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![](images/duoconnectbox.gif)
FireWire
The
FireWire is a norm that was initially created by Apple in the nineties. It’s
also known as IEEE
1394,
iLink or even SB1394
depending on its marketing name. However only one company is behind
FireWire, Texas Instruments. Over the years, Texas Instruments has developed
reliable FireWire chips that offer perfect compatibility with every
FireWire device. The FireWire is supposed to offer a speed of
400Mbps,
delivering more than
30
times the bandwidth of the popular USB
1.1.
Just like the USB, you can hot plug FireWire devices with no problems while
Windows is running and create a chain composed by up to
63
devices. Through the years, the FireWire serial input/output norm has
become the standard device used by digital camcorders, digital VCRs and
other video equipment that require a huge bandwidth of 200MB/sec. FireWire was critically
acclaimed and won the Primetime Emmy Engineering Award! Today many external
storage devices like Iomega Peerless, burners and hard disks are using the
FireWire connection. This occurrence is partly due to the slow appearance
of USB
2.0,
the affordable cost of IEEE
1394’s
technology and the technical advantages of the interface that use few system
resources to operate.
![](images/speedgraph.jpg)
Usb 2.0 Explanations
Massively
adopted by every computer user, the Universal Serial Bus standard has almost
replaced the old school serial port because of its numerous yet undeniable
advantages. The promoters of the USB worked hard to deliver a connecting
norm that features serious qualities: hot plug, plug & play, plus the
ability to connect
127
devices simultaneously. However the USB as we know it today has one weak
point; the interface offers a slow transfer rate. With USB
1.1’s
poor transfer rate it was impossible for manufacturers to consider releasing
USB storage devices like hard disks, USB high speed burners, USB network
adapters, USB video capturing devices, etc.
That’s
why the members (Compaq, Intel, Hewlett Packard, Microsoft, Nec, Philips,
etc.) of the USB Implementers Forum have co-developed a new promising
generation of the USB norm extending performances by up to
40
times over existing capabilities. USB
2.0
features all the qualities of today’s USB but above all it offers an
extraordinary bandwidth of
480
Mbps against only
12
Mbps for USB
1.1,
thus unveiling new possibilities to connect high speed and high demanding
devices. Today many USB
2.0
devices are available like hard drives, scanners, burners, etc.
As stated
before the main advantage of the USB
2.0
is its unprecedented bandwidth. With a
480
Mbps bandwidth, the USB
2.0
beats the theoretical
400
Mbps bandwidth offered by the FireWire standard. Obviously Adaptec
DuoConnect card is backward compatible with thousands of USB
1.1
devices; this means you can still connect and use your USB
1.1
equipments with the card. However, USB
1.1
devices connected on a USB
2.0
controller will work only at
1.5
Mbps or
12
Mbps. Just like its predecessor you can connect up to
127
USB devices to the Adaptec DuoConnect USB
2.0
ports (you can combine USB
1.1
& USB
2.0
devices).
As hot
and exciting as it sounds, USB
2.0
has some drawbacks! Indeed you’ll have to change your existing USB hubs if
you want a hub that offers full speed USB
2.0
connectors. Moreover, connecting a USB
1.1
hub to the Adaptec DuoConnect will limit the speed of your USB devices to
the maximal speed of
12Mbps
that the USB
1.1
offers. Plus you have to use special USB
2.0
branded cables to connect USB
2
devices to the adapter, otherwise the USB
2.0
devices will operate in USB
1.1.
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