computer hardware and software

The serial ATA (serial advanced technology attachm ent), or SATA computer bus, is a storage-interface for connecting host bus adapters to mass storage devices such as hard disk drives and optical drives. The SATA host adapter is integrated into almost all modern consumer laptop computers and desktop motherboards. Serial ATA was designed to replace the older ATA (AT Attachment) standard (also known as EIDE). It is able to use the same low level commands, but serial ATA host-adapters and devices communicate via a high-speed serial cable over two pa irs of conductors. In contrast, the parallel ATA (the redesignation for the legacy ATA specifications) used 16 data conductors each operating at a much lower speed. SATA offers several compelling advantages over the older parallel ATA (PATA) interface: reduced cable-bulk and cost (reduced from eighty wires to seven), faster and more efficient data transfer, and hot swapping. Features Hotplug All SATA devices support hotplugging. However, p...

IDE CONTROLLER WORKS 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. In this article, you will learn about the evolution of IDE/ATA, what the pinouts are and exactly what "slave" and "master" mean in IDE . The Integrated Drive Electronics interface is the most popular way to connect a hard drive to a PC . Drives that use the interface officially known as AT Attachment or ATA are also often called something else entirely: Integrated Drive Electronics or IDE drives. In fact, the term "IDE" is p...

Just about any computer that you buy today comes with one or more Universal Serial Bus connectors on the back. These USB connectors let you attach everything from mice to printers to your computer quickly and easily. The operating system supports USB as well, so the installation of the device drivers is quick and easy, too. Compared to other ways of connecting devices to your computer (including parallel ports, serial ports and special cards that you install inside the computer's case), USB devices are incredibly simple! In this article, we will look at USB ports from both a user and a technical standpoint. You will learn why the USB system is so flexible and how it is able to support so many devices so easily -- it's truly an amazing system! Anyone who has been around computers for more than two or three years knows the problem that the Universal Serial Bus is trying to solve -- in the past, connecting devices to computers has been a real headache! Printers connecte...

What is an Optical Disc Drive? Optical drives retrieve and/or store data on optical discs like C Ds, DVDs, and BDs (Blu-ray discs).Some common types of optical drives include CD-ROM, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, DVD?RW, and Blu-ray drives. CD and DVD writers, such as CD-R and DVD-R drives use a laser to both read and write data on the discs. The laser used for writing the data is much more powerful than the laser that reads the data, as it "burns" the bumps and dips into the disc . While optical drives can spin discs at very high speeds, they are still significantly slower than hard drives, which store data magnetically. Optical Disc Drive Description: An optical drive is about the size of a thick soft cover book. The front of the drive has a small Open/Close button that ejects and retracts the drive bay door. This is how media like CDs, DVDs, and BDs are inserted into and removed from the drive.The sides of the optical drive have pre-drilled, threaded holes for easy mounting in the 5.2...