USB stands for Universal Serial Bus , an industry standard for high-speed serial data communications between computers and peripheral devices. USB 2.0 a popular version of USB developed to improve on the performance and reliability of older versions of the standard called USB 1.0 and USB 1.1 (together often referred to as USB 1.x ) USB 2.0 is also known as USB Hi-Speed . USB 3.0 is a new and up and coming standard. Up to 127 different devices can function off of one USB host.
Definition: FireWire is a high performance networking standard based on a serial bus architecture similar to USB . FireWire is also known as the IEEE 1394 standard, created in 1995.People typically use FireWire to network their digital video cameras with their computers using special cables. However, FireWire theoretically supports direct networking of any two computers / computer peripherals that support the standard. The original FireWire technology provided 400 Mbps of network bandwidth, but the newer Firewire 800 (IEEE 1394b) implementations offer 800 Mbps. As those speeds far exceed typical Ethernet or WiFi connections, FireWire is therefore also well-suited for fast computer-to-computer large file transfers on home networks. Both Windows XP and Apple Mac OS support FireWire fire transfers over Internet Protocol (IP) . FireWire is fast -- the latest version achieves speeds up to 800 Mbps. At some time in the future, that number is expected to jump to an unbelievable 3.2 Gbps when manufacturers overhaul the current FireWire cables. First common in the computer world, this 4-or 6-pin connector is a link that carries compressed digital MPEG-2 video and digital audio for recording on a hard-disk or D-VHS digital videotape recorder. Found on some digital TV displays and set-top boxes, FireWire also carries an anti-copy code and can serve as a 2-way link between various devices in a network. Not found on most A/V receivers and DVD players.
Read and write tests to the same IDE hard drive connected using FireWire and then Hi-Speed USB 2.0 show: Read Test: • 5000 files (300 MB total) FireWire was 33% faster than USB 2.0 • 160 files (650MB total) FireWire was 70% faster than USB 2.0 Write Test: • 5000 files (300 MB total) FireWire was 16% faster than USB 2.0 • 160 files (650MB total) FireWire was 48% faster than USB 2.0 FireWire vs. USB 2.0 - Architecture • FireWire, uses a "Peer-to-Peer" architecture in which the peripherals are intelligent and can negotiate bus conflicts to determine which device can best control a data transfer • Hi-Speed USB 2.0 uses a "Master-Slave" architecture in which the computer handles all arbitration functions and dictates data flow to, from and between the attached peripherals (adding additional system overhead and resulting in slower data flow control)
Read and write tests to the same IDE hard drive connected using FireWire and then Hi-Speed USB 2.0 show: Read Test: • 5000 files (300 MB total) FireWire was 33% faster than USB 2.0 • 160 files (650MB total) FireWire was 70% faster than USB 2.0 Write Test: • 5000 files (300 MB total) FireWire was 16% faster than USB 2.0 • 160 files (650MB total) FireWire was 48% faster than USB 2.0 FireWire vs. USB 2.0 - Architecture • FireWire, uses a "Peer-to-Peer" architecture in which the peripherals are intelligent and can negotiate bus conflicts to determine which device can best control a data transfer • Hi-Speed USB 2.0 uses a "Master-Slave" architecture in which the computer handles all arbitration functions and dictates data flow to, from and between the attached peripherals (adding additional system overhead and resulting in slower data flow control)
Parallel ports were developed by IBM as a way to connect a printer peripheral to a computer. These ports can still be found on a majority of motherboards however they are beginning to be phased out as USB becomes more mainstream. Parallel wires are capable of sending data at a rate of “only” 50 to 100 kbps. It is called a Parallel wire because the data is transmitted parallel to each other through the wire, as opposed to being transmitted serially, or in a single row). Parallel wires can be used to connect a computer to: printers, scanners, external optical drives, and external storage devices.
This is considered to be one of the most basic wires/connections that you can use with a computer. It has been around for over 20 years. As with the parallel wires it is being phased out in favor of USB connections. It has mainly been used in order to connect to modems, as well as some PDA’s, and printers. Standard serial ports have a maximum data transfer rate of 115 kbps.
Definition: Ethernet is a physical and data link layer technology for local area networks (LANs) . Essentially Ethernet wires are used for networking applications. Ethernet was invented by engineer Robert Metcalfe. When first widely deployed in the 1980s, Ethernet supported a maximum theoretical data rate of 10 megabits per second (Mbps) . Later, so-called "Fast Ethernet" standards increased this maximum data rate to 100 Mbps. Today, Gigabit Ethernet technology further extends peak performance up to 1000 Mbps.
Phone lines are very versatile wires. They can be used for a variety of applications. Some of the most popular applications include being able to send faxes from computers, making phone calls from computers, and connecting to the Internet via a dial-up connection. As broadband connections become more and more affordable dial-up connections are being phased out, as they peak at a top speed of 56 kbps
All computers, and many peripherals need a separate power cord. However, some peripherals can be powered via USB. A common example would be an iPod which is recharge via the USB connection. Power cords are fairly uniform however proprietary power cords and power packs, especially for laptops, do exist.
Parallel ATA ( PATA ) is an interface standard for the connection of storage devices such as hard disks , solid-state drives , floppy drives , and CD-ROM drives in computers . The standard is maintained by X3/ INCITS committee [1] . It uses the underlying AT Attachment ( ATA ) and AT Attachment Packet Interface ( ATAPI ) standards.The current Parallel ATA standard is the result of a long history of incremental technical development, which began with the original AT Attachment interface, developed for use in early PC AT equipment. The ATA interface itself evolved in several stages from Western Digital 's original Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) interface. As a result, many near-synonyms for ATA/ATAPI and its previous incarnations exist, including abbreviations such as IDE which are still in common informal use. After the market introduction of Serial ATA in 2003, the original ATA was retroactively renamed Parallel ATA .Parallel ATA only allows cable lengths up to 18 in (457 mm). Because of this length limit the technology normally appears as an internal computer storage interface. For many years ATA provided the most common and the least expensive interface for this application. By the beginning of 2007, it had largely been replaced by Serial ATA (SATA) in new systems.
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