Introduction - Seagate Medalist 2520 Product Manual

Medalist 2520 Product Manual, Rev. A 1

Introduction

This manual describes the functional, mechanical and interface specifi-
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cations for the Medalist 2520 hard disc drive. This drive is referred to
throughout this manual by its model number, ST32520A.
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Seagate desktop products take a step into the future with the ST32520A.
The drive features advanced thin-film proximity heads and PRML record-
ing technology, Ultra ATA performance, segmented cache, embedded
servo technology, low noise, power management and S.M.A.R.T. capa-
bilities.
Ultra ATA performance means that the drive supports PIO mode 4,
multiword DMA mode 2 transfer modes and synchronous DMA mode.
When the host chooses Ultra DMA mode 2, the drive provides burst-
transfer rates of up to 33.3 Mbytes per second. The drive supports
multiple block read/write, which allows it to store contiguous blocks of
data in its 256-Kbyte segmented cache and transfer the blocks in a single
burst.
The ST32520A has other features that ensure fast data throughput.
Embedded servo technology allow the drive to position the heads for data
retrieval efficiently and accurately while eliminating the periodic thermal
recalibration that can interrupt during data transfers. An intelligent con-
troller provides data streaming: direct data transfers between the drive
and the host without microprocessor intervention. These features allow
for a sustained data-transfer rate that facilitates video playback and other
multimedia operations.
The drive supports Active, Idle and Standby power-management modes.
Power-saving modes can be controlled by the host computer. Standby
mode reduces power consumption to 1.618 watts (typical) while retaining
drive accessibility.
Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology (S.M.A.R.T.) is
available on the drive. This feature is discussed on page 35. To use the
feature, you must have a BIOS, a software driver or application software
that supports S.M.A.R.T.
The ATA commands with specific applications for the drive and the
Seagate-unique commands the drive uses are discussed in Section 3.0
on page 25. A complete list of the commands the drive supports is found
in the table on page 27.