NCQ

NCQ ( Native Command Queuing ) is a technology used in SATA devices starting with SATA / 300 to improve performance. Devices with NCQ support are able to accept several requests at the same time and reorganize the order of their execution to achieve maximum efficiency (productivity) taking into account the internal architecture of the device (minimizing the number of head movements and waiting for the desired sector on the track). NCQ improves the performance of tasks related to arbitrary reading, processing data from two or more sources, and the simultaneous operation of several programs. (A typical server load is the simultaneous execution of requests from multiple clients).

A completely similar feature in SCSI is called tagged queue and has been available there since at least the early 1990s, being one of the two main advantages of SCSI over the IDE .

To take advantage of NCQ, you need:

• NCQ- enabled hard drive (all manufactured in recent years ^{[ when? ]} )
• A more advanced controller than the old PC / AT-compatible AHCI , or proprietary - Promise, HighPoint, Silicon Image.
• Driver for this controller

NCQ is the second attempt to add a command queue to ATA devices. The previous attempt, TCQ ( Tagged Command Queueing ), was unsuccessful (unlike SCSI TCQ).