March 2000
Intermediate to advanced
632 pages
18h 6m
English
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Preface
What is it that really determines the performance of a computer? Is it the processor? No, not really. It is the amount of memory that it has? No, not really. Is it the speed of the disk drives? No, not really. This is because computers can have a fast processor, and lots of memory, and a fast disk drive, but they do not count for much if the busses that connect them to each other do not operate efficiently. The performance of a computer thus directly relates to the busses that connect it. The computer bus is thus the foundation of the modern computer. Without them, a computer would just be a bundle of components.
Busses provide the mechanism for the orderly flow of data over the required channel. They range vastly in their specification. ...