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Need to add USB or FireWire ports to your computer?
Add
both port types with a USB / FireWire Combo card:
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Question:
Which is faster Hi-Speed USB 2.0 or FireWire?
Answer: In sustained throughput FireWire is faster than USB 2.0.
Question:
If Hi-Speed USB 2.0 is a 480 Mbps interface and FireWire is a
400 Mbps interface, how can FireWire be faster?
Answer: Differences in the architecture of the two
interfaces have a huge impact on the sustained throughput.
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FireWire vs. USB 2.0 - Architecture
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FireWire, uses a
"Peer-to-Peer" architecture in which the peripherals are intelligent
and can negotiate bus conflicts to determine which device can best control a
data transfer
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Hi-Speed USB 2.0 uses a "Master-Slave" architecture in which
the computer handles all arbitration functions and dictates data flow to, from
and between the attached peripherals (adding additional system overhead and
resulting in slower data flow control)
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FireWire vs. USB 2.0 Hard Drive Performance Comparison
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Read and write tests to the same IDE hard drive connected using FireWire and
then Hi-Speed USB 2.0 show:
Read Test:
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- 5000 files (300 MB total) FireWire was 33% faster than USB 2.0
- 160 files (650MB total) FireWire was 70% faster than USB 2.0
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Write Test:
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- 5000 files (300 MB total) FireWire was 16% faster than USB 2.0
- 160 files (650MB total) FireWire was 48% faster than USB 2.0
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Question: So
which products should I choose FireWire or Hi-Speed USB 2.0?
Answer: Often the choice will be made for
you by the product itself. Some types of products are only available with the
FireWire interface and some only with USB.
For all out sustained throughput, as shown above a FireWire external hard drive will
provide the best performance. But for convenience and compatibility
between multiple computers a USB 2.0 external hard drive would probably be the better
choice (since practically every computer has a USB port).
Better yet, get both interfaces. We offer combo
FireWire USB 2.0 cards allowing you to connect products with either
interface to your computer. And combo
FireWire USB 2.0 External drives give you best of both worlds...you can have
the highest hard drive speed when connected to a FireWire port, and also the broad
compatibility of USB. And now, combo interface USB,
FireWire and eSATA drives are available providing the ultimate in speed and
connectivity!
One product category that USB currently has an advantage in is capturing analog video
tape for DVD. Using hardware MPEG encoders, USB
video capture products are able to convert VHS video
tapes to
DVD video.
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