eSATA external hard-drive vs SATA DRIVE with external enclosure?

[cbn]

I realize this might be a really dumb question but can I make my own eSATA drive from a regular SATA drive (encased by an aluminum enclosure)?

Is there anything different about the eSATA port I am missing?

I have never seen a eSATA drive up close before.

 

[Billb2]

Originally posted by: Just learning
can I make my own

yes

 

[cbn]

Originally posted by: Billb2

Originally posted by: Just learning
can I make my own

yes

I just need a eSATA to SATA cable?

 

[techmanc]

ESATA uses a straight cable as opposed to the L shaped SATA cable except some early devices that were not true ESATA. So depending on your external enclosure your using you can see what type it has. I recommend using the non L shaped connector for normal connections between devices. See my sig for a couple of ESATA enclosures I am using that work that way with USB2.0 and ESATA connectors.

 

[ColKurtz]

Originally posted by: Just learning

Is there anything different about the eSATA port I am missing?

If you want to take advantage of the hot-swap feature of eSATA, make sure you install the OS with the SATA ports set to AHCI mode in the BIOS (or RAID mode if AHCI isn't an option). You might have to install mobo/controller drivers, too, for hot-swap to function. If the OS is already installed, there's a good chance it's in IDE mode and it's an ugly hack or a reinstall to change it.

It's also a bit of a pain to install XP in AHCI mode, as XP won't recognize the disks by default so you have to hit F6 on isntall and use some unsupported XP AHCI drivers from Intel. I needed eSata hot-swap for a backup plan and ended up getting Vista -- which has ACHI drivers built-in -- simply b/c I couldn't get it to work under XP (my memory is fuzzy, but I think it might have had something to do with my Intel ICH8 chipset... it might be easier under XP with ICH9+).

Other than that, it's mainly the cable issue as others have mentioned.