Hi matrixed99-ga,
ATA6 (or, more fully, ATA/ATAPI-6) is a standard for interfacing
between host computers and IDE storage devices such as disk drives and
CD-ROM drives. The specification covers cable configuration,
electrical characteristics, device addressing, power management and
command set.
ATA6 defines a parallel interface, and is the most recent
specification for this interface. (ATA7 specifies a serial interface).
You can purchase the ATA6 specification from the American National
Standards Institute (ANSI)
http://www.ansi.org/
or you can view the final draft for free at the website of the
developing committee (T13)
http://www.t13.org/docs2002/d1410r3b.pdf
An ATA6 disk drive, then, is one that has been manufactured in
accordance with the ATA6 specification.
I suspect you may be asking this question in order to find out the
benefit of purchasing an ATA6 drive compared to, say, an ATA5 or
earlier drive. There are three specific advantages offered by the ATA6
specification:
1. ATA6 offers a faster transfer mode: Ultra DMA Mode 5, also known as
Ultra DMA 100. In contrast, ATA5 offered Ultra DMA 66 mode. (The "66"
and "100" refer to nominal burst data transfer speed in megabytes.)
2. ATA6 increases the number of bits in the Linear Block Addressing
(LBA) from 24 to 48. This can support a maximum disk drive size of
144,000,000 gigabytes (compared to 137 gigabytes with ATA5).
3. ATA6 increases the Sector Count bits from 8 to 16. This increases
the maximum data that can be transferred per command from about 131
kilobytes to about 33 megabytes.
Just one caution - a disk drive can comply with ATA6 without
necessarily using all of the facilities offered by that specification.
Therefore, different models of ATA6-compliant drives can have
different performance characteristics.
I trust this provides the information that you need. If not, please
ask for clarification.
Additional References:
"The Brief History of ATA and ATAPI"
http://ata-atapi.com/hist.htm
BuildOrBuy - ATAPI-ATA Specs
http://www.buildorbuy.org/atapi.html
Google Search Strategy:
ata 6 specification disk
://www.google.com/search?q=ata+6+specification+disk
Regards,
eiffel-ga |
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