Introduction

  The “modern” 3.5 inch platter hard disk was invented almost 20 years ago and is a critical but often overlooked component in any computer system.  Recent years have seen an explosion in the field of storage technology, and there are now many drives on the market that are larger and faster than anything anyone could have imagined just a few short years ago.  Ultra ATA133, Serial ATA, Ultra320 SCSI, and hard drives up to 200 Gigabytes B (i.e. Western Digital 2000JB) are just a few of the new technologies to emerge in the last year.  This article is an overview of these technologies.

[1] Hard Drive Performance Factors

Interface Speed

  One critical factor for IDE drives is the maximum Parallel Ultra ATA mode it can support.  Ultra ATA mode (also known as UDMA or Ultra Direct Memory Access mode) determines the maximum "burst" data transfer rate in Mbytes/second and a higher number means better performance when executing large amounts of data IO (input/output).  Until 1999 the maximum speed was Ultra ATA/33 at 33 Mbytes/sec, then ATA/66 (66 Mbytes/sec) drives hit the market.  In 2000 ATA/100 was released, and most recently ATA/133 (133 Mbytes/sec).

  All current generation motherboards support ATA/100 or ATA/133 modes.  This speed is unlikely to increase do to electrical signaling limitations in parallel bus technology, and by 2004 hard drives will bottleneck on the Ultra ATA interface.  However, with Serial ATA these barriers can be surpassed. Serial ATA drives start at 150 Mbytes/sec and will soon scale upward to much faster speeds.

  SCSI channel bandwidth is currently at 160 or  320 Mbytes/sec and is likely to scale to 640 Mbytes/sec in the future as well as take off in another evolutionary direction with the introduction of Serial Attached SCSI which is designed for Enterprise class servers (see section two below).

Buffer Size (Cache Memory)

  Another important factor in how efficiently a hard disk can transfer data is the size of it cache memory buffer.  The buffer is where information is temporarily stored while waiting to be transferred into or out of the hard drive's actual magnetic disk.  A larger buffer cache can hold more data and increase the CPU's access time to that data.

  For a long time buffer size was typically 512Kb to 1 MB at most, but recently newer IDE drives boast 2, 4 or even 8 MB buffers that add a huge performance boost.  SCSI drives can run from 2 to 16 MB buffer sizes which is really helpful under heavy data usage typical of servers.

[2] New & Future Storage Technologies

Serial ATA (1.0 and 2.0) / Serial ATA RAID

  Serial ATA (SATA) is a new drive interface technology.  SATA controllers have been on the market for several months and the drives will appear in the first quarter of 2003.  Serial ATA uses a different interface technology (Serial Data Bus transfer) than IDE PATA (Parallel Data Bus).  This type of bus can be scaled to higher frequencies.  Physically, Serial ATA uses long, thin cables, making it easier to connect the hard drive and improving airflow inside the system (especially critical in small form-factor units). The cables use just two low-voltage data wires - one for sending and one for receiving data, and the signals are phase-reversed to prevent inference.  In addition, SATA uses point to point communication with improved error-checking capabilities.

  Serial ATA is focused on the desktop and entry-level server markets and is fully compatible with existing software and operating systems.  Look for Promise and High-Point Technologies SATA controller cards already on the market.

For more information see: www.asisupport.com/serial_ata_faq.htm,  http://www.serialata.org, or http://www.seagate.com/newsinfo/technology/sata/faq/index.html 

  Another technology we have already seen integrated with motherboards is Serial ATA RAID.  Much like standard IDE RAID, you can get the benefits of RAID at a lower cost than using SCSI components.  Such controllers are already being integrated with desktop motherboards.

Serial Attached SCSI (SAS)

  Serial Attached SCSI is a new standard being developed for the next generation of SCSI storage devices.  It will feature a super fast serial data bus that dedicates 150 Mbytes/sec per device and will also be able to support up to 128 devices per channel.  Products are expected to be released in late 2003.

For more information see: http://www.serialattachedscsi.com

Ultra 320 SCSI

  The seventh generation SCSI  Bus Interface was released in mid 2002.  This specification is called Ultra320 and has maximum transfer rate 320Mbytes/second.  This is twice as fast as the previous Ultra160 SCSI standard and also provides other features to improve reliability, performance, and ease of use.  Ultra320 is of course backwards compatible with previous SCSI standards and devices and you can purchase Ultra320 RAID Controllers for fast and reliable fault-tolerant data storage.

