Hard Drive data rates

[Karl Larsen]

Tim wrote:
> On Sat, 2007-09-29 at 06:57 -0600, Karl Larsen wrote:
>   
>> In my case I did a new computer and it had the SATA built in so I in
>> error thought they were a lot faster data rate. But they work and the
>> thinner cable is easy to work with.
>>     
>
> Faster, just not incredibly faster.  Remember when plain old IDE/ATA
> moved to UDMA?  How speeds were supposed to be radically faster, the
> truth was that the initial burst of data *was* quite a lot quicker, but
> subsequent streaming of data wasn't anywhere near as fast.  It was a
> caching trick.
>
> All these little speed increases depend on other things, how fast the
> platter spins, how many heads, how much and fast the heads move about,
> the interface, etc.  Many transfer speeds you see mentioned are the
> theoretical maximums, during the best conditions.
>
> Be warned that the SATA connectors aren't very robust.  Like the old
> ribbon cables, you're expected to build a system and leave it alone.  If
> you keep on fiddling, you can easily break the connectors.  This time,
> though, the connectors on the drive are also as fragile as the ones on
> the cables.
>
>   
    That is a fact! There are NO connectors on a SATA hard drive. All 
they do is bring the edge of a printed wiring board to the edge of the 
hard drive housing. There the new SATA plugs slide onto the printed 
wiring board. Those will accept maybe 100 connections and disconnects 
before a foil comes loose of the board. Then you need a new hard drive.






-- 

	Karl F. Larsen, AKA K5DI
	Linux User
	#450462   http://counter.li.org.