eSATA/USB ports

  • Thread starter Thread starter Net Surfer
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Net Surfer

I want to figure out how eSATA/USB is used. Does the technology allow
me to plug in an eSATA drive without a power cord to the drive?

By comparison, Is it faster than an external USB 3.0 portable drive?
Which doesn't require extra power cable either.
 
Net said:
I want to figure out how eSATA/USB is used. Does the technology
allow me to plug in an eSATA drive without a power cord to the drive?
Nope.

By comparison, Is it faster than an external USB 3.0 portable drive?
Yes.

Which doesn't require extra power cable either.
Click to expand...

True.
 
In message
<8d61c0c7-0f5e-4b32-82ba-0abe32f4ef21@j29g2000yqm.googlegroups.com> Net
Surfer said:
I want to figure out how eSATA/USB is used. Does the technology allow
me to plug in an eSATA drive without a power cord to the drive?
Click to expand...

Not unless your system and drive support eSATAp. A few do, but this is
still a fairly new standard.
By comparison, Is it faster than an external USB 3.0 portable drive?
Click to expand...

Yes.
 
In message
<8d61c0c7-0f5e-4b32-82ba-0abe32f4e...@j29g2000yqm.googlegroups.com> Net


Not unless your system and drive support eSATAp.  A few do, but this is
still a fairly new standard.


Yes.
Click to expand...

What is a eSATAp device? I'd like to look it up and learn how it's
used.
 
In message <[email protected]> "Jim"
Theoretically USB3 is 2x as fast as SATA2 but after overhead its probably
close. But both are faster than any HDD so it's a moot point.
Click to expand...

The overhead is what kills it though.

The overhead over the wire isn't a concern since USB3 is fast enough to
absorb it, but the processing overhead to wrap and unwrap the data
packets should give eSATA an edge over USB3, at least until/unless drive
speeds exceed SATA2's limits.

With SATA 3.0 already in the marketplace exceeding USB3's theoretical
bandwidth (without considering overhead) I'm not sure that comparing
SATA2 vs USB 3 is a fair comparison.
 
I want to figure out how eSATA/USB is used. Does the technology allow
me to plug in an eSATA drive without a power cord to the drive?

By comparison, Is it faster than an external USB 3.0 portable drive?
Which doesn't require extra power cable either.
Click to expand...

Also, you'll have to note that no technology so far can provide enough
power for 3.5" drives, only 2.5" or smaller drives can be powered by the
5V USB or eSATAp standards.

Yousuf Khan
 
Also, you'll have to note that no technology so far can provide enough
power for 3.5" drives, only 2.5" or smaller drives can be powered by the
5V USB or eSATAp standards.
Click to expand...

Actually, that is incorrect. Firewire can power external 3.5"
drives, with its 48W upper power limit. At the lower end
(8V, 1.5A), it gets a bit dicey. But then, Forewire is
fundamentally superiour to USB, which probably was the reason
the PC industry followed its traditions and went for USB.

Arno
 
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