USB Interfaces
Because SafeFLASH is a reliable file system designed by HCC specifically for embedded systems, there is no native support for it in host systems. HCC provides two methods of interfacing SafeFLASH to a host system, in which SafeFLASH works as a standard drive under Windows Explorer.
USB Media Transfer Protocol (MTP)
MTP is an alternative to USB mass storage. HCC offers a USB device implementation of MTP, which allows a SafeFLASH drive to be connected over USB to a host using MTP. The main difference is that whereas mass storage directly accesses the sector-based media, MTP accesses objects. From a practical point of view this yields several advantages to the embedded device developer:
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The host accesses the file system as any other user on the target. Thus all access is synchronized and there is no need to disconnect the local drive when the host is connected.
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Any file system can be used on the target. The logic and reliability of the file system are determined on the target, and not by the system running on the host.
USB Reliable File Interface
HCC offers a USB Windows driver as an alternative to MTP and mass storage. It is available for Windows XP and Windows Vista. This driver implements an NFS-like protocol over USB for connecting remote drives to Windows Explorer.
From a practical point of view this yields several advantages to the embedded device developer:
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The host accesses the file system as any other user on the target. Thus all access is synchronized and there is no need to disconnect the local drive when the host is connected.
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Any file system can be used on the target. The logic and reliability of the file system are determined on the target, and not by the system running on the host.
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The protocol is designed specifically with small-scale embedded systems in mind.