USB 2.0 enclosure, brand matter at all?

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Hi, I am looking to buy a USB 2.0 enclosure. I am not sure if different
brands have different USB controllers which would affect the speed, or if
there are other factors that would determine the quality of an enclosure.
What should I look for? Please give me some advice. Thanks in advance.

Clayton
 
Hi, I am looking to buy a USB 2.0 enclosure. I am not sure if different
brands have different USB controllers which would affect the speed, or if
there are other factors that would determine the quality of an enclosure.
What should I look for? Please give me some advice. Thanks in advance.

Clayton
Click to expand...

You mean a hub? Just buy based on the specs. A USB 2.0 hub (or
better, a powered hub) would be required to conform to the USB 2.0
spec for performance in order to be labelled as such. Hubs don't
generally have controllers. Those are on your motherboard. A hub is
just a splitter device, sort of like a USB Y-cable with 2-4
connections. A powered hub just boosts the amount of power your
devices can draw through the USB connections when connected to the
hub. You'd still be restricted by the original total bandwidth of the
originating port and controller (found in the computer).

If you want to add a new controller, you have to do just that. Buy a
USB 2.0 controller card. These come in PCI (for desktops) and PCMCIA
formats (for notebooks).

If you truly mean the enclosure, I don't see how much difference that
would make to its performance. It's just the plastic or metal box
that all the stuff sits in. It might make a difference to you in
terms of how well it goes with your decor or how well it fits into
whatever cubby hole you've set aside for the device. If you believe
the enclosure makes a difference in terms of performance, then you
might want to add a racing stripe and some flames to your car too --
might make it go faster.
 
You mean a hub? Just buy based on the specs. A USB 2.0 hub (or
better, a powered hub) would be required to conform to the USB 2.0
spec for performance in order to be labelled as such. Hubs don't
generally have controllers. Those are on your motherboard. A hub is
just a splitter device, sort of like a USB Y-cable with 2-4
connections. A powered hub just boosts the amount of power your
devices can draw through the USB connections when connected to the
hub. You'd still be restricted by the original total bandwidth of the
originating port and controller (found in the computer).

If you want to add a new controller, you have to do just that. Buy a
USB 2.0 controller card. These come in PCI (for desktops) and PCMCIA
formats (for notebooks).

If you truly mean the enclosure, I don't see how much difference that
would make to its performance. It's just the plastic or metal box
that all the stuff sits in. It might make a difference to you in
terms of how well it goes with your decor or how well it fits into
whatever cubby hole you've set aside for the device. If you believe
the enclosure makes a difference in terms of performance, then you
might want to add a racing stripe and some flames to your car too --
might make it go faster.
Click to expand...


There are different chipset and combinations for example, where one
enclosure might also work as a single-port hub or the bridge chip
might have more buffer memory... debatable performance difference but
it might matter to those same people who rave about WD 8MB cache HDDs,
since a large cache behind a smaller cache, is less effective. To me
the larger issues are: What capacity HDD does it support, and how is
it powered... Most get PS/2 power or USB, but it's always nice to have
BOTH options, bus-powered and/or an included SMPS, whether this power
supply be included in the external chassis as more often found on
5.25" enclosures, or external.

In the end, the most important feature may be price... if it's cheap
enough and works as needed now, it's not such an issue if another
enclosure need be purchased in a year(s) time.


Dave
 
mcheu said:
You mean a hub? Just buy based on the specs. A USB 2.0 hub (or
better, a powered hub) would be required to conform to the USB 2.0
spec for performance in order to be labelled as such. Hubs don't
generally have controllers. Those are on your motherboard. A hub is
just a splitter device, sort of like a USB Y-cable with 2-4
connections. A powered hub just boosts the amount of power your
devices can draw through the USB connections when connected to the
hub. You'd still be restricted by the original total bandwidth of the
originating port and controller (found in the computer).

If you want to add a new controller, you have to do just that. Buy a
USB 2.0 controller card. These come in PCI (for desktops) and PCMCIA
formats (for notebooks).

If you truly mean the enclosure, I don't see how much difference that
would make to its performance. It's just the plastic or metal box
that all the stuff sits in. It might make a difference to you in
terms of how well it goes with your decor or how well it fits into
whatever cubby hole you've set aside for the device. If you believe
the enclosure makes a difference in terms of performance, then you
might want to add a racing stripe and some flames to your car too --
might make it go faster.
Click to expand...

Never mind. I don't know what I'm talking about. Found out the OP is
talking about a device for converting an internal drive into an
external unit by adding the external enclosure, a power supply,
controller, and interface (USB in this case). The question makes
total sense in that context and my answer is totally irrelevant.
 
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