Quentin Hartman wrote:
On 12/21/06, Darren Hayes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
This article on eSATA may be of interest.
http://news.com.com/Faster+external+drives+arriving-slowly/2100-1041_3-6144673.html
I second the suggestion of using eSATA rather than just hot-swapping
normal SATA. The eSATA connectors are designed to hold up to more
insertion/removal and also are more "grippy" so you are less likely to
have a cable come loose part of the way through a transfer.
I'm not planning on doing hot swap with standard SATA. I'm looking to do
it with a drive cage. Something like [1], [2], or [3]. This is one of
the things I was looking for input on. What cages are good.
Additionally, I've heard that some early SATA controllers omitted the
ability to do hot swap correctly, though I have not been able to
independently confirm or debunk this rumor. If you use a card with a
built-in eSATA connection, you're pretty much guaranteed that the
controller has proper support for hot swapping.
As for eSATA, it's still fairly early in that game. Not many mother
boards support it. You can get the adapters that plug between a standard
SATA port and a eSATA port, but, again, not sure if the hot swap works
correctly. In fact I'm leaning toward getting a couple of external USB +
eSATA drive chassis [4] and using these, but cage above would be much
'cleaner'. No cables to accidentally unplug, no power cables to come
loose, no power supplies to die, etc. The other issue wtih eSata is the
short cable length. IIRC the max length is 2-3'. Having the USB gives me
an 'out' if eSATA doesn't live up to the hype or causes other problems.
Garl
[1] http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817121302
[2] http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817994027
[3] http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817119404
[4] http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16817392002
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