Recommend an external drive

[vienna1944er]

even though the eSATA spec and SATA electrical spec are different,

Standardized in mid-2004,
eSATA defined separate cables, connectors, and revised electrical requirements for external applications:

Minimum transmit potential increased: Range is 500–600 mV instead of 400–600 mV.
Minimum receive potential decreased: Range is 240–600 mV instead of 325–600 mV.

you just keep the external cable to 1meter which is plenty long enough for most use,

opposition .... the "max 1m" specification from (standard)SATA contain's the internal way from MB to the breakout panel on backside from PC.
Imho correct is:keep the external cable to >100 centimeter minus the internal centimeter<

friendly greetings from europe\austria\vienna .... old Hans

[STORMDAVE]

I think you'll always be required to have separate power on 3.5" External HD's anyway.

[GrassValley_BH]

eSATA doesn't currently supply power so that is moot, you need external pwr for external eSATA enclosures

True, I was more pointing (albeit poorly) to the fact that most people don't have external power bricks with SATA power connectors.

[Blast1]

the SATA breakout panel just brings the same internal SATA connector to the outside for connecting a SATA drive directly, as if it was inside the case. This means you need to supply external power to the drive.

eSATA doesn't currently supply power so that is moot, you need external pwr for external eSATA enclosures
There are SATA breakout panels and SATA to eSATA breakout panels, the latter will attach to the MoBo SATA connections to provide a eSATA external connection, most external enclosures are eSATA which is a different type connector, the breakout panels provde a connector adapting function, even though the eSATA spec and SATA electrical spec are different, they are not that different where they wouldn't work, you just keep the external cable to 1meter which is plenty long enough for most use, one problem with eSATA cables is stiffness, but there are some cables that are more flexable, the SATA drives whether external or internal have the same basic throughput, fastest sneaker net I've used, also most external eSATA enclosures are 12v and can be run directly from a source like a auto cig lighter

[rsn108]

Either WD eSATA or Seagate eSATA in an enclosure with a fan built into it.

[RonnieMartin]

Hello Jo Jo (Dan) All of my edit stations now have internal raids 1.6 TB for editing and are set up as Raid 5 0 which gives some degree of safety. I have only had one drive go down in the Raids and none of the data was lost.
All I noticed was that suddenly the computer slowed down. I put in a new drive and the raid rebuilt itself over night.

What I do for storage is External ESata Maxtor drives in external enclosures from Fries in Atlanta. The brand name of the enclosure is Venus and it has an internal fan.

While editing I keep everything in one project folder. I do not share any files across the projects. When I am finished with a project I simply copy and paste that file to the external drive and go to bed. In the morning it is all there and if I ever have to go back and work on a project again I copy it back to he Raid with the proper Drive letter and it is all there. Most of my projects are about 2 hours long and with all the files are from 60-80 gigs.

take care

Ronnie

btw did you get my last PM and e-mail?

[vienna1944er]

and just "SATA breakout panels" - the SATA breakout panel just brings the same internal SATA connector
to the outside for connecting a SATA drive directly,

and on the way from onboard SATA-connection to the breakout panel on backside from PC
most the half from the summary 1m (~ 40") obsolete,
only the the rest = 50cm (~ 20") is left over for backside from PC to the external case.

note: the specification: "max length = 1m = 100cm = ~40" is the summary cable length
between the internal-onboard connector and the connector on the external case

eSATA is relative new, so you need a relative new board or card.....
one from more exampel's: http://www.intel.com/products/mother...00XS/index.htm
Peripheral interfaces:
Six Serial ATA 3.0 Gb/s ports, including 2 eSATA port with RAID support supplied by a Marvell* controller

[OT]
note to this newest Intel (desktop) board
The ground-breaking Intel® Dual Socket Extreme Desktop Platform is the first dual socket desktop board from Intel,
the world leader in silicon innovation. With dual CPU capability that provides up to 8 core processing,

