Avago Technologies LSI20160 - Manual (Page 123)

Using SDMS ASPI for Windows 2000 5-19
Copyright © 1993–2001 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.
for additional information. The ASPI software provides a mechanism
used by Windows applications as an interface to access SCSI adapters
and peripherals.
5.6.1 Features
The Windows 2000 ASPI software supports these features:
•
Information about SCSI adapters
•
Information about SCSI devices
•
Ability to issue SCSI I/O requests
•
Multithreaded and multitasking operations
•
32-bit Windows applications
5.6.2 Description
Windows 2000 ASPI meets the Advanced SCSI Programming Interface
(ASPI) version 2.3 specification. All Windows applications use this
interface to gain access to system SCSI devices. Applications using this
interface can retrieve information about installed SCSI adapters and the
SCSI peripherals attached to the adapters. Applications using the ASPI
interface can issue SCSI I/O requests to the devices.
Typical of these type of applications are utility programs that investigate
and explore SCSI devices, or applications such as CD-R mastering
software and scanner applications.
Note that Windows 2000 ASPI is one method to use for gaining access
to SCSI devices; the other method would be to use SCSI pass-through
commands.
Windows 2000 ASPI is comprised of two modules:
1. a user mode DLL, and
2. a kernel mode device driver
Applications, using ASPI only, interface with the user mode DLL. The
DLL passes commands and requests to the kernel mode device driver,
which in turn interfaces with the Windows 2000 operating system for
execution of the request. Note that nonadministrator users can now open
the kernel mode driver.