西部数据硬盘资料2579-001151

西部数据硬盘资料

WD Hard Drive

Interface Guide

西部数据硬盘资料

WD Hard Drive Interface Guide

Not sure which drive is right for your computer? This guide helps you determine the right type of drive and interface using these three questions:

Which internal drive is the right choice: SATA or PATA?Which internal drive is compatible with my operating system: SATA or PATA?Which external drive interface is the right choice: USB, FireWire®, eSATA, or Gigabit Ethernet?Which internal drive is the right choice: SATA or PATA?

SATA

Serial ATA (SATA) hard drives are quickly becoming the new standard in hard drive technology.

Motherboard manufacturers now include SATA inputs on their boards. Because of their considerably narrower cables, SATA hard drives provide increased airflow and less clutter in the computer system compared to PATA drives. Some older computer system motherboards don’t have SATA ports, but a PCI SATA controller card can be installed to add support for SATA drives. If you don’t know whether your computer has SATA ports on the motherboard, refer to your computer or motherboard documentation or contact the motherboard manufacturer.

PATA

Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment (PATA or Parallel ATA) hard drives have been the standard in the computer industry for more than 10 years. Some newer computer system motherboards don’t have PATA ports, but a PCIPATA controller card can be installed to add support for PATA drives. If you don’t know whether your computer has PATA ports on the motherboard, refer to your computer or motherboard documentation or contact the motherboard manufacturer.

Maximum data transfer rate

Devices per cable

Jumper block150MB/s or 300MB/sOne8-pin (no Master/Slave settings)100MB/sTwo10-pin (single, Master, Slave, and cable select (CSEL) settings)

Which internal drive is compatible with my operating system: SATA or PATA?Your operating system, as well as your hardware, must support the hard drive you choose: Operating System

Windows® VistaTM

Mac® OS X

WD SATA Hard Drive CompatibilityWD PATA Hard Drive CompatibilityCompatibility may vary depending on the user’s hardware configuration and operating system.Other helpful information is available in the WD Knowledge Base at :

What issues should I be concerned about when using a drive larger than 137GB? (Answer ID533)Are PATA hard drives larger than 137GB supported in Mac systems? (AnswerID927)

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西部数据硬盘资料

Which external drive interface is the right choice:

USB, FireWire, eSATA, or Gigabit Ethernet?

Each interface has its strengths, which are explained in detail

below. The right choice depends on compatibility with your

computer and how you want to use your device. First, look at the

connections on your computer.

USB

USB2.0 is the industry standard peripheral connection for most

Windows-based computers. USB connector types include 6-pin

(desktops) and 4-pin or mini (laptops and camcorders, etc.).

Cables and adapters are available to connect mini or standard

host USB ports to 4-pin or 6-pin connectors.

USB transfers data at a maximum rate of 480Mb/s. Sustained

data transfer rates, usually from 10 to 30MB/s, vary depending

on many factors including the type of device, data being

transferred, and computer system speed. If your USB port is an

earlier version, USB1.0 or1.1, you can use a USB2.0 hard drive,

but transfer rates default to the slowest version. If you don’t know

the version of your computer’s USB ports, refer to your computer

documentation or contact the manufacturer.

FireWire

FireWire, also called IEEE1394, is a high-performance

connection standard for personal computers and consumer

electronics. This interface uses a daisychained interconnect

architecture to allow multiple storage devices to share a single

host system FireWire port. The interface functions as peer to

peer – allowing devices to communicate and transfer data with

greatly-reduced host system overhead and higher efficiency

compared to alternative interfaces like USB. FireWire has two

configurations:

FireWire 400, also called IEEE1394a, transfers large

amounts of data between computers and peripheral devices at

rates up to 400Mb/s. It is the most common FireWire

interface, present in 6-pin (desktops) and 4-pin (laptops and

camcorders, etc.) variants. Cables and adapters are available

to connect mini or standard host FireWire 400 ports to 4-pin

or 6-pin connectors.The host provides power through the

6-pin interface to downstream connected devices where

required. Most desktop external storage units are

self-powered (wall power supply) and do not require power

from the host interface. Firewire 400 is commonly used to

connect digital cameras, camcorders and popular external

storage, and has the bandwidth to perform common DV

resolution video editing in most cases.

FireWire 800, also called IEEE1394b, provides the

high-speed connection and bandwidth required for

multiple-stream, uncompressed digital video and noise-free,

high-resolution digital audio. FireWire 800 is typically twice as

fast as FireWire 400 and is necessary for HD video editing

and other applications where the fastest data transfers and

expandability by daisychaining are needed. Cables and

adapters are available to connect FireWire 800 or 400 host ports to FireWire 800 or 400 connectors.

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eSATA

SATA is very effective for external storage applications, and the external SATA (eSATA) cable and connector application (detailed in the SATA 2.5 specification) provides a physically secure and fast connection for external hard drives. With up to 3 Gb/s data transfers, this interface provides a high data transfer rate suitable for hard drives, home networking, digital video, and home entertainment devices such as set-top boxes and personal video recorders. Some systems can be configured to boot off an external eSATA drive.

eSATA and internal SATA cables and connectors cannot be used interchangeably. This is important since eSATA cables and connectors are designed for 5000 insertion and removal cycles while SATA cables and connectors are designed for only 50 insertion and removal cycles.

Note: SATA cables with an L-shaped connector are incompatible with WD eSATA devices. Gigabit Ethernet

Ethernet is a standard method of connecting computers to a local area network (LAN) using twinlead cable. As an external hard drive interface, it is most often used for network attached storage (NAS) applications in which files can be shared across a network or accessed remotely.

Gigabit Ethernet, with its data transfer rate of 1000 Mb/s, is the latest and fastest Ethernet standard that evolved from the earlier Fast Ethernet (100 Mb/s) and Ethernet (10 Mb/s) standards. Benefits of Gigabit Ethernet include increased bandwidth, quality of service (QoS) features that promote smooth transmission of audio and video, and compatibility with existing Ethernet and Fast Ethernet networks.Summary

Hot-swappable (attach Hot-swappable (attach Hot-swappable (attach a device without a device without a device without rebooting the system)rebooting the system)rebooting the system)

480 Mb/s maximum burst transfer rate400 Mb/s maximum sustained transfer rateFast and physically Can attach a device to a secure connection for system’s network external hard drives adapter, router, switch, or hub port800 Mb/s maximum Up to 3 Gb/s maximum 1000 Mb/s maximum sustained transfer rate; sustained transfer rate. sustained transfer rate; twice as fast as Near-equivalent to ten times as fast as FireWire 400internal drive Fast Ethernetperformance.

Best for connecting to Best for fast transfer of Best for multiple-stream Best for transferring Best for sharing large different systems large amounts of data digital video and high-large amounts of data amounts of data and/or quickly and easilyfrequently or for audio/resolution digital audio frequently or for audio/large audio/video files video applications like and video applicationsvideo programsacross a network. Also home video editingbest for remote file access.More popular for PCsMore popular for

Macintosh® computersMore popular for Macintosh computersMore popular for PCsMore popular for PCs

Note: For convenience and flexibility, choose a WD hard drive with both USB and FireWire interfaces (available in dual and triple interface configurations) or with both USB and eSATA

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