Do I go for USB 2.0 or FireWire

You know well that USB, in information technology, is an interface to devices, of the serial bus standard. It refers to an interface socket of the single standardized type, used to connect many peripherals as well as to the enhancement of the plug and play capabilities engaging hot swapping of the computer. Hot Swapping is all about the connection and disconnection of devices without the computer being rebooted. Computer peripherals like key board, mouse, PDAs, scanners, printers, digital cameras, flash drives, etc use this concept for a smart connection.

You might also know that USB 2.0 that was released in April 2000 to compensate the sluggish nature of the previous editions like USB 1.0 and 1.1. Due to its augmented maximum speed of 480 Mbit/s it is also called Hi-Speed USB 2.0. Meanwhile, FireWire, originally the IEEE 1394 interface also refers to a serial bus interface standard that not only facilitates high speed communication but also effectuates live data transfer. FireWire is a brand name given to this interface by Apple as Sony calls it i.LINK.

A comparison between the two just might culminate into a stalemate for their technical characteristics are alike and both the concepts have their own peculiarities, advantages and disadvantages. Hi-speed USB 2.0 is obviously a bit faster than the IEEE 1394 1995 version with its 480 Mbit/s data transfer rates as against the latter’s 400 Mbit/s data transfer rate. However, the latest augmentation of it, the IEEE 1394c-2006 provides far increased speeds (800 Mbit/s) than the USB 2.0 Hi-Speed. In the mean time, against the FireWire 1394, USB 2.0 holds a few advantages like supporting up to 127 devices as against 63 devices supported by FireWire and a comprehensive compatibility with USB 1.1 devices. However, USB 2.0 Hi-Speed’s Master-Slave architecture that entitles the computer to handle all the arbitration functions as well as data-flow dictation between the attached peripherals lets it a bit down with a sluggish data flow control. FireWire, meanwhile employs an architecture called Peer to Peer where, peripherals negotiate bus conflicts with intuition to choose the device that has the most efficient control over data transfer.

On the whole, you can conclude that FireWire is definitely quicker than USB 2.0 in sustained throughput, despite Hi-Speed USB 2.0’s 480 Mbit/s data transfer rate against FireWire’s 400 Mbit/s. If your eyebrows are raised, console yourselves with the fact that sustained throughput is greatly influenced by the architecture variations of the two interfaces.

If another question sprouts in your mind like ‘which device would suit which interface the most?’, you have a pretty neat solution that the devices themselves would choose their best suited interface. To be more precise, a FireWire external hard drive would suit best for sustained throughput as an external hard drive of the USB 2.0 kind would be the ideal selection for compatibility among multiple computers. Above all, the best choice would obviously be going for combo products that can connect to your system using either interface types.