Build ext HD

thewolfe · Post by **thewolfe** » Fri Aug 18, 2006 1:21 pm

Build ext HD

I have a 30 GB HD in my Toshiba M35X laptop but would like to have access to my desktop HD so I would like to be able to carry an additional HD when necessary with all my desktop files and folders.

I have USB2 and IEEE 1394 ports available.

Which port would be better and is there anything special I should know re: building the ext HD?

Xamindar · Post by **Xamindar** » Fri Aug 18, 2006 2:46 pm

I would choose USB only because it is on EVERY modern computer whereas firewire is not always there. I have seen external hard drive cases that support both protocols though.

thewolfe · Post by **thewolfe** » Fri Aug 18, 2006 3:08 pm

Some mentioned a IDE2USB adapter cable. Will this work w/ a standard desktop computer HD?
http://www.pcmicrostore.com/PartDetail. ... p:10501935

Krom · Post by **Krom** » Fri Aug 18, 2006 4:25 pm

I have a USB ---> IDE adapter virtually identical to that (exact same one as in the picture). It \"works\", meaning it will allow you to copy files to and from a standard desktop hard drive/cdrom/laptop hard drive to anything that has a USB port. However, when you try a large transfer over USB2.0, say over 1 GB, the device often locks up, where the activity LED on it remains solid lit, but the file transfer stops and windows begins throwing delayed write failure errors. The only way to restore connectivity after that is to unplug it from the USB port, disconnect it from the drive, and cycle the power on the drive. It does work, but it is quite buggy and unreliable for large transfers or staying connected for a long duration.

If you read the reviews, virtually all of these IDE ---> USB adapters have the same problems, so it is very common.

Also, desktop hard drives are durable, but not *that* durable, if you try to cart yours around regularly as my cousin used to do, it will eventually get killed by the wear and tear from being moved around so much, just like my cousins drive did. And he went out of his way carrying it around in a large foam padded case.

thewolfe · Post by **thewolfe** » Fri Aug 18, 2006 4:58 pm

Thanks for the good info.

fliptw · Post by **fliptw** » Sat Aug 19, 2006 1:32 am

I suggest geting an enclosure instead of an adapter cable. Im using one for a 300 GB 3.5 drive and never had any issues with transfering large files.

if you want to know the differences between firewire and usb, lets start with transfer rates, red is USB, blue is firewire 400:

USB has the higher transfer rate, but note its CPU utilization: 10 times that of firewire's(and possibly a cause of Krom's woes). This was done on dual-core machine, just double the utilization rates given and you get a good idea of each will perform on a single core machine - assuming that transfering files is only thing that the computer is doing at the time, USB's real performance rates might suffer with lesser machines, as it lacks the hardware offloading that firewire has.

firewire also has the advantage of being daisy chained - you don't need a hub to connect more devices than your computer can handle(tho, firewire hubs do exist).

My advice: get an enclosure that has both firewire and USB, it'll cost more, but you get the best of both worlds, and probably a bit more stability too.

thewolfe · Post by **thewolfe** » Sat Aug 19, 2006 11:31 am

Thanks again for the comprehensive info.

Canuck · Post by **Canuck** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 2:05 pm

In my experience Firewire performs better on a series of large files such as video and the like,

USB 2 has higher burst rates than sustain rates compared to Firewire, (good for small files) and will be slower transfering the larger files, again my experience.