Editing Advanced SCSI Programming Interface (section)

== Structure ==
The ASPI manager software provides an interface between ASPI modules (device drivers or applications with direct SCSI support), a [[SCSI host adapter]], and SCSI devices connected to the host adapter. The ASPI manager is specific to the host adapter and [[operating system]]; its primary role is to abstract the host adapter specifics and provide a generic software interface to SCSI devices.<ref name=guide />{{rp|56}}

On [[Windows 9x]] and [[Windows NT]], the ASPI manager is generic and relies on the services of SCSI miniport drivers. On those systems, the ASPI interface is designed for applications which require SCSI pass-through functionality (such as [[CD-ROM]] burning software).<ref name=guide />{{rp|57}}

The primary operations supported by ASPI are discovery of host adapters and attached devices, and submitting [[SCSI command]]s to devices via SRBs (SCSI Request Blocks).<ref name=guide />{{rp|233}} ASPI supports concurrent execution of SCSI commands.<ref name=bookofscsi />{{rp|231}}