IDE & SCSI

Wirth's Law: Software



gets slower faster than

Hardware gets faster!
How IDE Controllers Work
 storage is an important part of your system. In fact,
most personal computers have one or more of the
following storage devices:
 Floppy drive
 Hard drive
 CD-ROM drive
 Usually, these devices connect to the computer
through an Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE)
interface.
 Essentially, an IDE interface is a standard way for a
storage device to connect to a computer. IDE is
actually not the true technical name for the interface
standard.
 The original name, AT Attachment (ATA),
signified that the interface was initially developed
for the IBM AT computer.
 you will learn about the evolution of IDE/ATA,
what the pinouts are and exactly what "slave" and
"master" mean in IDE.
IDE Evolution
 IDE was created as a way to standardize the use of
hard drives in computers. The basic concept behind
IDE is that the hard drive and the controller should
be combined.
 The controller is a small circuit board with chips
that provide guidance as to exactly how the hard
drive stores and accesses data.
 Before IDE, controllers and hard drives were
separate and often proprietary. In other words, a
controller from one manufacturer might not work
with a hard drive from another manufacturer.
 The distance between the controller and the hard
drive could result in poor signal quality and affect
performance. Obviously, this caused much
frustration for computer users.
Hard drive controller
 IBM introduced the AT computer in 1984 with a couple
of key innovations.
 The slots in the computer for adding cards used a new
version of the Industry Standard Architecture (ISA)
bus. The new bus was capable of transmitting
information 16 bits at a time, compared to 8 bits on the
original ISA bus.
 IBM also offered a hard drive for the AT that used a
new combined drive/controller. A ribbon cable from the
drive/controller combination ran to an ISA card to
connect to the computer, giving birth to the AT
Attachment (ATA) interface.
 Since almost all IDE drives are ATA-based, the two
terms are used interchangeably.
Controllers, Drives, Host
Adapters
 Most motherboards come with an IDE interface.
This interface is often referred to as an IDE
controller, which is incorrect. The interface is
actually a host adapter, meaning that it provides a
way to connect a complete device to the computer
(host). The actual controller is on a circuit board
attached to the hard drive.
 While the IDE interface was originally developed
for connecting hard drives, it has evolved into the
universal interface for connecting internal floppy
drives, CD-ROM drives and even some tape backup
drives. Although it is very popular for internal
drives, IDE is rarely used for attaching an external
device.
several variations of ATA
 ATA-1
 The original specification that Compaq included in
the Deskpro 386.
 It instituted the use of a master/slave configuration.
 Additionally, ATA-1 provides signal timing for
direct memory access (DMA) and programmed
input/output (PIO) functions.
 ATA-2 - DMA was fully implemented beginning
with the ATA-2 version.
 Standard DMA transfer rates increased from 4.16
megabytes per second (MBps) in ATA-1 to as many
as 16.67 MBps.
 ATA-2 provides power management
 ATA-3 - With the addition of Self-Monitoring
Analysis and Reporting Technology (SMART),
IDE drives were made more reliable.
 ATA-3 also adds password protection to access
drives, providing a valuable security feature.
 ATA-4 Ultra DMA support and the integration of
the AT Attachment Program Interface (ATAPI)
standard.
 ATAPI provides a common interface for CD-ROM
drives, tape backup drives.
 Before ATA-4, ATAPI was a completely separate
standard. With the inclusion of ATAPI, ATA-4
immediately improved the removable media support
of ATA.
 ATA-5 - The major update in ATA-5 is auto
detection of which cable is used: the 40-conductor
or 80-conductor version.
 Ultra DMA is increased to 66.67 MB/sec with the
use of the 80-conductor cable.
 ATA-5 is also called Ultra ATA/66.
Cable Key
 IDE devices use a ribbon cable to connect to each other.
Ribbon cables have all of the wires laid flat next to each
other instead of bunched or wrapped together in a bundle.
 IDE ribbon cables have either 40 or 80 wires. There is a
connector at each end of the cable and another one about
two-thirds of the distance from the motherboard connector.
 This cable cannot exceed 18 inches (46 cm) in total length
(12 inches from first to second connector, and 6 inches from
second to third) to maintain signal integrity.
 The three connectors are typically different colours and
attach to specific items:
 The blue connector attaches to the motherboard.
 The black connector attaches to the primary
(master) drive.
 The grey connector attaches to the secondary
(slave) drive.
Masters and Slaves
 A single IDE interface can support two devices.
Most motherboards come with dual IDE
interfaces (primary and secondary) for up to four
IDE devices. Because the controller is integrated
with the drive, there is no overall controller to
decide which device is currently communicating
with the computer.
 This is not a problem as long as each device is on a
separate interface, but adding support for a second
drive on the same cable took some ingenuity.
 To allow for two drives on the same cable, IDE uses
a special configuration called master and slave. This
configuration allows one drive's controller to tell the
other drive when it can transfer data to or from the
computer. What happens is the slave drive makes a
request to the master drive, which checks to see if it
is currently communicating with the computer. If the
master drive is idle, it tells the slave drive to go
ahead. If the master drive is communicating with the
computer, it tells the slave drive to wait and then
informs it when it can go ahead.
 The computer determines if there is a second
(slave) drive attached through the use of Pin 39
on the connector.

