Blog8

Project 8-1

What is the price of an internal floppy drive?
Amazon lists an ALPS 2MB internal 3.5 inch drive for $8.49. Other manufacturers drives are listed for as much as $234.82.

What kind of connections do external floppy drives use? What is the price of an external floppy drive?
External floppy drives use USB connections primarily. Very old models may require RS232 style or proprietary (Apple) connectors. Prices for external drives start around $16.95.

Why do you think external drives cost more than internal drives? What are the advantages of external drives? Internal drives?
External drives cost more because they need to be esthetically pleasing and function well on a desktop or other flat surface. These requirements add associated engineering, maufacturing and material expenses to the product. The advantages of an external drive are: Space savings within the computer case, and the ability to easily transfer from one computer to another. The advantages of internal drives are: Low cost, stability within the computer case, and less clutter on your desk.

Define these terms:

DMA Direct Memory Access is a scheme that allows data to flow from a device (drive) to memory without calling upon the CPU for help, this speeds data transfer and does not waste processor time.

low level formatting
Initial formatting of the disk, usually performed by the manufacturer that creates the tracks and sectors and tests for defects on the surface of the disk.

SATA
Serial Advanced Technology Attachment is an interface standard for connecting components such as drives to computers. SATA has begun to replace the older standard ATA. SATA compliant cable and connectors are much smaller than the ATA style. The SATA standard involves placing bits in series on the connecting cable where ATA standards required parallel bit placement on many conductors.


ATA
Advanced Technology Attachment is a set of standards administered by ANSI for the connection of storage devices such as hard drives to computers. This standard allows compatibility between manufacturers. With the advent of SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment) ATA has been retroactively named PATA (Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment)

IDE
Integrated Drive Electronics was the first version of what is now called ATA. IDE was invented at Western Digital and first appeard in Compaq computers. IDE refers not just to the interface and cabling between drives and computers but also to the fact that the drive controller was part of the drive itself and not stand-alone or part of the computer's processor package.