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5. Tech Tips
page 44
LaCie d2 Hard Drive
User’s Manual
5.2. Available Storage Capacity
A gigabyte (GB) means 1,000,000,000 bytes. In order to utilize a hard disk drive, it has to be formatted first. Formatting a
disk consists of the following: the operating system erases all of the bookkeeping information on the disk, tests the disk to
make sure that all of the sectors are reliable, marks bad sectors (i.e., those that are scratched) and creates internal address
tables that it later uses to locate information. Once formatted, the actual available storage capacity varies, depending on
operating environment, and is generally about 10% less than the non-formatted capacity.
5.3. Optimizing Data Transfers
Data transfers are the flow of data that accomplishes a task, usually related to moving data from storage to computer RAM,
or between storage devices. With external drives, such as the LaCie d2 Hard Drive, the data is transferred from the drive to
the computer via the FireWire or USB interface. The data is fed from the drive through the FireWire or USB port on the drive,
and passes to the computer through either the FireWire or USB host-bus adapter interface.
Computer manufacturer’s implementation of the FireWire and USB host-bus
adapter interfaces vary widely. For computers running Windows 2000 and later,
the Hi-Speed USB 2.0 interface is a fairly standard feature, while FireWire, which
is referred to as either IEEE 1394 or iLink on PCs*, is less common as a native
host-bus adapter. Nearly all recent Apple computers have native FireWire
interface ports, and they also support the original USB standard*, while Hi-Speed
USB 2.0 has only just recently been adopted.
The FireWire and USB interfaces specify certain requirements, filed under the
OHCI (Open Host Controller Interface) standards. All LaCie drives comply to
OHCI standards and have been rigorously tested on computers that have host bus
adapters that also comply to OHCI standards. Unfortunately, not all manufacturers
respect these guidelines, and anomalies may arise with computers that have host
bus adapters that do not conform to OHCI standards.
For the best performance, connect your LaCie d2 Hard Drive directly to a native
FireWire or USB port on your computer, and avoid daisy-chaining* or using
hubs*. During data transfers, it’s best to wait before launching other applications
that will be using the same port.
If you do not have a native FireWire or USB port, LaCie offers FireWire and USB
host bust 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.
*Tech Note:
For more
information on the FireWire and
USB interfaces, please see:
6.FireWire Questions & Answers
7.USB Questions & Answers
.
Tech Note:
Please see
3.4
Connecting Multiple Devices
for
more information.
Tech Note:
Another important
factor in file transfer speeds is
how the drive has been
formatted. For more information
in choosing the correct file
system fomat, please see section
5.1 File System Formats
.