Thinking about an external HDD; USB or SATA?

[videobruce]

This is one of those 'I always wanted to do, but never got around to it projects'. I'm not sure which route would be best.

Situation;
Three PC's; two towers (both w/ two HDD's) and one Laptop (not used often),
Not alot of data, but instead of using DVD's to back up, this seems easier,
One device for all three would be nice, though the Laptop I could live without,
It would be used mainly for my main box (tower).

Questions;
1. If I went with a USB interface, can I assume the PS is external?
2. Can I then assume most are those damn 'bricks' as opposed to internal PS's within the HDD enclosure?
3. Are there any models w/ internal PS's, or at least a PS that is on a cable so it isn't hanging from the power strip?
4. Between the all in one (HDD, enclosure & PS) vs buying the encloseure, PS and the HDD separately, what's the better route?
5. If I went with a SATA drive, are there any enclosures that are taylored to this setup?
6. The cableing from the PC to the unit. Make shift or use a premade PCI slot plate w/ connectors (assuming they are available)?

Sorry for all the questions, as I was just thinking of my known options and configurations.

[videobruce]

This was suggested elsewhere;
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f271/hektik2006/DSCF1224.jpg
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f271/hektik2006/DSCF1233.jpg

[inCore]

Answers included below.


This is one of those 'I always wanted to do, but never got around to it projects'. I'm not sure which route would be best.

Situation;
Three PC's; two towers (both w/ two HDD's) and one Laptop (not used often),
Not alot of data, but instead of using DVD's to back up, this seems easier,
One device for all three would be nice, though the Laptop I could live without,
It would be used mainly for my main box (tower).

Questions;
1. If I went with a USB interface, can I assume the PS is external?

Yes you can, all of the bigger ones that I have seen (200 GB and up etc.) have an external power supply. You get smaller HDDs, 2.5" that don't need another power supply, but these are generally about as fast as a USB stick i.e. quite slow.

There's a technology called Power USB which is a power cable and USB cable in one but it's extremely rare and not worth the effort to find.

2. Can I then assume most are those damn 'bricks' as opposed to internal PS's within the HDD enclosure?

I wouldn't say so. Just look around for something that you find aesthetically pleasing. I have a Seagate Freeagent Pro, which I wouldn't call a "brick".

http://www.seagate.com/staticfiles/images/corporate/freeagent-pro-h.jpg

3. Are there any models w/ internal PS's, or at least a PS that is on a cable so it isn't hanging from the power strip?

Again, perhaps the smaller HDDs, but in general, no.

4. Between the all in one (HDD, enclosure & PS) vs buying the encloseure, PS and the HDD separately, what's the better route?

It's less of a fuss buying the premade external HDD and I would say the latter is only recommended if you already own the HDD and wish to make it external due to space restraints etc.

5. If I went with a SATA drive, are there any enclosures that are taylored to this setup?

Yes there are, I find it a lot harder to find enclosures for IDE drives than for SATA drives.

6. The cableing from the PC to the unit. Make shift or use a premade PCI slot plate w/ connectors (assuming they are available)?

You may have to fabricate your own. There is an external version of SATA called e-SATA which offers similar performance externally. However, your motherboard has to be equipped with an e-SATA port for this to work, as well as the HDD.

Sorry for all the questions, as I was just thinking of my known options and configurations.

[alexio]

I'm not sure if Vantec is big in the US, but if you can find one of their enclosures surely take a look at it. In my sig there's a link to my review of a Vantec enclosure that supports eSATA and USB 2.0. It is still pretty large, so if small size in the criterium you should really consider a 2.5" variant. At least they managed to combine the power plug and adapter in a single unit in the reviewed item.

If I needed to buy a new external drive/enclosure now I would surely go for a 2.5" variant.

[MadHacker]

one option is to get an external case that supports esata and usb, that way you can use esata when the PC suports it

[twilyth]

Get both with a Thermaltake docking station - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153071

[Madwand]

There's a similar docking station from Vantec -- eSATA + USB. It includes an eSATA bracket/adapter and has an ordinary plug on the power supply.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817392022

The down side of these is that they don't really enclose the HD, and I'm pretty sure that frequent attaching and detaching is probably not a great idea, as isn't moving it around a lot.

Here's a similar enclosure:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817392002

[videobruce]

My MS's (both are the same) do have a eSATA header.

I have seen those drop in stations. I would worry about a exposed HDD, so that would be ruled out.

I went ahead and ordered a combo USB/eSATA enclosure. I will get the drive later since I easn't sure of the inetenal connection IDE or SATA).

[MassiveOverkill]

I just put togethter a Western Digital 640 and a Rosewill USB/eSATA setup and did an HDTune test. eSATA got average of ~88MB/sec, while the same setup on USB only got about 30MB/sec. I'm trying to do a VMWare demo on a laptop, and needed faster disk throughput. I also ordered an eSATA Express Card for the laptop, so now it can realize the full speed of the external hard drive, plus do RAID.

Forgot to add that the internal laptop HD is a Seagate 7200 rpm model and it topped out at 30MB/sec.