Support for 45nm Intel® Core®2 Extreme processors in an LGA771 socket with a 1600 MHz system bus
Support for both 45nm & 65nm Intel® Xeon® processors in an LGA771 socket with a 1600, 1333, or 1066 MHz system bus
Support for FBDIMM DDR2 800MHz, 667 MHz, DIMMs
[OT]

greetings from europe (the "meter" continent) ..... old Hans ;-)

[Gunn]

Hans brings up a good point. There are eSATA interfaces and just "SATA breakout panels" - the SATA breakout panel just brings the same internal SATA connector to the outside for connecting a SATA drive directly, as if it was inside the case. This means you need to supply external power to the drive.

eSATA interfaces, on the other hand, are designed to connect to an eSATA enclosure or case. eSATA has sturdier connector so it's better for day-to-day use.

I am concerned that I might have a problem connecting to one of the six Sata connections which are controlled by the MoBo. I really do not know anything about raids but I understand that HP's on board raid controller is not very flexible.

JoJo

[GrassValley_BH]

Hans brings up a good point. There are eSATA interfaces and just "SATA breakout panels" - the SATA breakout panel just brings the same internal SATA connector to the outside for connecting a SATA drive directly, as if it was inside the case. This means you need to supply external power to the drive.

eSATA interfaces, on the other hand, are designed to connect to an eSATA enclosure or case. eSATA has sturdier connector so it's better for day-to-day use.

[vienna1944er]

It seems that I can install a Sata card in one

SATA and eSATA are not absolutely the same thing >> SATA and eSATA have not the same specifications.
Source: SATA-wikipedia = in a better englis, than mine...*g*

Imho, you need not a pure "SATA card" for internal drives, you need a "eSATA card" for external drives (or a combination from both SATA + eSATA )

the eSATA specifications included a different bus-voltage as on (normal)SATA
this allows cable length max: 2m .............(normal)SATA cable length max: 1m

excuse my confused english ..... greetings from europe\austria\vienna ... old Hans

[Gunn]

I have really been researching the drives you all recommended. It seems that I can install a Sata card in one of the three PCI X slots and simply run a cable to the external drive. This is offered by Seagate. I think this would get me past worrying about the MOBO raid configuration. I THINK!

JoJo...the wrinkled radical

[vienna1944er]

most MB tests in the late time on real PC's (P35 up to X48 intel chipsets) tells:
bandwidth (different according to the "MB-type) : from 20 up to 40 Mbyte/sec

equal for USB2.0 or FW 1394 ..... but USB ist the better\saver part from the both.

1394 have problem (from beginning) with static electricity charge,
1394 entry ohmic-resistor is many,many higher than USB ... but the 1394 lobby hold this detail under the table.....
1394 need potential equalization before connecting ...
read the manauals from Cams with 1394 out\input about this part, it is most "small print" and a bit hidden......
periodic to read the stories from fired Cam-FW input\ FW-controller in the forums, multiplied in the wintertime with low relative humidity

would they be fast enough even for archiving?

Imho .... yes .... look at the table ......the rest is your selection......it is your time.....and it is your money.....



excuse my "gibberish" english ...... happy editing .... old Hans

[rokclimr]

Nothing but Western Digital for me. I've lost lots of drives but never from WD. Their external raid drives work great and they're available in 2TB now.

Brad

[Jeff Chandler]

Thanks so much for the info. Now I must decide on feeding the HHD/enclosure with a Sata cable or Firewire or USB2! USB/Firewire would be easier but would they be fast enough even for archiving?

What are you folks using?

JoJo

Yep, fast enough.

[Blast1]

Since my desktops have six SATA connections with two seperate controllers I just bought a Dual port eSATA II extension bracket($7us) that mounts in one of the slots on the back which connects to a pair of MoBo SATAs and has a eSATA II connection on the outside to connect to the enclosures, The enclosures also have USB 2 connections which I never use.