PC-Based Platforms Serve Up High-Speed Data Acquisition Systems

Historically, proprietary direct-to-disk waveform recorder systems were the only option available to deliver high-speed signal recording solutions if data loss could not be tolerated. There are clear performance benefits of the direct-to-storage recording systems that continue to provide important capabilities in signal recording.

Proprietary recording systems traditionally digitize analog signals and transfer the digitized data directly to a storage device. Yet, while direct-to-disk recording systems offer high-speed data transfers with few bottlenecks, raw data typically isn't as useful as data stored in a compatible file system, such as NTFS. For certain applications, this is a fair trade-off. However, a decided disadvantage exists, especially for applications that require recorded data to be sent to other systems.

By translating raw data into an OS-friendly file format, considerable efficiencies emerge. For example, if a recording system resides on a network and the recorder must be controlled by a client machine, compatible files provide the client immediate access to the data.