Lacie 301398U User Manual - Page 29

LaCie Little Big Disk User Manual Tech Tips page 29 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 Little Big Disk with Triple Interface, 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 port on the drive, and passes to the computer through the FireWire host-bus adapter interface. Technical note: For more information on the FireWire interfaces, please see: 6. FireWire questions & answers Please see 3.3. Connecting multiple devices for more information. Computer manufacturer's implementation of the FireWire host-bus adapter interfaces vary widely. For computers running Windows 2000 and later, the FireWire interface, which is referred to as either IEEE 1394 or iLink Another important factor in file transfer speeds is how the drive has been formatted. For more information in choosing the correct file system format, please see section 5.1. File system formats. on PCs*, is less common as a native host-bus adapter. Nearly all recent Apple computers have native FireWire interface ports. The FireWire 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 Little Big Disk with Triple Interface directly to a native FireWire port on your computer, and avoid daisy-chaining*. During data transfers, it's best to wait before launching other applications that will be using the same port.