SATA Internal vs SATA External

[Erich93063]

I recently had a power outage at my house and I guess my surge
protector was bad because my external USB 2.0 IDE drive is TOAST and
will no longer show up in my computer (I took it out of the enclosure
and installed it internally and it wouldn't show up either). SO, today
I went to Fry's to get a new external drive, but decided to just get
an internal SATAII drive because it was cheaper. I got a 320GB Maxtor
SATAII for $59.99. So my MOBO supports SATA (I'm assuming SATAII
also?) and I figured if I end up wanting to make it an external drive
down the road, I will just buy an enclosure on Ebay.

So my question is: Is there a speed difference when using an internal
hard drive vs. an external hard drive? Common sense would tell me even
though it is a SATAII drive, if I make it external and I connect it
via USB 2.0 (or firewire for that matter), that now it really doesn't
MATTER that it's SATAII, because now I'm only transferring files at a
USB 2.0 speed, correct? So am I correct in saying that if I want fast
transfer speeds, I am better off leaving it internal inside the
computer via SATA then making it external for convenience purposes
correct? And if I DO want to end up getting an external drive for
convenience purposes that I can theoretically just get a cheap old IDE
drive because its transferring at USB 2.0 speeds so it really doesn't
matter if its SATA or not right?

THANKS

E

 

[Ghostrider]

I recently had a power outage at my house and I guess my surge
protector was bad because my external USB 2.0 IDE drive is TOAST and
will no longer show up in my computer (I took it out of the enclosure
and installed it internally and it wouldn't show up either). SO, today
I went to Fry's to get a new external drive, but decided to just get
an internal SATAII drive because it was cheaper. I got a 320GB Maxtor
SATAII for $59.99. So my MOBO supports SATA (I'm assuming SATAII
also?) and I figured if I end up wanting to make it an external drive
down the road, I will just buy an enclosure on Ebay.

So my question is: Is there a speed difference when using an internal
hard drive vs. an external hard drive? Common sense would tell me even
though it is a SATAII drive, if I make it external and I connect it
via USB 2.0 (or firewire for that matter), that now it really doesn't
MATTER that it's SATAII, because now I'm only transferring files at a
USB 2.0 speed, correct? So am I correct in saying that if I want fast
transfer speeds, I am better off leaving it internal inside the
computer via SATA then making it external for convenience purposes
correct? And if I DO want to end up getting an external drive for
convenience purposes that I can theoretically just get a cheap old IDE
drive because its transferring at USB 2.0 speeds so it really doesn't
matter if its SATA or not right?

THANKS

E

Sounds OK and makes sense about USB speeds. However, note that there are
now motherboards with external SATA (E-SATA) connectors and E-SATA boxes
with SATA drives can connect to these.

 

[Anna]

I recently had a power outage at my house and I guess my surge
protector was bad because my external USB 2.0 IDE drive is TOAST and
will no longer show up in my computer (I took it out of the enclosure
and installed it internally and it wouldn't show up either). SO, today
I went to Fry's to get a new external drive, but decided to just get
an internal SATAII drive because it was cheaper. I got a 320GB Maxtor
SATAII for $59.99. So my MOBO supports SATA (I'm assuming SATAII
also?) and I figured if I end up wanting to make it an external drive
down the road, I will just buy an enclosure on Ebay.

So my question is: Is there a speed difference when using an internal
hard drive vs. an external hard drive? Common sense would tell me even
though it is a SATAII drive, if I make it external and I connect it
via USB 2.0 (or firewire for that matter), that now it really doesn't
MATTER that it's SATAII, because now I'm only transferring files at a
USB 2.0 speed, correct? So am I correct in saying that if I want fast
transfer speeds, I am better off leaving it internal inside the
computer via SATA then making it external for convenience purposes
correct? And if I DO want to end up getting an external drive for
convenience purposes that I can theoretically just get a cheap old IDE
drive because its transferring at USB 2.0 speeds so it really doesn't
matter if its SATA or not right?

