Secondary storage facility employing serial communications between drive and controller

摘要

In a data processing system including a host computer and a secondary storage system that includes a controller and a mass storage device, the device stores information regarding the physical and logical characteristics of a disk drive associated with the device. In response to a command from the controller, the device produces a signal or signals which provide information to the controller regarding the physical and logical characteristics of the disk drive. The physical and logical characteristics include the drive bit transfer rate and subunit characteristics.