 Pin 39 carries a special signal, called Drive

Active/Slave Present (DASP), that checks to see if
a slave drive is present.
 Although it will work in either position, it is
recommended that the master drive is attached to
the connector at the very end of the IDE ribbon
cable. Then, a jumper on the back of the drive next
to the IDE connector must be set in the correct
position to identify the drive as the master drive.
The slave drive must have either the master jumper
removed or a special slave jumper set, depending
on the drive. Also, the slave drive is attached to the
connector near the middle of the IDE ribbon cable.
Each drive's controller board looks at the jumper
setting to determine whether it is a slave or a
master. This tells them how to perform. Every drive
is capable of being either slave or master when you
receive it from the manufacturer. If only one drive
is installed, it should always be the master drive.
How SCSI Works

 A computer is full of busses -- highways that take

information and power from on­e place to another.
For example, when you plug an MP3 player or
digital camera into your computer, you're probably
using a universal serial bus (USB) port. But that
bus isn't big enough to support a whole computer, a
server or lots of devices simultaneously.
 (Small Computer System Interface) Pronounced
"scuzzy." SCSI is a hardware interface that allows
for the connection of up to 15 peripheral devices to
a single PCI board called a "SCSI host adapter"
that plugs into the motherboard.
 SCSI allows any two devices to communicate at
one time (host to peripheral, peripheral to
peripheral).
 It's a fast bus that can connect lots of devices to a
computer at the same time, including hard drives,
scanners, CD-ROM/RW drives, printers and tape
drives.
 Other technologies, like serial-ATA (SATA), have
largely replaced it in new systems, but SCSI is still
in use.
RAID (Redundant Array


of Independent Disks or
Redundant Array of
Inexpensive Disks)
Telecom Definition
 A storage technology that distributes data across a
group of physically separate hard drives configured as
a single logical memory unit.
 As RAID stores all data on redundant drives, it
provides a considerable level of fault tolerance.
 RAID may involve drives on multiple servers in a
cluster connected via a storage area network (SAN).
 A simpler and less expensive approach is known as just
a bunch of disks (JBOD), which essentially is a bunch
of disk drivers not configured as a RAID.
 (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) A disk
subsystem that increases performance or provides
fault tolerance or both. RAID uses two or more
hard drives and a RAID controller, which is
plugged into motherboards that do not have
built-in RAID circuits. Today, most motherboards
have RAID built in. In the past, RAID was also
accomplished by software only, but was much
slower. In the late 1980s, the "I" in RAID stood for
"inexpensive," but was later changed to
"independent."
 SCSI is often used to control a redundant array of
independent discs (RAID). Other technologies,
like serial-ATA (SATA), can also be used for this
purpose. Newer SATA drives tend to be faster and
cheaper than SCSI drives.
 RAID is a series of hard drives treated as one big
drive. These drives can read and write data at the
same time, known as striping. The RAID
controller determines which drive gets which
chunk of data. While that drive writes the data, the
controller sends data to or reads it from another
drive
SCSI Types
 All of these SCSI types are parallel -- bits of data
move through the bus simultaneously rather than
one at a time. The newest type of SCSI, called
Serial Attached SCSI (SAS), uses SCSI
commands but transmits data serially. SAS uses a
point-to-point serial connection to move data at 3.0
gigabits per second, and each SAS port can support
up to 128 devices or expanders.
SCSI Explained
 SCSI is pronounced "skuzzy". Now that is out of the way,
here is the technical explanation. Every computer needs to
be connected with peripheral devices once in a while.
Basically, peripheral devices are those devices that are
connected externally to the computer. Now where does
SCSI fit in over here? SCSI is set of standards that are used
to communicate with the peripheral devices. These
standards are also used while transferring the data between
computer and external devices. SCSI is generally used for
communicating with hard drives. It is also used for
communicating with other peripheral devices such as USB
flash drives, CD ROM, printers and many data storage
devices.
IDE Explained
 Integrated Drive Electronics(IDE) has a history of
gradual development. After going through many
technological advancements, it has evolved into
what is today known as PATA. The underlaying
standard for IDE is AT attachment and hence the
name PATA. The name PATA has been the
retronym for IDE since the introduction SATA.
SATA Explained
 If you think SATA is any different than SCSI or IDE, well
their end result in functionality is pretty much the same.
Just as SCSI is different from IDE, SATA also has some of
its own characteristics. SATA is an acronym for Serial AT
attachment. The work on SATA began with an aim of
replacing the older IDE technology. The developers of
SATA interface were successful in using the same
commands that were used for IDE. As explained above,
IDE is a parallel technology, while SATA is a serial
technology. SATA also has an IDE emulation mode, which
means that SATA interface can operate as IDE, if the
computer motherboard is of old technology and does not
support advanced host control interface. Basically its the
PATA mode.
SCSI vs SATA vs IDE:
Reliability
 In the context of comparison, SATA is
significantly more reliable than IDE. If the
comparison has to made between SCSI and IDE
again SCSI is far more reliable than IDE. SATA
has already left IDE behind, now it is gaining
major grounds against SCSI.
SCSI vs SATA vs IDE:
Performance
 Continuous research on all three interfaces has
increased their performance, but SATA has shown
to be the most promising of all. SATA has greatly
improved its performance in recent years, but SCSI
has not been able to match such increase. SCSI is
still out performing SATA, but it had high
performance to begin with. SCSI still remains on
top of the three interfaces, but the coming versions
of SATA should out perform SCSI.