In today's world of high-speed A/D converters operating in the gigahertz range, real-time signal recording has become a challenging task that requires specialized hardware and intelligent application software. When designing a real-time recorder capable of streaming sustained data to disk at rates of up to 3 GB/sec and higher, the systems developer has to consider the limitations presented by the recorder's operating and file systems, the limitations of disk drive technology, the hardware interfaces, and the RAID controller technology.


Fortunately for the application developer, serial fabrics have emerged to provide the high-speed interfaces required to move this data; disk drive and RAID HBAs (Host-Bus Adapters) are now exploiting serial interfaces; finally, the emergence of SSD (Solid-State Drive) technology provides a performance level previously unattainable in real-time recording systems. Developing software that can take advantage of these new technologies presents a challenge that can be met by understanding some key concepts required to build a high-speed, real-time recording system.


In this handbook, we will look at some of these techniques and will discuss some of the features that are widely desired in such a system, including the use of a non-proprietary file system, the use of a client-server architecture, and the presence of a user friendly API (Application Programming Interface). Finally, we will highlight the latest Pentek Talon™ High-Speed Recording and Playback Systems and an application based on one of them.