USB 2.0 vs IDE for Data Transfer

[Chris2wire]

This is an extension of my post several weeks ago. Where I work, we do data transfers from laptop to laptop. The current method is to bring along a Data Transfer desktop PC and take both laptop hard drives out and put them both into the Data Transfer PC, and proceed with the data transfer.

I hate lugging around the data transfer PC.

I'm looking for a fix. My idea now is to take out the old laptop's hard drive and put it into a 2.5inch exteneral enclosure/converter to USB 2.0. Plug this into the new laptop and transfer to the data to the new laptop.

Now... I *believe* internal IDE transfer is a much faster speed than USB 2.0. True or not?

But, ASSUMING its true, does it really matter? THe old hard drive that will go into the enclosure is an old 4200rpm, so will the data even go past the USB 2.0's capabilities in the first place? Or will the speed of IDE vs USB 2.0 not even matter with such a slow hard drive?

I appreciate your answers... If the speed is the same then Ill definately buy a 2.5"->usb 2.0 converter and transfer at the same speed and not have to lug around a transfer PC.

 

[RebateMonger]

The transfer rates of USB 2.0 and IDE are pretty similar. If one method is more convenient for you, I'd go with it.

btw... you don't need a drive housing. You can get IDE to USB adapters that just plug right into the drive and give power to the drive via a wall adapter. For a 2.5-inch drive, you plug the 2.5-to-3.5 adapter into the drive, then plug the IDE to USB adapter and it's molex power connector into the 2.5-to-3.5 adapter.

 

[Quinton McLeod]

No, they are not. USB 2.0 is slower than IDE unfortunately.

 

[Googer]

Originally posted by: Quinton McLeod
No, they are not. USB 2.0 is slower than IDE unfortunately.

Correct.


eSATA is the best of both worlds. eSATA External Drives and PCMCIA cards for your laptop are currently shipping.

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: Quinton McLeod
No, they are not. USB 2.0 is slower than IDE unfortunately.

USB 2.0 can, theoretically, transfer data at over 50MBps. Even if you only get half that (25MBps), I'd be surprised if a notebook drive could deliver data any faster across its IDE interface.

 

[Googer]

Originally posted by: RebateMonger

Originally posted by: Quinton McLeod
No, they are not. USB 2.0 is slower than IDE unfortunately.

USB 2.0 can, theoretically, transfer data at over 50MBps. Even if you only get half that (25MBps), I'd be surprised if a notebook drive could deliver data any faster across its IDE interface.

In theory, yes but USB is inferrior when compaired to 1394. When transfering data, the CPU needs to be involved in the transactions so that is what slows down the data transfers to a bout 30-35 MB/s. 1394 is better for many reasons including Isosycronous transfers, faster through put (despite being 400mb/s), and it does not involve the CPU for data process during the transfer. There are many more reasons why firewire is better than usb but I do not have all day to sit and explian them.

 

[gnumantsc]

Both do take a lot of CPU resources as well. Firewire is less taskful on the CPU and the transfer rate is more stable than what you'd get with USB2. Now you need an enclosure with FireWire 2 (IEEE1394B) and a Firewire 2 card and you're set. Firewire 2 does 800mbp/s

 

[Googer]

Originally posted by: gnumantsc
Both do take a lot of CPU resources as well. Firewire is less taskful on the CPU and the transfer rate is more stable than what you'd get with USB2. Now you need an enclosure with FireWire 2 (IEEE1394B) and a Firewire 2 card and you're set. Firewire 2 does 800mbp/s

1394b is reverse compatable with 1394a.

 

[Chris2wire]

Well see firewire is not an optiopn unfortunately. All laptops we use are the same make and model, and they do not have firewire...

So are you all saying that using a desktop data transfer PC and using IDE for data transfer would be considerably faster than usb 2.0?

I figured the 4200rpm on the old drives would limit the speed so much that no interface speed would even matter...

EDIT: Actually it has a Firewire port afterall, the 400 not the 800. Is that faster than USB 2.0 for data transfer? I know firewire vs USB 2.0 is a hot topic....

If you had to pick between these two, as well as bringing along a data transfer PC to hook both llaptop hard drives up to IDE, which method or data transfer would you pick?

 

[bacillus]

just as a side note, my bro just sorted a problem out with his old hdd which he put into an external case but windows was reporting 10Gb less capacity.

to cut a long story short, apparently he had previously partitioned the hdd into 2 partitions and when in the usb external case only the first partition was seen by windows.

 

[Chris2wire]

bump

 

[tiap]

Removing hadrives from laptops seems sort of cumbersome if you have to do it on a regular basis.

Depending on the brand of laptop you may be able to make use of a 2nd hard drive adapter bay. Thinkpads have these and you can hot swap them just like a floppy. A few other models have them too.

You can also just carry a small router with you and use cat5 to network them for file transfers

You can make images with a prog like Acronis Trueimage, if file sizes allow.

You can use a product like This that uses your pc card slot (pcmica) which is actual ide bus speed. This is simialar to 2nd hdrive adapter, but external.

I have done a lot of this stuff and swapping hdrives is my last resort.

BTW, in the real world ide is much faster transfer than usb2.

 

[Googer]

Originally posted by: tiap
Removing hadrives from laptops seems sort of cumbersome if you have to do it on a regular basis.

Depending on the brand of laptop you may be able to make use of a 2nd hard drive adapter bay. Thinkpads have these and you can hot swap them just like a floppy. A few other models have them too.

You can also just carry a small router with you and use cat5 to network them for file transfers

You can make images with a prog like Acronis Trueimage, if file sizes allow.

You can use a product like This that uses your pc card slot (pcmica) which is actual ide bus speed. This is simialar to 2nd hdrive adapter, but external.

I have done a lot of this stuff and swapping hdrives is my last resort.

BTW, in the real world ide is much faster transfer than usb2.

PCMCIA is slow, the maximum thoroughput is 20MB/s.

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: tiap
You can also just carry a small router with you and use cat5 to network them for file transfers

100Base-T is a LOT slower than either USB 2.0 or IDE. I've done backups all three ways, and backing up large amounts of data across a network is BY FAR the slowest unless you have a Gigabit network.

 

[nukexbi]

Originally posted by: Chris2wire
Well see firewire is not an optiopn unfortunately. All laptops we use are the same make and model, and they do not have firewire...

So are you all saying that using a desktop data transfer PC and using IDE for data transfer would be considerably faster than usb 2.0?

I figured the 4200rpm on the old drives would limit the speed so much that no interface speed would even matter...

EDIT: Actually it has a Firewire port afterall, the 400 not the 800. Is that faster than USB 2.0 for data transfer? I know firewire vs USB 2.0 is a hot topic....

If you had to pick between these two, as well as bringing along a data transfer PC to hook both llaptop hard drives up to IDE, which method or data transfer would you pick?

Go with Firewire or USB. Even if the transfer is 10-20% slower than IDE you will save alot of time not hassling with hardware. Firewire 400 data transfers are about 20% faster that USB 2.0. I usually still prefer USB because every computer has a USB port. Makes the equipment a little more versatile. USB is also the way to go if you are using boot cd's and transfering images.

 

[brxndxn]

Get external 2.5 hard drive cases that support firewire AND USB 2.0.. Use firewire when available, USB 2.0 when available...

Ya, IDE is much faster than USB 2.0. But, USB 2.0 ain't that shabby and almost every computer has it. And, if you happen to have a computer that only has USB 1, then it'll still work, albeit slow.