To the end user, Firewire (also known as an IEEE 1394 interface) and USB appear to perform the same function. Firewire and USB share a number of characteristics but differ in some important ways. They are both a method of transferring data between devices and PCs, whereas firewire has the additional capability of connecting 2 or more devices together without the intervention of a PC. This capability is known as “Peer-to-Peer.” Hi-Speed USB (USB 2.0) uses a “Master-Slave” architecture in which the computer dictates the data flow. This adds additional system overhead resulting in slower data rates.