  Ultra320 is not just the next level in the SCSI standard, but a necessary step for the future growth of storage technology.  With 10,000 RPM and 15,000 RPM SCSI Hard drives providing extremely fast read/write data access and burst data speeds, a faster SCSI Bus interface is needed when using multiple drives (remember that SCSI drives share the same cable/bus per controller so when using multiple drives bottlenecks can occur).  The increased bandwidth of Ultra320 is a solution to this problem.  It is also the perfect for the high-volume demands of applications such as databases, streaming digital audio and video, video editing, corporate network servers, and RAID configurations.

For more information on SCSI standards see:  http://www.t10.org, or http://www.scsita.org

[3] Storage Technology Comparision (Click Here For Chart!)

AMD is preparing to fire the next salvo in the processor wars. The AMD Athlon 64 (Hammer) and its counterparts, the entry level server / workstation Opteron DP (Clawhammer) and the server Opteron MP (Sledgehammer), look to be set for release in the first half of 2003.

The three new AMD CPU's share several key elements; the Integrated Memory Controller, HyperTransport Technology, x86-64 architecture, and their processor core..

Integrated Memory Controller The Integrated Memory Controller is designed to remove memory bottlenecks by scaling memory bandwidth as more CPUs are added and as CPU frequency increases. By integrating the memory controller into the CPU you bypass the North Bridge to get access to the memory which results in lower latency. HyperTransport Technology HyperTransport Technology is a point to point link for interconnecting circuits on a motherboard. This increases overall performance by helping to remove I/O bottlenecks, which improves bandwidth and reduces latency. As you can see from this diagram, there is nothing standing between the CPU, with the Integrated Memory Controller, and the memory itself.

x86-64 Architecture

x86-64 Architecture is an extension of the standard x86 instruction set instead of an altogether new product. The benefit of this is that it enables 64-bit computing while remaining compatible with today's 32-bit x86 software.

The new architecture of the Athlon 64 and Opteron processors allows the processors to natively support both 64-bit and 32-bit applications. By having this support already built in, the processor does not have to take the time to translate the 32-bit code before it can process it, thus speeding up the procedure.

Configurations

The Athlon 64 will be issued in a 754 pin package while the Opteron CPUs will be using a 940 pin socket. Both CPU's will feature an integrated heat spreader to prevent core damage.

The Lineup! Left to Right: Opteron (Bottom) Athlon 64 (Bottom)  Heat Spreader (Top)

Chipsets which have been announced to support the Athlon 64 and the Opteron

ALI M1687 ALI M1688 AMD 8000 (Golem)

AMD Lokar NVidia "Crush" CK8 (Athlon 64 only) SiS 755

SiS 760 VIA K8HTB VIA K8M-333

nVidia nForce2 chipset!

Let's take a look at the key chipset features:

Northbridge:  The nForce2 integrates not only the CPU and memory controller in the Northbridge but also has GeForce4-class integrated 3D graphics (using the NVIDIA nForce2 IGP = Integrated Graphics Platform). Optionally there is a Northbridge chipset without integrated graphics (NVIDIA nForce2 SPP = Systems Platform Processor).  The GeForce4-MX integrated graphics can handle up to 64 MB shared memory and feature nView Multiple-Display support (multiple monitors).  Both versions also support AGP 4x or 8x video cards.

The nForce2 Memory Controller is also impressive, supporting Dual Channel DDR that can double the effective memory bandwidth of standard DDR configuration.  It does this using dual memory controllers that can simultaneously address 128-bits instead of just 64-bits.  It can work with DDR266, DDR333 or DDR400 modules, providing a maximum bandwidth up to 6.4 Gb/second (using DDR400).  It also support a total capacity of 3.0 GB.  The integrated graphics do need to share some of the system memory, but it is still a excellent price/performance value.

