(Note: The issue here is data transfer to an external device)
Hadn't thought of that, Colin. SATA, much less eSATA, wasn't very common
when WinXP was developed, so I'm not surprised that a new technology would
fool the WinXP installer. The eSATA drive appears as a fixed drive to
WinXP, does it not?
Bruce:
Yes, there is a considerable advantage in using an external enclosure that
has the SATA interface rather than a PATA one with respect to both data
copying and disk-cloning processes. Understand I'm referring to a *direct*
SATA to SATA interface; I'm *not* referring to an external device where a
SATA HDD would be used as a USB device. So if a user has a motherboard with
SATA capability and the external enclosure he or she is using supports a
SATA-to-SATA connection, it would be most desirable to use that type of
interface for both data copying and disk cloning operations. There are two
significant advantages in doing so...
1. Data transfer rates would be considerably faster since, as you infer, the
SATA HDD is treated as an internal HDD and as such, its performance is
substantially superior to a USB-connected HDD.
2. And perhaps an even more important consideration...
Should the SATA external HDD be the recipient of the clone of the user's
internal day-to-day working HDD, the resultant clone *would* be bootable
since the SATA HDD contained in the external enclosure is considered an
*internal* HDD by the system notwithstanding that it's physically outside
the computer's case.
It is particularly advantageous to use a SATA-to-SATA connection via one of
these enclosures having that capability if the PC's motherboard is equipped
with a eSATA port (note the "e" for external). This certainly simplifies the
connectivity between the external device and the PC. Unfortunately
motherboards containing an eSATA port are still rather rare and more's the
pity. Although I should add that more and more desktop cases are now coming
equipped with an eSATA port having an attached SATA data cable that's
connected to one of the motherboard's SATA connectors.
However, SATA-to-SATA connectivity can still be fairly easy to achieve with
a desktop PC even if the motherboard does not contain an eSATA port. A
simple and inexpensive adapter is commonly available which is attached to an
available slot on the backplane of the desktop PC's (the rear of the case in
the general area where one plugs in a monitor, their keyboard & mouse, USB
devices, etc.). This adapter has either a "normal" SATA connector or an
eSATA connector on the outboard side. Inboard a SATA cable is attached which
would connect to an available SATA connector on the motherboard. Used this
way would give one direct SATA-to-SATA connectivity with an external SATA
enclosure. Frequently this type of adapter is even included with the
external enclosure.
Incidentally, it makes no difference in terms of performance or
"bootability" whether the external SATA HDD has a SATA or eSATA connection.
The eSATA connector is considered more secure and the data cable attached to
the eSATA connector is generally more heavily shielded than the "normal"
SATA data cable. Actually virtually every SATA external enclosure coming on
the market today contains an eSATA port. It's rare in our experience to come
across a SATA external enclosure that doesn't come equipped with a eSATA
port.
So our advice to many users who are in the market for an external enclosure
is to consider purchasing one that has this SATA-to-SATA interface
capability as long as their system supports SATA and a SATA connector would
be available for this external connection. I would point out that many, if
not most, of these enclosures are generally equipped with a USB interface as
well.
Interestingly while few laptops/notebooks come equipped with a built-in
eSATA port (hopefully that will change in the not-too-distant future), there
is a way to achieve SATA-to-SATA connectivity with these PCs. Virtually all
of the newer laptops/notebooks now come equipped with a slot that's designed
for ExpressCard devices (not the CardBus-PCMCIA devices the ExpressCard is
designed to replace). One can purchase an ExpressCard that contains an eSATA
port. While we've encountered no problems with data transfer between the
laptop/notebook using these devices, in more than one instance we were
unable to get the system to boot with the external SATA HDD after cloning
the contents of the laptop/notebook's HDD to the external SATA HDD. So we're
still experimenting in this area. (We were never able to get any CardBus
device, even with an eSATA port, to boot).
Anna
