Time to add a 4th Crucial M4, this time external

W

Weeth

Gawd
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Sep 7, 2011
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I have 3 internal Crucial M4s in my main 2600K system and all I can say is that they are flawless. Not a day goes by that they don't impress me. I have a need for an external drive for offsite archiving and I definitely want another Crucial M4 in there. My question is what external case and mechanism should I use to ensure that I get a decent data throughput rate (I deal with multi-GB files on a daily basis). My mobo is a P8Z68-V so I have pretty well every connector known to humanity on the back panel.
 
e-SATA is what you want for a connection but I have no idea which 2.5" external cases have the best chipsets.
 
With all due respect, I think I'll hold off for Thunderbolt photonic next year so we'll agree to leave this a trollingfree zone. :) e-SATA is definitely the way to go but I can live without hotswap as I'm just looking for some serious transfer rates.
 
If you use e-sata then I would assume the chipset in the enclosure doesn't matter. Just get anything that passes through the esata, really you dont even need an enclosure except to power the drive.
 
I want an enclosure as it's for offsite archiving so it's going to be transported in a car back and forth at least once a month. So should I just get any ol' esata enclosure and be ok?
 
Sorry for the double post. The specs on my mobo state:

Intel® Z68 chipset :
2 x SATA 6Gb/s port(s), gray
4 x SATA 3Gb/s port(s), blue
Support Raid 0, 1, 5, 10
Support Intel® Smart Response Technology
JMicron® JMB362 controller : *2
1 x eSATA 3G port(s), red

However, I'm checking

Asus Mobo Specs

and I can't see where this port is on the back panel. Am I just going blind or ???
 
Does esata supply power?
If not, then usb3.0 since it can power the drive and is pretty fast.
 
Weeth said:
and I can't see where this port is on the back panel. Am I just going blind or ???
Click to expand...

bottom red port

You'd have to get an enclosure that provides power through USB. I think I've seen them before.
 
Consider a docking station (or two rather) if you're moving data between two "fixed points", then you just have to pull the drive and not bother with cables every time. I mean the kind where you just jam a drive in there. Love mine (with USB2+eSATA) for the convenience. Should be docks with USB3+eSATA out and around by now you'd think.

Something like this. I've got an older model with USB2 and no fan, and it's been quite wonderful to work with.
 
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There is a powered e-SATA spec but I've never seen one.

Whle e-SATA has the best transfer rates USB3 should be your choice if you want an easy to carry device.
 
By offsite "archiving", I assume you mean offsite backups. Monthly backups, from the sound of it. Why a need for SSD for doing backups? Are you working within some kind of time constraint in which you have to take the backup?
 
Old Hippie said:
Whle e-SATA has the best transfer rates USB3 should be your choice if you want an easy to carry device.
Click to expand...

Or one that's more likely to be compatible with any system having a USB 2 port.

From the description, it sounds as if the drive would normally only ever be attached to the one system being backed up, in which case it would be unnecessary to carry cables. He takes the drive and stores it offsite, maybe in a safe deposit box, or a desk drawer at the office, etc. Brings it back home a month later and does another backup.

A drive dock sounds ideal.
 
Or one that's more likely to be compatible with any system having a USB 2 port.

From the description, it sounds as if the drive would normally only ever be attached to the one system being backed up, in which case it would be unnecessary to carry cables. He takes the drive and stores it offsite, maybe in a safe deposit box, or a desk drawer at the office, etc. Brings it back home a month later and does another backup.

A drive dock sounds ideal.
Click to expand...
USB 2 and 3 are compatable so there's no problem there.

If he wants the convience of a one cable setup USB is the way to go.

If he doesn't mind an extra power cable e-SATA is the fastest.

Pretty much what he values the most is the logical choice but the origional question was "which is the fastest" and that's e-SATA.

The ball is in his court. :)
 
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256077

This Silverstone 2.5" SATA III external enclosure has USB 3.0 and will give you a little under 200 MB/s when using USB 3.0 according to the benchmarks in the reviews.

Since USB 3.0 is backwards compatible, you could use it on USB 2.0 machines if needed. I would get this over an eSATA drive just because you know every computer you connect it to is going to support it at some speed.
 
Zepher: Yes, I have a USB 3.0 500GB Seagate External now and it's fast but there are times when I have to mess around with 70GB files and I'd really like to hurry up the entire process.

jwcalla: See what I know, I thought that was a USB 3.0 port! DUH! Fortunately I never tried stuffing an USB plug into it!

eloj: I'm moving the drive to a safety deposit box, then back to the PC. So the cables can stay at the PC.

Old Hippie: As I explained to Zepher, the files are just too big and I'm a speed junkie. I sure don't mind the extra power cable so I should be ok.

JJ Johnson: There are times when I have the external hooked up and I only ever put the huge files on it to work on and then archive selected elements of it, so speed is important. And like I said, I can't get enough of a good thing.

oRSpetsnaz: This drive would only ever be used on my main PC, nowhere else.
 
If USB is not a concern then, eSATA enclosures are just a straight pass through for the SATA connection. There is no chipset in between. Just get whichever one looks cool and it will be the same speed as if you hooked it up inside your computer.
 
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