Patent ID: 6131141
Filing Date: 2000-10-10
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
A portable hard disk drive (HDD) duplicator connectable to a computer external port of a personal computer (PC) for simultaneously duplicating data from a source HDD to a multiplicity of target HDDs, comprising:a. a computer external port connector for connection to said computer external port of said PC;b. a computer external port interface connected to said computer external port connector via a computer external port data bus and receiving input control signals from said computer external port connector;c. a source HDD connector for connection to said source HDD;d. a source HDD data bus switch connected to said source HDD connector via a bi-directional source HDD data bus;e. a multiplicity of target HDD connectors for connection to said multiplicity of target HDDs respectively;f. a multiplicity of target HDD data bus switches connected to said multiplicity of HDD connectors via a multiplicity of bi-directional target HDD data buses respectively;g. a bi-directional main data bus connected to said computer external port interface, said source HDD data bus switch, and said multiplicity of target HDD data bus switches for providing direct data path between said PC and said source HDD, between said PC and said multiplicity of target HDDs, and between said source HDD and said multiplicity of target HDDs;h. a source HDD control signal switch connected to said source HDD connector for providing a source HDD control signal to said source HDD;i. a multiplicity of target HDD control signal switches respectively connected to said multiplicity of target HDD connectors for providing a multiplicity of respective target HDD control signals to said multiplicity of target HDDs;j. a control signal generator connected to said computer external port interface for receiving said input control signals and generating output control signals, and connected to, and providing said output control signals to control the operation of, said source HDD data bus switch and control signal switch, said multiplicity of target HDD data bus switches and control signal switches, such that data read from said source HDD is directly duplicated to said multiplicity of target HDDs simultaneously, and reading data from said source HDD is performed at the same time as writing data simultaneously to said multiplicity of target HDDs;k. a multiplicity of data bus comparators connected respectively between said main data bus and said multiplicity of target HDD data buses for simultaneously comparing data read from said source HDD with data read from said multiplicity of target HDDs which has already been written to said multiplicity of target HDDs; andl. said data bus switches and said control signal switches controlled by said output signals to operate said direct data path between said source HDD and said multiplicity of target HDDs such that the copied data directly flows from said source HDD to said multiplicity of target HDDs without utilizing any memory buffer;m. whereby said portable HDD duplicator can directly duplicate data from said source HDD to said multiplicity of target HDDs simultaneously.