page 0
LaCie Little Big Disk
User Manual
Tech Tips
If you do not have a native FireWire port, LaCie offers FireWire host bus adapter cards, also known as PCI or PC/PCMCIA
cards, that have been tested and comply with LaCie drives. Please contact your reseller or LaCie Customer Support for more
information.
5.3.1. FireWire 800 Ports And Performance
To utilize the newly enhanced FireWire 800 performances, your computer must be equipped with a FireWire 800 host bus
adapter card (either sold separately, or integrated by your computer’s manufacturer); these host bus adapter cards include
one or more FireWire 800 ports, and you must be running Mac OS 10.2.4 and higher, or Windows 2000 or Windows XP
in order to achieve FireWire 800 performance and functionality.
If you use FireWire equipped peripherals (either the original FireWire standard or the new FireWire 800), one of the easiest
and least expensive ways to improve the performance, reliability and value of your system is by installing additional ports.
By adding a FireWire PCI/PC card you can isolate fast and slow devices, create more effective RAID configurations, take
full advantage of bus-powered devices and protect and increase the overall value of your system.
Not all FireWire devices are created equal; some devices support faster transfer rates than others. For example, DV cam-
corders deliver data at the slower 100Mb/s and 200Mb/s rates, while hard drives typically deliver data at the 400Mb/s
rates. When the devices are daisy-chained (connected to each other and sharing a single port), the devices may be reduced
to the transfer rate of the slowest device. With a separate FireWire PCI card, you can isolate the slow devices to one port,
while dedicating another port to your high-speed devices.
This principle also has a great effect on the efficiency and performance of RAID 0 striped configurations, where each in-
terface can operate at maximum speed without being affected by the other devices on the same bus. Essentially, by adding
an additional PCI card, you create another controller for the data. Instead of having four drives connected to one port and
daisy-chained, with an additional PCI card you can connect two drives to one port, and two drives on a second port on
another controller, improving speed by spreading the data over two controllers instead of one.
Also think of an additional FireWire bus as a serious way to protect your expensive computer system. If you happen to
work in an environment where you frequently share devices with other computers and users, you can inadvertently “blow” a
FireWire port, if, for instance, you have a defective cable, or the connector is forced in upside down. Replacing a FireWire
PCI/PC card is far less expensive than repairing or replacing an entire motherboard.
IMpOrTANT INFO:
At the time of publication (January 2006), only Mac OS 10.2.4 and higher, and Windows
2000 and Windows XP, support FireWire 800 functionality, and the IEEE 1394b interface is not a standard feature
implemented on the motherboards of all PC-compatible computers.
