[ The PC Guide | Systems and Components Reference Guide | Hard Disk Drives | Hard Disk Interfaces and Configuration | IDE/ATA vs. SCSI: Interface Comparison ]

Support for Non-PC Platforms

While not an issue for most people, there are some for whom support for devices by machines outside the PC platform can be an issue. For these applications, SCSI is almost always a better choice than IDE/ATA. SCSI is more universally found outside the PC world. It is used by many different manufacturers of computer hardware, including the Apple platform, many types of UNIX workstations, minicomputers and more. IDE/ATA is mostly a PC interface, though Apple has started using the interface as well in recent years (likely to reduce cost).

For applications where devices or data must be shared between machines, external SCSI devices give you the flexibility to dynamically share or move information from one platform to another. It's even possible to have more than one computer on the same SCSI bus, something not possible with IDE/ATA at all. Of course, compatibility in terms of software and file systems is still an issue to be dealt with.

Next: Summary of IDE/ATA and SCSI Comparisons

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