Appendix – FireWire Q & A
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LaCie Big Disk
8. Appendix – FireWire Questions & Answers
What does IEEE 1394 mean?
"1394" is an abbreviation of IEEE-1394, the name given to this high-performance serial bus. IEEE (the
Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) is the name of the engineering corps that developed this
standard. It just so happens that this is the 1394th standard produced by the IEEE.
What is the relationship between IEEE 1394, FireWire, iLink, and DV?
These four names all refer to the same interface.
•
IEEE 1394
is the name of the standard, as used in the computer industry.
•
FireWire
is the brand name used by Apple to designate the implementation of the IEEE 1394 standard in its products.
•
iLink
is an initiative from Sony to create a brand name based on the IEEE-1394 standard. With iLink, Sony has given
IEEE-1394 technology a user-friendly, easily-recognizable face, both for consumer electronics and the computer industry as
a whole.
•
DV
is the logo used by video camcorders for the IEEE 1394 port. DV means “Digital Video”.
What can the FireWire interface be used for?
With its high data transfer rates, the FireWire interface is great for consumer electronics and video peripherals. It is actually a
point-to-point type interface. This means, for instance, that you can link one camcorder to another to make a copy without
having to resort to a computer – a FireWire peripheral can in fact transmit data to another peripheral without going through
a computer (host control). This lets several computers share a given peripheral. For all these reasons, FireWire has become a
widely renowned digital interface and is gaining in popularity every day. Camcorders incorporating a FireWire interface
enable you to capture digital video images and transfer them to your computer affordably.
Can I link my FireWire Hard Drive and CD-RW drives together?
At this time, you can daisy chain up to 63 FireWire peripherals on the same bus, with a maximum of 16 peripherals on one
branch. Just connect the first device to a FireWire port on your computer, and link the second FireWire connector of this
peripheral to a port on the next peripheral, and so on, using the FireWire cables provided. Unlike USB topology, there is no
need for hubs, unless one of the peripheral devices only has one FireWire connector.
FireWire sounds great, but my computer is not equipped with it. What can I do?
Nearly all of the newer Macintosh computers, and some PCs, are equipped with FireWire busses. The standard is becoming
increasingly common at the time of printing. If your computer is not equipped, it may be possible, depending on your config-
uration, to add a FireWire PCI or PCMCIA card enabling you to connect your LaCie peripheral. Contact a computer supply
specialist for details.
