< Information and Explanations by Broadberry

SCSI Technology

SCSI stands for "Small Computer System Interface", and is a standard interface and command set for transferring data between devices on both internal and external computer buses. SCSI is usually pronounced "scuzzy".

SCSI is most commonly used for hard disks and tape storage devices, but also connects a wide range of other devices, including scanners, CD-ROM drives, CD recorders, and DVD drives. In fact, the entire SCSI standard promotes device independence, which means that theoretically anything can be made SCSI — SCSI printers have been manufactured.

At this time, SCSI is popular on high-performance workstations, servers, and high-end peripherals; and RAID arrays on servers almost always use SCSI hard disks. Desktop computers and notebooks more typically use the ATA/IDE or the newer SATA interfaces for hard disks, and USB or FireWire connections for external devicesSCSI Technologies: SCSI-1: Uses an 8-bit bus, and supports data rates of 4 MBps

SCSI-2: Same as SCSI-1, but uses a 50-pin connector instead of a 25-pin connector, and supports multiple devices. This is what most people mean when they refer to plain SCSI.

Wide SCSI: Uses a wider cable (168 cable lines to 68 pins) to support 16-bit transfers.

Fast SCSI: Uses an 8-bit bus, but doubles the clock rate to support data rates of 10 MBps.

Fast Wide SCSI: Uses a 16-bit bus and supports data rates of 20 MBps.

Ultra SCSI: Uses an 8-bit bus, and supports data rates of 20 MBps.

SCSI-3: Uses a 16-bit bus and supports data rates of 40 MBps. Also called Ultra Wide SCSI.

Ultra2 SCSI: Uses an 8-bit bus and supports data rates of 40 MBps.

Broadberry recomend SCSI for server solutions needing faster data avaliablity and extra reliability than SATA, however they SCSI drives are more expensive than SATA.