External Storage - which will be faster USB2 or over the network

[Page]

Looks as if I am going to buy some of this for picture storage so speed of transfer will matter.

[stugster]

Hi Page,

USB2.0 runs at 480Mbps

Your network will likely run at 100Mbps or if you have a Gigabit switch and Gigabit network cards, 1000Mbps.

To be honest with you, in the majority of cases it's not going to be the connection interface that becomes your bottle-neck, but the actual read/write speed of the hard disk itself.

If I were you, I'd buy myself one of these bad-boys:
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/147999
And that way, you can fill it up with more and more hard drives are you need to.

Obviously at the outset you're paying a bit more, but on the long term, you're going to have a much more scalable solution. An open source operating system such as Ubuntu or OpenSuse wouldn't be that difficult to set up for a shared network either, and once it's set up, you wouldn't have to touch it.

[ozbon]

If you want speed, it's likely to be USB2 that's faster, as it's coupled to the computer itself.

NAS is limited by the speed of the network, as Stugster says. (Although I can't see that the server he recommends is going to be of use without being epic overkill) I'd still recommend the Western Digital MyBooks from your previous post - but there are many, many options out there.

The more expensive option than a MyBook will be the Drobo (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Drobo-Bay-FW800-Storage-Array/dp/B001CSZMRK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1232705350&sr=8-1) which is an ace bit of kit if you've got lots of backup disks already, and want to merge it all into one thing. However, I again suspect that for right now that's probably overkill too.

[Page]

Much as I would love to learn to set up a server and learn the lot - I know that the learning is the time bit but thanks anyway.

I already have a couple of nafty little WD passport drives but I think they do a Mybook one that has USB and network which might be the perfect solution since we could use it in different ways.

I shall try and find time to have a look over the weekend. Thanks for the input and any more comments welcome.

[stugster]

Hi Page,

I appreciate you probably don't have the time to do it, I just wanted to throw it in there just in case you did! :)

[Roj]

How much storage are we talking about here?

Last year I bought a Seagate 500GB USB external drive for under £70, I am no where near filling it up. I take it with me when I travel abroad and plug it into my laptop, works great.

[Page]

Thanks and appreciated - I just so wish I did it would be a nice addition to the skills.

(My system crashed in the end due to lack of space and during a software install - doh what was I thinking when I knew it was getting full - that must have pinched about 4 hours from me if not more sorting it all out)

[leemason]

USB2 is definately quicker at 480Mbits/sec (as previously mentioned your network will probably be 100Mbits/sec). However, for ultimate speed of external storage I would recommend esata. This will run at 300MBytes/sec. There are 8 bits in a byte so a direct comparison would be:

NETWORK - 12.5MBytes/sec
USB2 - 60MBytes/sec
ESATA - 300MBytes/sec

You can install an esata PCI card in your PC and then buy an external esata enclosure and disk(s) and connection should be pretty simple. Maybe not quite as simple as USB2 because you need to open up the PC to plugin the PCI card but after that it would work fine.

[Page]

I think wsata is no good since I want the option of plugging it into a laptop.

If the bottle neck is not the usb or network dDoes anyone know if I bought a network drive could I plug into into a usb drive using a usb to network converter.

I would then have both options. Network normally.

Home for the weekend if a push on and use with the laptop.

??

(That Drobo looked neat but a bit beyond budget)

[Page]

So what about

http://www.amazon.co.uk/LaCie-Ethernet-7200RPM-Gigabit-Poulton/dp/B000LRIXF6/ref=pd_sim_dbs_ce_4

Seems a lot for 500GB

[Comspec]

Most of the NAS drives nowadays have a USB2 connection as well Page, so check this when you are choosing one.

The Lacie one you have listed above is a nice little yoke, but it is a little expensive for all you need. you can pick up 500gb for much much less if you shop around.

[leemason]

I think wsata is no good since I want the option of plugging it into a laptop.

If the bottle neck is not the usb or network dDoes anyone know if I bought a network drive could I plug into into a usb drive using a usb to network converter.

I would then have both options. Network normally.

Home for the weekend if a push on and use with the laptop.

??

(That Drobo looked neat but a bit beyond budget)

Have a look at the Western Digital MyBook 500GB: http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=56SR&CategorySelectedId=11157&NavigationKey=410820000.

It supports ESATA and USB2 so you could have the best of both worlds.

[adxba]

If you're not worried about speed so much because its just pictures and documents and such that you are storing on the drive then it kind of depends on the usefulness of having it on a network for you. If you have several computers on your network that you would like to access the drive at the same time, or even without unplugging and taking it to another pc then it is great. But you do pay extra for the network connectivity.

If you are interested in having a drive that you just plug in via usb, and just acts as if its a local drive (you won't notice any speed decreases at all compared to your normal drive) that will (most probably) be smaller, cheaper and easy for you to slip in a bag to take to places then a usb may be better.

I can vouch for Lacie Ethernet Disk Mini drives and the Western Digital drive leemason just posted, they are very reliable (the lacies can be bit a bit noisy if they are in a quiet environment).

One thing to note if you are going for a usb drive is that 3.5" drives (bigger normal hard drive out of a pc) 99% of the time requires external power. 2.5" drives (smaller out of a laptop) generally does not, although can be a bit more expensive.

Hope this helps!

[Page]

Most of the NAS drives nowadays have a USB2 connection as well Page, so check this when you are choosing one.


I will have to look again as I found very few. Unless I am misunderstanding what is going on - quite a few had usb out and things like built in print servers but not in.

I think network and usb is the way to go thinking about how we may use it. Network multiple access. USB weekends etc.

[leemason]

I will have to look again as I found very few. Unless I am misunderstanding what is going on - quite a few had usb out and things like built in print servers but not in.

I think network and usb is the way to go thinking about how we may use it. Network multiple access. USB weekends etc.

You are correct. Most NAS devices with USB are for connecting another external disk drive and so are USB out. It is much rarer to find a NAS device with USB in as well for some reason.

[Page]

I like to feedback conclusions.

Well we tested a western digital passport drive that I had already plugged into the desktop pc - that we use a bit like a server - on usb2 and it seemed fine and apparently no slower, I am told, than when the images were on the normal drive.

To be honest when I started this post it never occured to me that such a thing as sharing a plugged in USB drive over the network was possible.

I shall look at the suggested plug in drives.

I think what I want is a very quiet one and western digital do one of these.

[Page]

I had not got round to buying which meant some mulling over went on in the background.

I have just ordered however the mybook with the eSata and firewire along with a cardbus eSata adaptor. This will means I can have it plugged in on the network or when some intensive picture work is being done have it moved to a specfic notebook and running on eSata through the adaptor as a top speed.

Job done. No going back. Thanks for input.

[Comspec]

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/128482 = 250Gb with LAN/USB

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/149829 = 500Gb with LAN/USB

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/147969 = 1TB with LAN/USB

There are plenty available with USB in or LAN in. They are very simple devices to connect up and get working with your network.

In fact, anyone with a small peer-peer network should really have something like one of these in place for backups.... how many of the readers of this thread have not though ? We are putting these types of devices in on a regular basis these days, as we encounter more and more businesses with a few PC's and no decent backup plan in place. Couple them with a bit of Cobian Backup Software or the likes, and they make for a decent, low cost solution. Not fool proof, but a decent start.

[Stray__Cat]

If you are looking for transfer speed USB wins easily over network. If you need network access to the disks, you ned a NAS but the network speed is the way it is.
Usually, anyway, the bottleneck is the disk read/write performance so connections should not be you principal issue.