EISA, also known as the Extended Industry Standard Architecture, is a computer bus that extends the capabilities of the Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus. Developed by a consortium of nine computer companies in 1988, EISA was aimed at overcoming the limitations of the original ISA bus and providing support for more advanced technology.
EISA is a 32-bit bus architecture that enhances the data transfer rates and throughput of the computer system. It incorporates features like increased bus bandwidth, improved memory and I/O addressing capabilities, and increased expansion slots. With a faster bus speed of up to 8.33 MHz, EISA allowed for faster communication between the CPU and the system devices.
One of the major advantages of EISA is its backward compatibility with the original ISA bus. This means that EISA expansion cards can be used in older ISA slots, albeit at the slower ISA speeds. Furthermore, EISA slots can accommodate older ISA expansion cards as well, providing compatibility with existing hardware.
EISA was widely adopted in the late 1980s and early 1990s due to its improved performance and compatibility. However, it eventually became superseded by other bus architectures like Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) and eventually the newer PCI Express (PCIe). While EISA is no longer commonly used in modern computer systems, it played a significant role in the evolution of computer bus architectures and the advancement of computer technology.
