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What is Advanced SCSI Programming Interface (ASPI)?

Advanced SCSI Programming Interface (ASPI): Here, we are going to learn about the Advanced SCSI Programming Interface, history, applications and encodings, etc.
Submitted by Anushree Goswami, on January 12, 2021

ASPI: Advanced SCSI Programming Interface

ASPI is an abbreviation of "Advanced SCSI Programming Interface". It is an Adaptec-developed programming interface which implements and develops technical standards communication on a computer bus among a SCSI driver module on the one side and SCSI (and ATAPI) peripherals on the further side in computing.

ASPI Structure

The ASPI manager software makes available an interface among:
1. ASPI modules, which are device drivers or applications with direct SCSI support.
2. A SCSI host adapter.
3. SCSI devices, which are linked to the host adapter.
The ASPI manager is particular to the host adapter and operating system; its most significant role is to extract the host adapter details and make available a standard software interface to SCSI devices.
The ASPI manager is standard and depends on the services of SCSI Miniport drivers on Windows 9x and Windows NT. On these types of systems, the ASPI interface is developed for applications that have a need for SCSI pass-through functionality such as CD-ROM burning software.
The major operations maintained by ASPI are the invention of host adapters and connected devices, and putting forward SCSI commands to devices through SRBs, which are SCSI Request Blocks. ASPI maintains synchronized implementation of SCSI commands.

History

About 1990, ASPI was built up by Adaptec, inspired by a driver structural design at the beginning of 1983, created by Douglas W. Goodall for Ampro Computers. It was at the beginning intended to maintain DOS, OS/2, Windows 3.x, and Novell NetWare. It was formerly written to maintain SCSI devices; maintenance for ATAPI devices was supplemented afterward.
The majority of further SCSI host adapter sellers, for example, Bus Logic, DPT, AMI, Future Domain, DTC, distributed their individual ASPI managers with their hardware.
Adaptec also designed and created standard SCSI disk and CD-ROM drivers for DOS (ASPICD.SYS and ASPIDISK.SYS).
Microsoft permitted and authorized the interface for use with Windows 9x series. At a similar instance, Microsoft designed and created SCSI Pass Through Interface (SPTI), an in-house alternative that functioned on the NT platform.
Microsoft did not comprise ASPI in Windows 2000/XP, in support of its personal SPTI. Consumers may still download ASPI from Adaptec. Some CD/DVD applications also carry on putting forward their executions of the ASPI layer.
Panasonic designed and created a worldwide ASPI driver (USBASPI.SYS) that gets around the requirement of native USB support by DOS, to maintain and hold up USB drives under DOS.