SATA vs. IDE Enclosure

[jteow]

What is the advantage of having a SATA External HD than an IDE Enclosure?

I figured that the speed advantage of a SATA HD is nullified by the fact that the transfer rate is bottlenecked by the transfer method. In this case, I thought that a SATA enclosure utilizing USB 2.0 would transfer slower than an IDE enclosure utilizing something like FireWire 800 or perhaps FireWire 400 (for longer transfers).

 

[Jotho]

Take a second to look at the Vantec NexStar3 eSATA enclosure as reviewed here. It comes with a PCI bracket which can internally connect to a mobo SATA connector. Then, using SATA's "hot-pluggable" nature, you can plug the enclosure into this PCI bracket to achieve near normal SATA transfer rates (check pg 4 of linked review). From what I've read so far, this sounds like a great idea.

 

[Arcanedeath]

External SATA drives are far far faster than Firewire 400 or USB2.0 drives they are just less compatible

 

[jteow]

Oh, I didn't realize there was a specific interface that would be used.

eSATA looks pretty sweet... but the lack of compatibility (at least right now) is a bit concerning. Plus, looking at NewEgg, Tom's Hardware has yielded only a handful of such eSATA options.

It's sooooo tempting! I hate when I'm in the situation to have to weigh between a current technology and the next gen. I built my computer at the time when the first PCI-Express AMD Motherboard was available (and by available, I mean, scarce because it was snatched up rather quickly).

The future for eSATA however, does seem brighter than the stagnant Firewire.

 

[DBSX]

Originally posted by: Arcanedeath
External SATA drives are far far faster than Firewire 400 or USB2.0 drives they are just less compatible

I guess how you define "compatible" in this case is important (seriously). If you only intend to use the drive as an external drive on your system and don't plan on bringing it anywhere else, the above option would be just fine, and compatible (assuming you have SATA ports on your motherboard). If you plan on bringing this drive elsewhere, however, USB/IEEE 1394 is far more logical, as almost anyone with a computer from the last few years will have one or both of these ports.

And as far as speed goes, I have an external enclosure that is both USB 2 and IEEE 1394 (400) and I notice no real difference in transfer times using either connection. The external drive is used mostly to synch files between my home PC and laptop so I can easily work on the same projects in multiple places. Average transfers are between 2 and 6GB (though sometimes as much as 11-12GB). Both are pretty speedy.

\Dan

 

[jteow]

Small update, I ended up getting an enclosure supporting eSATA. As you (DBSX) mentioned, I'm primarily using it with my own computer, and just wanted an easier way of transporting such files if need be. Thus, eSATA provided top-notch speeds, while the USB port will allow universal access in case I need to bring the files elsewhere.

Firewire was something of an issue, because I do work a bit on Apple computers, especially in the lab. However, I primarily work on my PC.

The end result: A good compromise, that sacrifices a bit of accessibility (no FireWire 400, but only USB 2.0) for performance (eSATA performing better than FireWire 800). Plus, instead of spending money on yet another IDE drive, I ended up getting a newer, solid HD that literally outperforms my internal hard drive, and which I could always install internally (without the need of a conversion card) if I wanted to ever wanted upgrade and replace my external HD.

Many thanks (Jotho) for the initial suggestion for eSATA.

 

[Ike0069]

I don't understand something.
You say the eSATA is faster than even Firewire 800, but the reviewer says that he would prefer Firewire because it's faster than eSATA. I'm confused here.

 

[jteow]

Originally posted by: Ike0069
I don't understand something.
You say the eSATA is faster than even Firewire 800, but the reviewer says that he would prefer Firewire because it's faster than eSATA. I'm confused here.

Huh? Sorry, I must have missed something, which reviewer said that FireWire is faster? If you meant me, I hadn't realized that method of transfering via the SATA cable was available for external enclosures. FireWire 800 isn't faster than eSATA.

James Wiebe from Wiebetech about future of Firewire

 

[LED]

eSATA does not work with the ULi chipset until the next release...I use a Firewire 1394a&b +USB case and the performance of the Fire 1394b is just as fast as PATA & SATA HD's in real time performance

 

[Ike0069]

Originally posted by: jteow

Originally posted by: Ike0069
I don't understand something.
You say the eSATA is faster than even Firewire 800, but the reviewer says that he would prefer Firewire because it's faster than eSATA. I'm confused here.

Huh? Sorry, I must have missed something, which reviewer said that FireWire is faster? If you meant me, I hadn't realized that method of transfering via the SATA cable was available for external enclosures. FireWire 800 isn't faster than eSATA.

James Wiebe from Wiebetech about future of Firewire

From the review that Jotho linked:
" I would still prefer a firewire connection over the eSATA of course because of the speed. The eSATA connection would be good because you could use it as your primary drive. Most people usually use these external drives as media drives, which the speed increase of firewire would be better."

This is what confused me.

http://www.thinkcomputers.org/v2/index.php?x=reviews&id=323&page=5