Thursday, February 24, 2011

Thunderbolt, thoroughly

Thunderbolt is the buzzword throughout the week. Finally the old technology called Light Peak becomes commercial, and does so with the traditional change of name Thunderbolt. Surely you remember about a year ago, when editing a particular depth on Light Peak. For then we talked about a future technology, but virtually all of its operating bases have been maintained up to the retail version released today, Thunderbolt.

However, today we dedicate this special entry to explain what technology is Thunderbolt and what uses can give it. We start now. Thunderbolt is that once the project denominĂ¡bamos Light Peak. This is a new Intel proprietary development aimed at creating a new interface between devices. Thunderbolt The main difference compared to other technologies such as USB 3.0 is that information moves through light pulses rather than through electricity as other interfaces.

At the user level it is not important, but is a huge change to low level and from a technical standpoint. In reality, what we - the users - will use a single cable, as any current connection interface. USB, eSATA or Firewire. A cable that connects to your computer first, and the device at the other end.

And work. One of the main advantages over other interfaces Thunderbolt is to be very dynamic. May assert both data and video or audio, depending on what devices are connecting. This is because Intel has developed Thunderbolt under two protocols: PCI-Express and DisplayPort. Through the PCI-Express protocol data move, while DisplayPort will be responsible for moving the video through the cable.

Intel has confirmed it is working to bring Thunderbolt to other connections, such as might be eSATA or Firewire. Moving to figures we have to talk about the bandwidth of Thunderbolt: 10 Gbps, twice the current USB 3.0 and more than other previous standards such as Firewire (800 Mbps) or USB 2.0 (500 Mbps).

The difference is huge. Obviously this is a maximum theoretical bandwidth, which can rarely be achieved since there is a bottleneck on the device. Those 10 Gbps is equivalent to about 1.25 GB / s, and so far no external device can reach that figure. However, one of the great advantages of Thunderbolt is that there is the possibility of installing devices in a chain.

What does this mean? For example, we can connect a hard drive to a USB monitor, and monitor to the laptop via Thunderbolt (more specifically through DisplayPort) and then the hard drive data will be reflected on your computer. Remains to be seen what restrictions apply, that is, what devices are compatible and others.

For now the limit is to connect up to six devices simultaneously in a chain, at least in the new MacBook Pro continue with the technical aspects of Thunderbolt: Another important fact is that the bandwidth is bidirectional, ie we will have 10 Gbps in each direction. If you connect an external storage device can move a computer file to disk at a transfer rate of 10 Gbps, while moving another disk file to your computer for another 10 Gbps without affecting other operations.

We will have two independent channels, each one will have a bandwidth of 10 Gbps. Like the download and upload of network connections. The Light Peak of Intel development was initially targeted for use with cutting devices and applications professional audio editing and video, mainly because in this type of work often move huge quantities of information.

However, commercial and functionality Thunderbolt extend to any device. Perhaps its main use at the household level will transfer data between a computer and an external peripheral, such as a hard disk. Obviously need a laptop (or desktop) that has a Thunderbolt port capabilities and an external device that is also compatible with Intel's new optical technology.

Another star Thunderbolt features will serve as the video output for which, for now, the protocol used by DisplayPort. This is why so Thunderbolt port of the MacBook Pro is miniDisplayPort externally identical to the previous MBP. In fact, all current monitors with DisplayPort compatible with Thunderbolt, and of course so are the future.

It is perhaps the question that many of you will have made. "USB 3.0 or Thunderbolt? First of all there is to say they are similar technologies but different: USB 3.0 adheres solely to the transmission of data, while Thunderbolt combines data protocols and / or video (PCI-Express and DisplayPort, respectively).

It seems clear that speed is very supportive of Thunderbolt, about twice (10 vs. 5 Gbps). But USB 3.0 is a technology better known, implemented and in virtually all modern computers (ie, bought today) and hundreds of peripherals already available in the market. It stands to reason that the future is Thunderbolt, but this is USB 3.0.

My personal opinion is that it will, and have USB 3.0 for many years. However, USB 4.0 ... well, that battle will talk at length in the future. I liked Light Peak and Thunderbolt keeps my enthusiasm for a new technology that will not forget, just born. Promising. This was the adjective I used back in April when the prototype began to be old enough to be sold, time has finally come today.

And I still think the same, it is a promising technology, but for the future. Thunderbolt is not going to be a knock-down overnight. Bring to market a new technology such as Thunderbolt and fight against other standards already established as USB is not easy. The future is marked by both manufacturers that choose to implement Thunderbolt on their computers and peripherals developers.

For now, Intel has started well and has already confirmed that giants like LaCie and Western Digital, among others less well known, will collaborate. It is vital that a new technology enters the market many devices are compatible with it, and this is something that will be present throughout the year 2011.

A major threat to Intel is that Thunderbolt stagnate in the same way Firewire stalled, with few devices and high prices. Since we will be discussing it gradually. Indeed, Apple has actually been the one that has opened Thunderbolt, commercially speaking. How quickly other manufacturers to implement this new technology? And now it's your turn.

What about Thunderbolt? PS: For those interested in more technical aspects Thunderbolt I recommend reading the brief technology officer, where you will find many of the details that we mentioned and other features. In Tech News Buzz | Thunderbolt. More | Intel.

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