External HDD what to buy

[dougie]

I've been looking at buying an external hard drive to back up my main internal drive. So many different interfaces, USB2, firewire etc.

My MOBO is an ASUS P5B-Deluxe and has an external SATA plug at the back ( am I to assume that this plug is what is referred to an an eSATA? ) I see online some drive enclosures that have an eSATA interface. This plug looks different than the other SATA plugs on the MOBO. Is this eSATA have to do with RAID or is it a seperate thing?

Also I have an extra unused Seagate Barracuda 320 gb SATA drive I'm not using and would like to use it if at all possible. My main internal HDD is also a Seagate 320 gb SATA. I would obviously need an enclosure that accepts a SATA drive but I'm still confused about the eSATA interface. Is there any advantages for the eSATA or should I just use the USB2 or firewire?

Thanks;

Dougie

[enaberif]

Originally Posted by dougie

I've been looking at buying an external hard drive to back up my main internal drive. So many different interfaces, USB2, firewire etc.

My MOBO is an ASUS P5B-Deluxe and has an external SATA plug at the back ( am I to assume that this plug is what is referred to an an eSATA? ) I see online some drive enclosures that have an eSATA interface. This plug looks different than the other SATA plugs on the MOBO. Is this eSATA have to do with RAID or is it a seperate thing?

Also I have an extra unused Seagate Barracuda 320 gb SATA drive I'm not using and would like to use it if at all possible. My main internal HDD is also a Seagate 320 gb SATA. I would obviously need an enclosure that accepts a SATA drive but I'm still confused about the eSATA interface. Is there any advantages for the eSATA or should I just use the USB2 or firewire?

Thanks;

Dougie

Vantec Enclosure with eSata hookups.

[dougie]

Thank you for your reply enaberif

Does anyone use the Seagate Free Agent HDD's? I was looking at the 320 Gb e-sata / USB2 at the Future Shop and I like the looks of it and it has a small footprint. I was thinking of the 320 Gb one because my internal HDD is a 320 Gb sata.

The Future Shop was asking $199 but Canada Computer has it listed for $142.99. Thats a big difference in price. I'm sure I looked at the right model?

Canada Computers - Hard Drives > External Drives : Seagate FreeAgent Pro 320GB USB2.0, eSATA External Hard Drive (ST303204FPA1E2-RK).

Dougie

[enaberif]

Originally Posted by dougie

Thank you for your reply enaberif

Does anyone use the Seagate Free Agent HDD's? I was looking at the 320 Gb e-sata / USB2 at the Future Shop and I like the looks of it and it has a small footprint. I was thinking of the 320 Gb one because my internal HDD is a 320 Gb sata.

The Future Shop was asking $199 but Canada Computer has it listed for $142.99. Thats a big difference in price. I'm sure I looked at the right model?

Canada Computers - Hard Drives > External Drives : Seagate FreeAgent Pro 320GB USB2.0, eSATA External Hard Drive (ST303204FPA1E2-RK).

Dougie

Downside to using something like the FreeAGENT is that if the hard drive dies your out the entire enclosure or vice versa.

With the Vantec setup if one or the other dies all you replace is that!

[dougie]

Being able to replace one or the other is a $$ advantage of course. Buying a seperate enclosure would allow a much wider choice of HDD's also.

I guess what I was really asking is a comparison between the Seagate Free Agent vs other external drives in terms of performance :)

And I don't know if this is the proper thread for this, but what is everyone here using for backup software? I'm presently looking at a program called True Image. The main attraction for me with True Image is it's ability to backup Outlook Express. I don't really want to backup my OS, if I ever have to re-format I would rather just do a fresh clean re-install of XP.

Dougie

[enaberif]

Originally Posted by dougie

Being able to replace one or the other is a $$ advantage of course. Buying a seperate enclosure would allow a much wider choice of HDD's also.

I guess what I was really asking is a comparison between the Seagate Free Agent vs other external drives in terms of performance :)

And I don't know if this is the proper thread for this, but what is everyone here using for backup software? I'm presently looking at a program called True Image. The main attraction for me with True Image is it's ability to backup Outlook Express. I don't really want to backup my OS, if I ever have to re-format I would rather just do a fresh clean re-install of XP.

Dougie

I really don't understand why people constantly have to re-install Windows for all the time. I've had a install of Windows for over a year with no issues and the only reason I re-installed for was that I upgraded my hard drive.

[cyclo]

Originally Posted by dougie

Being able to replace one or the other is a $$ advantage of course. Buying a seperate enclosure would allow a much wider choice of HDD's also.

I guess what I was really asking is a comparison between the Seagate Free Agent vs other external drives in terms of performance :)

And I don't know if this is the proper thread for this, but what is everyone here using for backup software? I'm presently looking at a program called True Image. The main attraction for me with True Image is it's ability to backup Outlook Express. I don't really want to backup my OS, if I ever have to re-format I would rather just do a fresh clean re-install of XP.

Dougie

Yes, I would go with an external enclosure like Vantec as well. I like to be able to mix and match enclosures/drives. I have had good experiences with Vantec. I am using 2 of their 2.5" notebook drive enclosures with Fujitsu HDDs and they have been trouble free so far. I am getting an eSATA enclosure soon. Note that from what I gather, the Vantec eSATA is SATA1 compatible which means if you get a SATA II drive, you have to put the jumpers at the back of the drive so they operate in SATA 1 mode.

As to backup/imaging software, I use Vista Ultimate's built in disk imaging utility.

[Spaceman-Spiff]

The good thing about using prebuilt external HDD like Seagate FreeAgent is it's really easy to set up. If you don't know much about formating or just don't want the hassle of assembling an enclosure, then go with it.

For more advanced users, or people with multiple HDDs to swap, using a separate external enclosure, like the Vantec, is a better option. I don't even use the outer casing on my enclosure, it's wide open on my desk cause I swap HDDs so often.

[cyclo]

Note the eSATA interface has been designed to withstand repeated cycles of connection-disconnection. The regular SATA cables and interface (internal) are not as robust.