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Which external hard disk enclosure?

E

EmergeTW

n00b
Joined
Feb 21, 2004
Messages
15
I am looking for an external hard disk enclosure and am having a hard time finding what I am looking for. I was wondering if any of you guys had suggestions of a model to look at with these specs:

both firewire and usb2.0 support
does not require an external power supply ( ie. it gets its power from the usb or firewire )
support drives up to 300gb.

It looks to be cheaper to buy the enclosure seperate from the drive. Circuitcity has a 200gb drive for $100 right now and I am thinking of getting that for the drive. I am ok with buying an enclosure that comes with a drive, if it will be cheaper than seperate.
 
what kind of throughput are you looking for, (what is its role)
and what is it attaching to
 
Iomega makes there's so that it requires no powersupply. But those are overly expensive. It might just be that I will have to use one that requires a power plug, that would be alright if it is neccesary. As far as throughput I would be looking to dump a large amount of data at once onto the disk ( 20 gig+ ) so as fast as I can find it.
 
Ah, I assumed you wanted standard desktop hard drives since you're looking for so much capacity.. The one's that are powered by the usb/firewire/ps2 ports are actually laptop/notebook hard drives which I think are limited to 80GB currently and not the cheapest thing in the world. But if that is what you're looking for get this one, just make be sure you know it's laptop hard drives only.

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-145-327&depa=1


edit: hahahaha... "just make be sure"... seriously i'm not that drunk yet.
 
that becomes problematic with USB and Firewire

USB Considerations
Originally posted by lessthanjakejohn
The USB standard is in a state of flux, with vendors often using their
own interpretation of the words "full" and "high". At one point, "full
speed" referred to USB 1.1 operating in a USB 2 port at the 12Mb/s
maximum of USB 1.1. "High speed" referred to the standard maximum speed
of USB 2, 480Mb/s. The USB organization has a statement to the effect
that one should determine what is being stated by a vendor from the
vendor itself if there is any doubt about what is being advertized.
This is important since some vendors were using the term "USB 2
compliant" to mean USB 1.1 would work, while customers were interpreting
it as "USB 2".

The USB standards organization still recognizes that Full Speed and Low
Speed refer to USB (formerly known as USB 1.1) transfer rates, and
High-Speed refers to Hi-Speed USB (formerly known as USB 2) at its
maximum transfer rate.

http://www.usb.org/info/usb_nomenclature

The USB-IF's naming and packaging recommendations for low- or full-speed
USB products, as listed on this web site state that such products can
carry only the basic version of the USB logo, which simply states
"Certified USB." We state clearly that manufacturers should avoid using
terminology such as USB 2.0 Full Speed, Full Speed USB or USB 2.0. These
formal recommendations were published to the USB-IF membership and
posted on this web site in August 2002.
[end quote]
Click to expand...

Originally posted by PassMark
As there was some discussion about USB speed (Highspeed/FullSpeed), I thought I would mention that there are a number of other factors that impact USB speed. While USB 1.1 vs USB 2.0 is the most important, as already pointed out, USB 2.0 supports FullSpeed (12 Mb/s) and USB 2.0 may only operate below this speed. So it is imporatnt to know whether your USB 2.0 port and device are capable of HighSpeed.

Other issues that impact USB speed include: the manufacturers host controller implementation, point of connectivity to the host controller (e.g. A connection via the PCI bus will insert a bottleneck to achieving High-speed rates. My testing of PCI connected ports show they typically have a much slower maximum speed of 100 - 130Mb/s compared to typically 250Mb/s to 330Mb/s when directly connected to the motherboard, cabling (you might be surprised how much re-transmission is occurring - slowing things down), the device driver used, implementation of the USB device and the implementation of the application software.

This information is based on reliability testing and benchmarking carried out on the recently released USB 2.0 loopback and benchmark plug from www.passmark.com/product/usb2loopback.htm
Click to expand...

additional interesting thread
interesting findings about USB HD

USB (1.1?) Basic Technical Summary

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

where you to employ a eSATA enclosure however that would become extremely simplified
of course you couldnt add an external port SATA PCI card to a laptop, transporting it to another target machine is also a consideration

when it comes to externals, the actual implementation of the standards counts quite alot, also consider that any single HDD is going to be limited by its own internal performance, so interface speed claims like you see in firewire are just that, claims
youre probably looking at a sustained transfer rate of 50 > 30 MB/s (outer edge of the platter towards the inner) from the HDD
provided there isnt fragmentation to address

and as jcurry pointed out, power is an issue
a typical HDD requires from 0.6>2.8 amps on the 12v and 0.9>1.2 amps on the 5v
(and it might be quadrupale for spinup)

you have some researching to do, ideally in forums, trying to match your mobo with someone elses benchmarked components, or seriously delving into specs
Click to expand...
 
an additional consideration

laptop HDDs are 2.5" form factor
and are far more robust than the typical internal HDD which is 3.5" form factor
(the extreme example of this demonstrated in a MicroDrive)
250 > 300GB of Data on a 3.5" HDD is a scary proposition IMO
but thats what everyone wants, so thats what is sold

review > Proper Handling Guide

favored Quote
As a result of the impact, tiny indentations can be formed. The material ejected from this impact is scattered about the disc, and when the drive is powered up the heads will pass over this indentation and the ejected material. This can be the equivalent of running over a bowling ball in a go-cart traveling at Mach 813.
Click to expand...

:eek: :eek: :eek:

treat it like it was nitro ;)
 
Not positive, but...

I thought I saw someplace that the Bytecc and PPA (which I have) are actually made from the same company, just rebadged like so many other items. On that note, the one I have works great and is definately a nice convenience. I chose the 5.25" model that way i can swap between a hard drive and dvd burner.
 
After reading Ice Czar said, I am looking at getting a external drive with a 2.5" drive. I would like to get an 80 gig, however, the largest I seem to be able to find are 40 gig and they are around $400. Does this sound right to you guys?
 
from a viewpoint of what will likely take more damage and live to tell about it
thats probably a good choice
but you also need to be aware of what your giving up
they cost alot more per GB, and generally speaking have a lower performance
(typically because the 5400rpm models are so common)
what is the rpms on that unit your looking at?

Ultimately from my perspective
you might want to consider a larger internal HDDs (3.5"FF)
either mounted internally or in a fixed external enclosure connected to a laptop
something that is safely out of the way and cooled for your storage needs

and also a much smaller "mobile" unit

the 3.5" is going to have all the advantages of price and performance
the 2.5" the mobility, but if you try to also get the performance and the capacity
its going to cost an arm and a leg, and still not be close

the question from that perspective becomes exactly how much data needs to be mobile at one time?

$400 for 40GB is $10 a GB
and that is really high in comparision to $0.76 per GB in a 3.5"FF
(250GB HDD @ $190) especially when you consider it also has the performance advantage

for $400 youd be able to buy several of these (or similar)
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=31567&item=3485673319&rd=1
of course thats a gamble with HDDs, Ive had good luck with HDDs on Ebay
(Enterprise overstock\liquidation, SCSI by the case, old "new" stock)
but others havent, has an awful lot to do with exactly how they have been handled and packaged in the past
and the terms of the sale, generally, the limited warranty isnt going to last nearly long enough to ensure the HDD is undamaged, you can make sure it work initially, but it can develop problems a month down the line and your out of luck
 
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As a result of the impact, tiny indentations can be formed. The material ejected from this impact is scattered about the disc, and when the drive is powered up the heads will pass over this indentation and the ejected material. This can be the equivalent of running over a bowling ball in a go-cart traveling at Mach 813.
Click to expand...

now that's what I call disk fragmentation.
 
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