THANKS

E

Erich:
(It appears that you're working with a desktop PC so that all that follows
will relate to that type of system).

In this case you can have the "best of all worlds" so to speak. First of
all, if you install your SATA HDD as an internal HDD in your system,
well...you'll have a nice speedy internal SATA HDD. Obviously there's
nothing wrong with that.

But you've raised another option and one that you can seriously consider, if
not now, then in the future...

As you probably know there are now on the market external enclosures - call
them combo units - that have both USB and SATA capability. Now I'm not
referring to the type of external enclosure that's merely designed to house
a SATA HDD for USB connectivity. What I'm referring to are those units that
have direct SATA-to-SATA connectivity capability in addition to USB
connectivity.

There are substantial advantages working with these units...
1. By employing the direct SATA-to-SATA capability, the system basically
treats the SATA HDD as an *internal* HDD, i.e.,
a. You gain significantly better performance in comparison to a USB device.
b. The SATA HDD is bootable, i.e., you can install an OS onto the SATA HDD
(or using a disk imaging program, clone the contents of an internal HDD to
the SATA HDD)
c. When not in use you can disconnect the device from the PC similar to a
USB external HDD for added security.

I'm assuming your present motherboard does not contain an eSATA ("e" for
external) port - more & more of the newer motherboards now contain this
desirable feature. But even if your system does not contain such a SATA
port, there are simple (and inexpensive) adapters (they come in both SATA &
eSATA "flavors") on the market that provide this capability as an I/O
bracket on one's desktop PC so that there is little trouble in connecting
the external device to one's system.
Anna

 

[LeftCoast_Dave]

Hi Erich-
To add to Anna's observations, I suggest you look into the "Apricorn ez
Bus dts" enclosure, among others. I put a Samsung HD501LJ (500 GB) disk
in it. Together, they cost $140 (+ S&H), less $15.00 rebate, at Newegg.
The enclosure itself is a real bargain at only $40, /less the $15
rebate/!! There are some other neat ones as well. I found en external
enclosure to be a real godsend when I had to reinstall my OS and all on
my main desktop. The Apricorn has a relatively quiet fan, which I wanted
in anticipation of putting a hotter drive in the unit in the future;
there are some apparently nice fan-less enclosures as well.

Regards,
Dave

 

[Lil' Dave]

I recently had a power outage at my house and I guess my surge
protector was bad because my external USB 2.0 IDE drive is TOAST and
will no longer show up in my computer (I took it out of the enclosure
and installed it internally and it wouldn't show up either). SO, today
I went to Fry's to get a new external drive, but decided to just get
an internal SATAII drive because it was cheaper. I got a 320GB Maxtor
SATAII for $59.99. So my MOBO supports SATA (I'm assuming SATAII
also?) and I figured if I end up wanting to make it an external drive
down the road, I will just buy an enclosure on Ebay.

So my question is: Is there a speed difference when using an internal
hard drive vs. an external hard drive? Common sense would tell me even
though it is a SATAII drive, if I make it external and I connect it
via USB 2.0 (or firewire for that matter), that now it really doesn't
MATTER that it's SATAII, because now I'm only transferring files at a
USB 2.0 speed, correct? So am I correct in saying that if I want fast
transfer speeds, I am better off leaving it internal inside the
computer via SATA then making it external for convenience purposes
correct? And if I DO want to end up getting an external drive for
convenience purposes that I can theoretically just get a cheap old IDE
drive because its transferring at USB 2.0 speeds so it really doesn't
matter if its SATA or not right?

THANKS

E

I won't make any assumptions about your SATA setup on your PC as another
poster did. Could be SATA, could be SATA II. How to setup as bootable bus
system is also a bios setup item, specific to the bios. Not all the same on
how, and depends if its SATA or SATA II as well.

The SATA II hard drive should have a speed limiter jumper if your PC is only
SATA capable. Be sure to use that jumper if that's the case. Remove the
jumper, if not the case.
Dave