Hard Disk types

Hard disk is the most important component of the system that helps in storing and retrieving the data when ever it is needed. There are basically two types of hard disk that are now used for storing data in the system. The hard disk is the secondary storage device. The two types of the Hard disk are the SATA and PATA.

PATA stands for the Parallel Advanced Technology attachment. The PATA drives were used in the previous generations before the existence of the SATA drives. The PATA uses a Parallel bus with 16 bit interface to give connections and for the data transfer. This helps in transferring 16 bit of the data at a time. A 40 pin ribbon cable is used in PATA for the transfer of the data. In a single cable there will be two provisions for the hard disk connection which means that two hard disk can be connected at the same time in on single cable. But the jumper pins are used in the hard disk to discriminate and decide upon the master and the slave.

SATA stands for the Serial Advanced Technology Attachment. The SATA drives are used nowadays after the generation of the PATA drives. The SATA technology is proved to be the best in all the aspects including the speed phenomenon. SATA also helps in reducing the complexity of the wires. This technology was introduced in the year 2000 and it came into existence in the year 2003. It uses smaller cables thus helping in high cycling speeds because there is no synchronization is needed. The routing is very simple with 7 pin cables making the data transfer very fast. Each cable supports only a single device so there is no necessity for the jumper pins in the hard disk. SATA hard disk can be used with the jumper pins removed.

Sata vs Pata

Importance of Jumper pin

The importance of the jumper pins has to be taken into consideration when the hard disk that we are using is a PATA hard disk. If we are using the SATA hard disk there is no necessity to worry about the jumper pin alignment. In PATA there are three types of jumper positions. They are

Jumper

•Master

•Slave

•Cable select

In the Master option when it is chosen the booting menu directly to the master disk and starts booting. There cannot be two masters in a CPU. In the master disk the operating system is loaded and it is used during the booting of the hard disk. The boot priority is always given to the master.

Pins

The slave is the next option available in the PATA hard disk. The slave is the hard disk that is given priority next to the master disk. There can be more than one slave to the master hard disk in a CPU. The slave hard disk contains the other data that are related to the system or some external data. This slave Hard disk serves to the master.

The third and the final option is the cable select option. This cable select option when it is given it chooses among the other two options and sets the hard disk on the master option or the slave option automatically in the boot time. When the jumper pins are removed from the PATA hard disk this particular cable select option is activated.

Installing a Hard disk in a system

The hard disk installation is not a difficult task. The main thing that we should keep focus on is the Jumper pins. When we are using one single hard disk there is no need to worry about the jumper pins. But when we are going to connect more than one hard disk in a system definitely it is very much necessary to insert the jumper pins properly. If the jumper pins are not inserted properly then there is a great chance for the hard disk to get damaged.

Jumper in hard disk

When we go for the SATA hard disk the hard disk can be inserted in the slots that are available. There will not be any necessity to choose among the master and the slave. There are also options available to keep the jumper pin in master or the slave position. But it is not necessary to take into consideration.

connection

When we connect two or more hard disk to the system then one hard disk will be selected as the master and the next hard disk will be selected as the slave and the other will also be selected as the slave. When one hard disk is PATA and the other hard disk is SATA then also the same procedure is carried out.

Hard disk types and Installation

Hard Disk types

Importance of Jumper pin

Installing a Hard disk in a system

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