Categories: PCs and Hardware

Continued from How SCSI Works

The SCSI interface is certainly capable and complex. There are many more areas for discussion, but we don't have room to explore them in great detail. For example, there's the ongoing problem of the lack of a truly standard programming interface, which means that host adapters have even more work to do than they otherwise would. The two primary programming interfaces are ASPI (Advanced SCSI Programming Interface), implemented by the SCSI card manufacturer Adaptec, and CAM (Common Access Method), developed by the standards body ANSI. Both allow control over SCSI devices, but they work in different ways. Compatibility is just one of many issues under consideration by SCSI developers. The future of SCSI will see faster data transfer, the ability to control more devices, and a greater exploitation of SCSI's built-in flexibility for an expanding variety of devices. Despite the popularity of interfaces such as EIDE, there's no sign that the development of SCSI is going to slow down.

Next: Figure 1

Published as Tutor in the 3/10/98 issue of PC Magazine.