External HD query

mikeo

mikeo

mikeo

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Right...

Looking to get an external drive for backup. My mobo supports eSATA and USB3, so plenty of choice.

I'll be using Acronis TI 2010 (which I already own) for doing the backing up.

Was thinking about something like the Samsung S2 1TB USB3.0 Portable Hard Drive but got to thinking that as I'm not interested in the backup software etc. that comes with this sort of drive, would I be better off with something like:

- Akasa Elite eSATA/USB 2.0 (using the eSATA connection). +
- Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II

Questions:

1) Would there be that much difference speed wise between the two options?

2) When using an external caddy like the Akasa, are they prone to problems with the drives if they get knocked etc. Just that obviously a caddy like this can't be as stable as a PC (which obviously contains your main drives). And with the best will in the world, it's easy to bump a table etc.

3) Does it matter if the eSATA is set to IDE (which it is at the moment), or AHCI? and can I just switch it over in the BIOS if necessary? I'm aware that this can cause trouble if it's your boot drive (which in the case it obviously would not be).

4) I see the Samsung S2 1TB USB3.0 Portable Hard Drive comes pre-formatted as FAT32, rather than NTFS! Any obvious reason for that? I thought NTFS was and had been for a while "the way to go"!

Thanks in advance.
 
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The only reason they preformat to FAT32 or even eFAT is because many other non-pc equipment can't read NTFS.. but you are right NTFS is better and for pc use always format in NTFS.

Im looking for a caddy too that can hold 2 or 3 drives and has usb and eSATA and only requires one power cord.. I saw the akasa single drive caddy but don't want to have 3 power supplies and 3 devices on my desk... Im thinking of upgrading my internal pc drives to larger sizes and using the current ones as external backup drives.

Anyone know of a 2 or more caddy and with eSATA, USB and maybe even ethernet but not really required. Not to expensive would help too, or I may end up selling the drives if it gets too expensive..
 
Purgatory

Thanks for that.

Think I've maybe answered some of my other points:

1) Looks like current mechanical HDs don't come anywhere near saturating either Esata, or USB3. Though think I'll stick to looking for an Esata caddy, as some of the reviews of various USB3 caddies seem to hint that maybe the USB3 interface in the caddies themselves maybe needs a bit more development. Not sure if there's any truth in this!? but as Esata has been around ages, think I'll stick to this.

2) Still not too sure about this point. I suspect if their physical positioning is reasonably stable, I suspect it wont be an issue. Anyone any thoughts on this???

3) Don't think the IDE/AHCI thing makes much difference. But will probably switch the Esata interface to AHCI in the BIOS anyway.

4) Pergatory has confirmed what I was starting to think. As I thought it might be for MAC compatibility and this is pretty much what he's confirmed for me.
 
I believe if you don't have the eSATA port set to ACHI, you can't hotplug the drives. This is a pain for external backup drives.

eSATA is treated like an internal drive so may be recognised more easily by disk imaging tools, etc.
 
IPAddis said:
I believe if you don't have the eSATA port set to ACHI, you can't hotplug the drives. This is a pain for external backup drives.

eSATA is treated like an internal drive so may be recognised more easily by disk imaging tools, etc.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that.

Esata it is then. As Acronis TI can be a bit "picky" at the best of times.

Though I'm assuming that changing this in the BIOS "post Windows install" is not an issue like it is for the "normal" SATA (IE. where the HD supporting your Windows install is)?
 
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If you're not using the controller for Windows, changing the AHCI setting shouldn't cause an issue. My old mobo, the eSATA was on a separate JMicron controller, Windows running from Intel controller. Thus changing it caused no issues.
 
1) With eSATA it's the same as having the drive internally so you get max speeds, however USB3 should be about as quick.
2) Yes, drives don't like movement when they're in use. But it's not something to worry about really.
3) AHCI just means the drive is picked up automatically and appears in safely remove hardware. In IDE mode you can remove/find in device manager or using this utility - http://mt-naka.com/hotswap/index_enu.htm .
4) Compatibility.
 
Thanks folks.

Just ordered the Akasa caddy and the SpinPoint F3.

OCuk have it packaged and out for delivery in just under 15 minutes. That is what I call service.
 
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