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Interface
Performance
Multi-Threaded
I/0
A
multi-threaded I/O interface is one that can process multiple I/O
requests at a time. The interface bus remains free until a device
has information - command, data, or status - to send on the bus,
controlled by the host or interface adapter. Devices with outstanding
requests should be able to disconnect from the bus until they have
information to send.
The technology behind a multi-threaded I/O interface allows multiple
devices to process requests simultaneously, an effective way to
overlap the mechanical drive delays required to locate data. It
is also an effective way to share the bus bandwidth among all connected
devices. The throughput of all drives attached to the interface
can be combined for data throughput equivalent to the bandwidth
of the interface.
These
abilities make multi-threaded I/O interfaces intelligent, with the
ability for devices and adapters to communicate between each other
without requiring a host system to perform the I/O and device management.
Each additional layer of independence and intelligence added to
the construction of an array reduces system overhead and improves
performance.
Example of multi-threaded I/O interfaces include SCSI
and Fibre Channel. Single-threaded
I/O interfaces include IDE and ATA.
Related
topics:
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