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

Software / Operating System Compatibility

For many years, there were significant support and compatibility issues with SCSI that did not occur with IDE/ATA. Since IDE was the "native" hard disk interface for most PCs, and was by far the most common interface used, all software worked with it. SCSI on the other hand was much less common in PCs, especially in their earlier years, and so there were occasional support issues. Extra drivers or special software would be needed to get older operating systems like "straight DOS" and Windows 3.x to function with SCSI at all.

Today, this is pretty much a non-issue. Modern operating systems all provide support for SCSI host adapters and devices. You may need to install a driver or some utility software, but if you stick with well-known brand names even this may not be necessary.

Next: System Resource Usage

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