Yotta RAID Software installation guide - Axus

Software Operation ManualAppendix CIntroduction to Serial ATASerial ATA is a disk-interface technology that is an evolutionary advance on Parallel ATA (IDE).Compatible with today’s software and OS-transparent, Serial ATA offers several compellingadvantages for RAID storage solutions. These include cables that are easier to route and install;smaller connectors; faster and more reliable performance; and backwards compatibility. Thissection introduces and gives an overview of the advantages of using Serial ATA in RAID.Simplicity of configurationSerial ATA is based around point-to-pointconnections with a single cable for each drive.The master/slave, "daisy-chaining", andtermination issues associated with Parallel ATAare eliminated.Hot-Swap capabilitySerial ATA drives can be connected anddisconnected at any time with no need to powerdown the system. RAID system administratorsbenefit from a more flexible and scalablesystem. Upgrades and expansion of arrays canbe performed in an instant.PerformanceSerial ATA technology delivers up to 3.0 Gb/sec of performance to each drive within a disk drivearray – more than enough to help you get the most out of the current generation of hard drives.Serial ATA is also more reliable than Parallel ATA: instructions as well as data are checked forerrors, resulting in higher reliability, and less frequent corruption of data.Electrical interference is reduced by the use of differential signaling (which also reduces theneed for grounding).Cost effectivenessThe scalability of Serial ATA solutions means that RAIDs can be built, expanded andreconfigured according to requirements with minimal cost to the administrator.Serial ATA-compatible HDDs are priced similarly to Parallel ATA equivalents, their improvedperformance not with standing.Serial ATA is also fully backwards compatible. Users can swap easily between formats and useParallel ATA drive in a Serial ATA drive array (this may require use of a cabling adapter). Suchflexibility ensures that Serial ATA can provide low cost solutions.- 98 -