Dual HDD Docking station with 2x eSata????

ianh

ianh

ianh

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Hi there, I'm trying to tidy my storage/back-up devices so I'm after the following but can't find anything that fits -

Rather than 2 single docks I'd like a Dual bay HDD docking station which allows you to access BOTH HDD's through eSata simultaneously i.e backing up from one disc to the other.

Now I can find plenty of Dual Docking stations from "the Bay" and Akasa etc which have eSata but they only allow you to access 1 drive over eSata so it'll probably need 2 eSata ports. To access both drives with most docks you need to use USB2.0 and I don't like the slow transfer speeds or 5sec "wake-up" time of USB HDD's.

Can anyone help?

Ta...............................................IanH
 
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Yeap I've got 4, 2 on the MoBo and a PCI card with 2. I prefer eSata enclosures for my external HDD's over USB2.0 so I've made sure I've got enough ports but they're all full now, which is why I'm reducing the number of HDD's I've got down to 2 massive ones instead.
 
There are 2 solutions to your problem should the interpretation of your predicament is correct.

1. A Dual Drive Dock that has 2 x eSATA connectors such that each dock will has its own direct eSATA channel. Sharkoon used to have such a model but that has been replaced by their current model which uses what is being discussed in 2. That older model is still available from some place that sounds like a race of Wild Women Warriors. Search for Sharkoon QuickPort Duo for SATA. If version 2 is mentioned, that's the latest useless-for-you model. You need to home-in on the version 1 or the no-version-mentioned-at-all variety.

2. You could buy any of the eSATA-cum-USB 2.0 variety but use "Port Multiplying" to enable Vista/Win7 to see 2 x discrete HDDs just like its USB sister but connected to the single faster eSATA connector. You need to, however, ensure that your mobo eSATA chip is CBS-based such that after installing the latest driver from the chip maker, be that JMicron or Silicone Image, you will have your 2 x discrete HDDs. Should you be lucky, your mobo BIOS might have the option to turn on its eSATA PM via the "JBOD" option or just switch off RAID for the eSATA. Caution here because the max speed is then obviously not as fast as 2 HDDs connected separately to their own eSATA ports. It will be faster than USB 2.0 though but with the current crop of mechanical HDDs being what they really are, they aren't really that much faster than those slowpokes "over the pond". This one is for the addicted gamblers whose expendable income is promised to everything but their HDD docks. It is less than half the price mentioned in 1 above.

Trust that this helps. All advice about barking up the wrong tree will be gratefully noted. Cheers.
 
dlte353 - Cheer mate, option 1 is what I'm after so I'll have a look at "the River in Brazil" for one!

The USB3.0 version still suffers the same problem as the USB2.0. With the 2x USB3.0 enclosures I have both they (and USB2.0 ones) "go to sleep" if not used for about 20secs. Then when you click on the drive it takes upto 5secs to switch back on and become usable which although it may seem minor drives me absolutely nuts (probably some OCD kicking in :D)
 
Bought the Dual eSata version of the Shartoon from The Rain-Forest - £50 - and exactly what I was after!
 
Briliant ! Thanks for the info about the USB version and their hiccupping. Reading others' reviews, that seems to be a problem. Could it be because the USB ports are configured to sleep or going green. Having said that, the sleeping seems to occur during file transfer.

Cheers
 
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