Boost Servers with an Ultra320 SCSI Internal Port Expansion Card
Getting the most out of a server's speed requires the right system and SCSI device. Among the details of your workstations improvement are ways to increase communication between different components in your configuration. The Ultra320 SCSI expansion cards can enable better communication by improving transfer rates to your drive and reliability.
What does PCI-X mean?
PCI-X stands for Peripheral Component Interconnect Extended. To put it simply, PCI-X is a technology that allows computer components to share information at faster rates. More specifically, PCI-X doubles the data rates that would be otherwise capable. Since most personal computers have no need for additional communication, these expansions are most commonly seen on servers. They may be able to improve RAID performance and boost many specialized server controller processes.
How many PCI formats are there?
For the most part, PCI cards come in three varieties:
- Standard PCI: Conventional PCI is the original standard. Originally launched in the 1990s, it has been updated many times over the years. Conventional PCI (or just PCI) allows for a wide variety of expansions.
- PCI-X: This is an upgraded form of conventional PCI. The X variant is backward compatible and it ultimately doubles the capacity of data throughput for any given slot.
- PCI-e (PCI Express): This is the latest adaptation. It sees regular innovations and improvements, and it enables communication rates between components on the order of gigabits per second.
Does this card work with Windows and Mac?
This specific detail on any given card will depend on manufacturer specifications. At the most base level cards are not paired with any particular software. As long as they are compatible with the rest of the hardware they should work fine. That being said, some applications will require specified drivers. Whether or not those drivers are available for any given platform is entirely at the discretion of the manufacturers. In short, double-check with the manufacturer to make sure it is intended to work with your software.
What is an Ultra320 SCSI?
It represents the seventh generation of the commonly used SCSI technology. It doubles data rates over the previous generation and offers several additional features. Those features include a training pattern, free running clock, skew compensation, and driver pre-compensation. Combined, these features enable Ultra320 to handle substantially larger data loads than any of its predecessors. In addition, 320 is backward compatible with all preceding SCSI versions.
What does dual-channel mean?
Dual-channel refers to the RAM architecture. Simply put, the extra channel doubles the bit rate of the RAM and enables better data flow. Expansions that utilize dual-channel architecture can interact with the supported RAM at higher bit rates.