disk controller

disk controller

(hardware, storage)

(Or "hard disk controller", HDC) The circuit which allows the CPU to communicate with a hard disk, floppy disk or other kind of disk drive.

The most common disk controllers in use are IDE and SCSI controllers. Most home personal computers use IDE controllers. High end PCs, workstations and network file servers mostly have SCSI adaptors.

This article is provided by FOLDOC - Free Online Dictionary of Computing (foldoc.org)

disk controller

The circuits that control data transfer to and from the disk drive (floppy disk, hard disk, optical disc). In a PC, an IDE disk controller is typically built into the motherboard, and a cable plugs into the controller socket on one end and connects to the drive on the other. On earlier PCs, the disk controller was a separate card plugged into a PCI or ISA slot. However, when SCSI drives are used, a SCSI disk controller (SCSI host adapter) is typically not built in, but available on a separate card. See hard disk, IDE and SCSI.

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