With the advent of the new Ultra DMA/66 and Ultra3 SCSI hard drive transfer protocols, it has become increasingly difficult to muddle through the mess of technologies to find a total hard drive solution that's right for your needs. Is SCSI right for you? Should you go out instead and buy an add-on UDMA/66 controller and hard drive? Will you really see a performance difference between any of these options?
Sharky Extreme's hardware staff has been asking these same questions for the past month and has finally compiled a full list of answers in the form of our Hard Drive Technology Guide. From IDE to Fiber Channel, if it concerns hard drive technology it's here.
When it comes to hard drives, one of the most difficult things to get a firm grasp on is all the terminology. To aid in your pursuit of knowledge and understanding we've provided a full glossary of common hard drive technology jargon, from areal density to PIO modes.
IDE - Integrated Drive Electronics - Any drive with an integrated controller. This means that most of the control circuitry is built into your "IDE Drive", and not on the controller. Most of us consider any ATA drive to be an "IDE Drive".
ATA - Stands for Advanced Technology Attachment. ATA drives are a subset of IDE drives and use a 40 Pin connector. ATA is used interchangeably (even incorrectly) as a substitute for IDE (ATA Drive = IDE Drive).
PIO Mode - Programmed I/O Mode. Defines the I/O Mode in which an ATA hard drive runs. Basically determines the speed at which the bus is run. The higher the PIO mode, the higher the bus speed. PIO modes went out when UDMA came in, and this term is becoming obsolete.
DMA - Direct Memory Access. Allows a device direct access to main memory, bypassing the CPU. This allows for faster transfers, and takes a lot of the load off of the CPU.