Block Transfer Mode in Hard Drives

The block data transfer mode appeared as a result of the appearance of "Read Multiple" and "Write Multiple" ATA-2 commands for PIO data transfer mode. These commands cause an interruption in the computer after the data block transfer, which has a size equal to the product of the sector size and the determined quantity of sectors (maximum value is 32). General commands "Read Sectors" and "Write Sectors" cause the interruption after the transfer of each sector.