USB 3.0...will it catch on?

[angry hampster]

I just purchased a new motherboard, one that has USB3, firewire, and eSATA connectivity. This machine will be used a lot for my home business --photography. I've been looking into an external hard drive to backup all of my photos on, and want to know which kind of connection I'd be best to go with. eSATA and USB3.0 should offer similar speeds, with firewire close by. What should I be looking for?


Mods, if this should be in the storage section please move it...I thought it might be appropriate here because I'm also just curious about USB 3 and its future.

 

[busydude]

You can buy USB 3.0 drives right now.

esata, although ahead of USB 2.0, is not as popular. One of the USP of USB 3.0 is its backward compatibility with USB 2.0.

 

[Reincus]

I would expect USB 3 to be everywhere by this time next year.

 

[Lean L]

sata is native and will always reign supreme. Usb is convenient though

 

[mfenn]

One downside of eSATA is the OS support. Since it IS real SATA, but in a different form factor, there are quite a lot of issues with hotplugging. If you're going to leave it plugged in all the time, this is not as big of an issue.

 

[corkyg]

One downside of eSATA is the OS support. Since it IS real SATA, but in a different form factor, there are quite a lot of issues with hotplugging. If you're going to leave it plugged in all the time, this is not as big of an issue.

Not quite sure what you mean. I use eSATA all the time on my XP Pro system to an extrenal drive. I turn it on and off several times a day and there is never a problem. Been doing it for over a year now.

I also have one attached to my laptop via a PC Express card, and that can be turned on and off via the power switch. Been doing that for two years plus.

Both drives are in Vantec NexStar 3 cases - eSATA or USB. No comparison, however, eSATA data transfer is almost 5 times the USB rate.

When USB becomes the standard, I will move to it.

 

[mfenn]

Not quite sure what you mean. I use eSATA all the time on my XP Pro system to an extrenal drive. I turn it on and off several times a day and there is never a problem. Been doing it for over a year now.

I also have one attached to my laptop via a PC Express card, and that can be turned on and off via the power switch. Been doing that for two years plus.

Both drives are in Vantec NexStar 3 cases - eSATA or USB. No comparison, however, eSATA data transfer is almost 5 times the USB rate.

When USB becomes the standard, I will move to it.

Yes, but what do you mean by "it"? What state is everything in when you initially power up the computer? All of this matters with eSATA, but doesn't matter in the slightest for USB.

If you don't have your SATA devices in AHCI mode (many don't), there aren't any hotplug events that get generated by the SATA controller when you plug or unplug the devices. Thus the OS has no idea that a new disk is attached or that an old disk has be unattached, forcing the user to manually rescan for devices.

EDIT: My point remains, eSATA speed makes it worth the hassle vs. USB 2. With USB 3, that advantage is gone.

 

[corkyg]

(1) Yes, but what do you mean by "it"?
(2) What state is everything in when you initially power up the computer? All of this matters with eSATA, but doesn't matter in the slightest for USB.
If you don't have your SATA devices in AHCI mode (many don't), there aren't any hotplug events that get generated by the SATA controller when you plug or unplug the devices. Thus the OS has no idea that a new disk is attached or that an old disk has be unattached, forcing the user to manually rescan for devices.
(3) EDIT: My point remains, eSATA speed makes it worth the hassle vs. USB 2. With USB 3, that advantage is gone.

1. USB3.
2. When it boots, and Windows is loaded, the eSATA drive is OFF. When turned on, the system sees it as a SCSI device. When the system is running and I need that drive for something, I simply turn on the power box switch it is connected to. Soon, Windows responds with the two tone chime used when hot plugging any device. (ding dong.) When I am finished with it, it reverses the chime (dong ding) and is off. It is connected a Promise Fasttrack controller card.
3. Agree.

 

[mfenn]

1. USB3.
2. When it boots, and Windows is loaded, the eSATA drive is OFF. When turned on, the system sees it as a SCSI device. When the system is running and I need that drive for something, I simply turn on the power box switch it is connected to. Soon, Windows responds with the two tone chime used when hot plugging any device. (ding dong.) When I am finished with it, it reverses the chime (dong ding) and is off. It is connected a Promise Fasttrack controller card.
3. Agree.

I think we are pretty much in agreement; I agree that eSATA will work well with any add-in controller or integrated controller in AHCI mode.

Many people do not have either of these. What they have is an integrated SATA controller in IDE mode. eSATA is a massive pain in that case. 🙂

 

[Destinova]

Full duplex, with a theoretical transfer rate of 5Gbps. I'd say it's going to outright sink eSata and give Firewire a run for it's money.

And I'm not sure I understand the statement "when usb becomes the standard", since it's pretty standard already.

 

[Gunbuster]

I'm sure someone is working on a USB3, Firewire 800, ESATA combo ASIC. Wait a while and there will be a drive will all three connectors. My guess is LaCie will make such an external.

 

[Modelworks]

USB3 may be short lived. Intel is pushing to have lightpeak released devices by december.

 

[Absolution75]

I don't think lightpeak will outpace USB3 unless it is available on AMD machines... Besides, you can do lightpeak -> USB3. I don't think lightpeak is its own connector, but rather a way for you to plug any kind of connection (USB, Ethernet, SATA, etc) into it and not worry about bandwidth.

 

[Gunbuster]

Last I heard the intent was for lightpeak to share a connector with USB. You wont be getting much power over an optical cable alone 😉