / ATA
- SCSI
- USB
- IEEE 1394 Firewire
- FC-AL
- White Papers
There are special-purpose, multi-purpose, and general-purpose interfaces. The keyboard, sound card, mouse, etc. connectors represent the special-purpose interfaces. They cannot be used for any other device. The parallel port (printer port), serial port, universal serial bus (USB), and IEEE 1394 FireWire represent multi-purpose interfaces since they can be used for various peripheral devices, including data storage devices. The slots on the motherboard, such as PCI and ISA slots, can be used to connect various devices (via the plug-in cards) and represent truly general-purpose interfaces. In this chapter we will discuss those PC interfaces that are used to connect different storage devices to the PC.
A basic definition of an interface is a hardware and / or software data transmission regulator that controls data exchange between the PC and other devices, including such data storage devices as hard disk drives, floppy drives, tape drives, CD drives, DVD drives, etc. The interface is supported by the electronics of the data transfer controller and the drive electronics. There are standards adopted for the interface protocols allowing connection of any standard peripheral device.
- Parallel: Set up is easy. External. Slow.
- USB: Set up is very easy. Good performer. Hot swappable. Requires Windows 98 and higher.
- IDE: Set up is moderately difficult. Requires opening your PC and connecting some cables inside. Performance is much better than parallel- or USB-devices.
- IEEE 1394 FireWire: Set up is easy. Excellent performer. Costly. Requires Windows 98 and higher.
- SCSI: Set up is even more difficult than for IDE. Best performer. Best when multiple devices are used. Generally needs a separate SCSI card.
- PC Card: Set up is easy. Good performance. For notebook use only.
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