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Serial ATA Coming
John Doe writes "Heatseekerz.net Has a new article dedicated to Serial ATA @ Cebit 2002. This technology will be here sooner then you think!" The article is a little thin, but I haven't heard
a lot about what looks to be a very common standard in the not so distant future.
Firewire is so cool, they should just use it for hard drives also.
Integrate the controller on the motherboard if you have to.
Ok, let's see here:
For 1), I have heard that, indeed, power and data are together in a single connection, or at least it is tandardized to make hotswap feasible.
2) This is completely false, one of the main points of *serial* ATA was to increase the chain lengths to SCSI level capacities. The focus is on software compatibility, not transparent hardware compatibility. They say in the beginning, they expect motherboards that have Serial ATA to also have Parallel ATA on the same motherboard...
3) Why is it not usable for external devices? For one, they have extended cable length to three feet between points on the chain. No where near SCSI capability, but three feet from an interface card isn't bad. I suspect you could at the very least have SCSI solutions in ATA with this.
You are right that FireWire or USB2 might be worth a second look, but at the current rate, no one wants to bother scrapping everything they have based on ATA to pursue such a dream. I would much rather have Serial ATA than our current ATA. Of course, I have to wonder if the industry will even see this move as worth it. Even if from a software perspective it behaves similarly to ATA, I would think the hardware implementers have been holdig back. ATA is seen to meet the demands of home users, and SCSI supplies advanced features to businesses that need it. Hardware vendors have a vested interest in maintaining that dicotomy, since they can charge a huge premium for SCSI without problems coming up in the Desktop market...
XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
The 48-bit command set is part of the ATA-6 specification that you can read at www.t13.org. Serial ATA will support this command set.
Most vendors don't need to support 48-bits yet because they don't have drives that are big enough. Many manufacturers do not make 4-platter IDE drives anymore, and with the current technology of 40GB/platter, the 3-platter disks are only 120GB.
When the next generation comes in at 60 or 80 GB/platter, they'll support 48-bit commands as needed.
More data, damnit!