External SATA devices?

[SalukiDawg]

I recently bought one of these from NewEgg. I mainly bought it for front card readers/USB2/firewire/audio. However, it also has 2 SATA ports. It was my understanding that SATA was a replacement for PATA, and would generally be used with internal devices, while USB2 and Firewire would continue to be the standards for external devices. I do have a free SATA port on my board (Abit NF7-S).

Are there any external SATA devices on the market? Are there any planned? What types of external SATA devices should I expect to see down the road?

 

[MDE]

I guess you could use it for external HDs or DVD\CD drives once they make external versions of them (or make your own enclosure). It's probably most useful for testing multiple drives to see if they're good (no need to open up your case and fish around for the SATA connector) or for transferring files from PC to PC via a hard drive. This is all personal speculation, so take it with a grain of salt.

 

[SalukiDawg]

Hmm. I had thought of that, and it would be an excellent resource, but it has no external power. The device would have to have its own power supply, or you would have to have a spare PS laying around.

 

[thorin]

You're correct SATA was never meant to be an external interface however due to the length of the cables (vs PATA) some companies have decided to adapt it for external usage.

Thorin

 

[DGath]

 

[DGath]

This is kind of off topic, but hot-swappable means you can unplug them and plug them back while the computer is on (i.e. USB). I read somewhere that SATA HDDs were hotswappable, so does that mean I can just unplug it and plug it back in during windows and everything should be fine? Just kinda curious.

 

[thorin]

Originally posted by: DGath
This is kind of off topic, but hot-swappable means you can unplug them and plug them back while the computer is on (i.e. USB). I read somewhere that SATA HDDs were hotswappable, so does that mean I can just unplug it and plug it back in during windows and everything should be fine? Just kinda curious.

In theory that is correct.

Thorin

 

[Pariah]

SATA was supposed to have an external spec, but it didn't make it into the first generation. SATA II will have an external cable spec for external devices. Anything currently out now, is just something some company devised on its own, there are no official external SATA devices yet.

 

[Mday]

there are external sata devices. there are standalone drives (drive + enclosure), enclosures, and controllers with external ports. there are even external multi-drive chassis.

 

[AnarchyInTheUS]

The first external devices have hit the market and external SATA is becoming more and more common. Supposedly it will replace all PATA devices by 2006. However i have yet to see even internal SATA optical drives. But once those come on the market, you should even see external SATA optical devices.

 

[zzzz]

external sata encolsures by high-point..
These are external sata enclosures for pata drives. (like the usb and firewire ones)