page
LaCie Little Big Disk
User Manual
5.2. Available Storage Capacity
A gigabyte (GB) means 1,000,000,000 bytes. In order to utilize a hard disk drive, it has to be formatted first. Formatting
a disk consists of the following: the operating system erases all of the bookkeeping information on the disk, tests the disk to
make sure that all of the sectors are reliable, marks bad sectors (i.e., those that are scratched) and creates internal address
tables that it later uses to locate information. Once formatted, the actual available storage capacity varies, depending on
operating environment, and is generally about 10% less than the non-formatted capacity.
5.3. Optimizing Data Transfers
Data transfers are the flow of data that accomplishes
a task, usually related to moving data from storage to
computer RAM, or between storage devices. With ex-
ternal drives, such as the LaCie Little Big Disk with Triple
Interface, the data is transferred from the drive to the
computer via the FireWire or USB interface. The data is
fed from the drive through the FireWire port on the drive,
and passes to the computer through the FireWire host-bus
adapter interface.
Computer manufacturer’s implementation of the FireWire
host-bus adapter interfaces vary widely. For computers
running Windows 2000 and later, the FireWire inter-
face, which is referred to as either IEEE 1394 or iLink
on PCs*, is less common as a native host-bus adapter.
Nearly all recent Apple computers have native FireWire interface ports.
The FireWire interfaces specify certain requirements, filed under the OHCI (Open Host Controller Interface) standards. All
LaCie drives comply to OHCI standards and have been rigorously tested on computers that have host bus adapters that also
comply to OHCI standards. Unfortunately, not all manufacturers respect these guidelines, and anomalies may arise with
computers that have host bus adapters that do not conform to OHCI standards.
For the best performance, connect your LaCie Little Big Disk with Triple Interface directly to a native FireWire port on your
computer, and avoid daisy-chaining*. During data transfers, it’s best to wait before launching other applications that will be
using the same port.
Tech Tips
TEChNICAL NOTE:
For more information on the
FireWire interfaces, please see: 6.
FireWire ques-
tions & answers
Please see 3.3.
Connecting multiple devices
for
more information.
Another important factor in file transfer speeds is
how the drive has been formatted. For more infor-
mation in choosing the correct file system format,
please see section 5.1.
File system formats
.
