In simplest terms, FireWire enables high-speed communication between two separate computers or between a computer and a peripheral, such as a keyboard or a digital camera. Connectivity is an important aspect of computer technology. Having multiple devices that all operate together at maximum efficiency is what FireWire is all about. The following information describes what FireWire is, how it works, the difference between FireWire and USB, and how all this matters regarding the efficiency of multiple devices.
What is FireWire? FireWire, which is also called IEEE , is a connecting device used primarily for adding peripherals to a computer. FireWire is often used for connecting external hard drives and digital camcorders that benefit from a high transfer rate.
These transfer rates are often up to Mbps. It is predicted that it may not be too far into the future when these rates increase to 3. FireWire hubs can also connect devices that are up to meters apart.
FireWire can work with FireWire equipment as well. FireWire was initially developed by Apple and was a standard feature on many of the Mac computers for several years. In recent years, however, Macs have been installed with an interface called Thunderbolt.
If you have a computer that is connected to any external devices, the computer will query all devices that are connected whenever it starts to power up. This process is called enumeration, with the computer giving each device an address. When connecting a new device to your computer, the operating system will detect it and ask for a driver disc.
Like USB, Firewire supports different connector types. The end of the cable that goes into the computer is a 6 Pin cable, while the smaller connector that goes into the camcorder is a 4 Pin cable. Tech-Ease is your source for just-in-time answers for classroom technology questions. Funding for Tech-Ease content development has been provided by by various grants from the University of South Florida and the Florida Department of Education.
Tech Ease for all your classroom technology needs. The FireWire standard was set in the late s. The project's goal was to create a relatively inexpensive, high-speed connection service, but Apple did not originally intend for the technology to be used as a connection for external devices.
FireWire was utilized by Apple and by other companies like Sony for years. Eventually, the standard was presented to the IEEE as a superior way to connect external devices to a computer. FireWire was ratified officially in , and FireWire ports began appearing on Apple computers soon after. This massive gap in capacity made FireWire the obvious choice for anybody with a lot of data to move.
Speed continued to be FireWire's primary selling point for over a decade. When USB 2. FireWire ports are easy to distinguish from USB ports; they're smaller and tapered on one end, while USB ports are flat and rectangular. It's also common to find FireWire ports on external storage devices. FireWire port uses include managing audio and video devices like digital camcorders.
In addition to simply connecting devices, FireWire can also be used to set up ad-hoc networks.
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