Southbridge:  The MCP-T (Media and Communications Processor) is one of two Southbridge chips. It supports Ultra ATA133, six USB 2.0 ports, dual network controllers, Nvidia APU (a hardware audio processing unit that includes Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround sound support), and IEEE1394 Firewire. The standard MCP version (non-T) does not have the last three features.  Both versions include 6 x USB 2.0 ports, Ultra ATA 100/133 MHz IDE drive support, and AC'97 2.1 compatibility.

Refer to following chart for full specifications:

    Dual Channel DDR support means a lot of memory bandwidth!

• Now supports AMD Athlon XP/Duron CPUs up to 333MHz. FSB

• Officially supports DDR400 memory

• Interconnect between SiS746FX North Bridge and SiS 963L South Bridge has been changed to MuTIOL1G @ 1GB/s

The Importance of DirectX

What is DirectX? DirectX is an interface between programs (applications and games) and the drivers that run your graphics, sound and other computer hardware.

Why is it important to install DirectX?

• When an application or game is written for DirectX, the programmer does not have to worry about exactly which sound card or graphics adapter might be installed in the end-user's machine. DirectX takes care of that for him.
   
• DirectX plays a role in many functions, including 3D rendering, video playback, still and motion capture, TV Viewing applications, joystick and mouse interfaces, networking for multiplayer games and lots more.
   
• DirectX is a foundation on which many games are run. DirectX provides a key set of tools to enhance games and multimedia applications.

What is the latest version of DirectX? The latest version is version is Direct X9 released on December 19, 2002 .

What is new in DirectX 9? There are many new and exciting features in all of the DirectX components:

·         The SDK has added a new member to its core technology called Managed DirectX, a DirectPlay port for the PocketPC, a High Level Shader Language for D3DX, and Windows XP parity on down-level operating systems for DirectShow and the DirectX audio APIs.

·         DirectShow also has a new Video Mixing Renderer (VMR9) which uses D3D9 surfaces and always renders video through the 3D pipeline, along with new and exciting samples.

·         The generic Windows Media Format SDK stub library (wmstub.lib) available in previous beta releases has been removed. DirectShow samples using this stub library have been reverted to the DirectX 8.1 behavior of displaying a warning to obtain the stub separately, and the readme.txt files have also been reverted with information on the process to obtain the stub.

Can DirectX 9 be uninstalled? No, DirectX 9 cannot be uninstalled it is a system component.

What Operating Systems support DirectX 9? Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 98SE, Windows ME, Windows 2000 (Professional and Server) and Windows XP.

What versions of DirectX shipped with the different Microsoft Operating Systems?

Hard Drive Performance Factors:

To the human eye, you wouldn't be able to see that much of differences between 2MB cache and 8MB cache hard drive speed and performance.  However, through computer benchmark testing you can see a big difference in speed and performance with the 8MB cache hard drive.  Below are benchmarks taken from www.tomshardware.com.  Since we are just comparing the 2MB and 8MB cache hard drives, I am only showing the Data Transfer Benchmark because this is the test that shows the speed of data being read and written to the cache buffer.

Results:

 

What are they? Chipset Drivers update your operating system with .inf files that contain full support for your chipset. 

Why do I need them? You need to load them to insure that your operating system fully supports your chipset and it's features such as Bus Mastering IDE, Ultra/ATA 133, USB 2.0, and ACPI. This will also install support for all existing devices and services within a chipset. 

How do I load them? Fortunately, at this time, most manufacturers of chipsets offer self-installing chipset driver applications. After downloading the latest version from the manufacturers web site, you simply click on, and run the Chipset Update Utility. 

Some of the components affected by chipset drivers: IDE Hard Disk Controller USB Controller PCI Bridge AGP Controller
	Chipset Diagram

Where can I find the latest chipset drivers?

• For VIA Chipset Motherboards: http://www.viaarena.com/?PageID=2
• For Intel Chipset Motherboards: http://www.intel.com/support/chipsets/index.htm
• For SiS Chipset Motherboards: http://download.sis.com/sisdlc/driver_select.jsp
• For ALi Chipset Motherboards: http://www.ali.com.tw/eng/support/support_driver.htm
• For AMD Chipset Motherboards: http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/TechnicalResources/0,,30_182_871_2336,00.html
• For nVidia Chipset Motherboards: http://www.nvidia.com/content/drivers/drivers.asp