Using usb hub to connect multiple usb drives to network

kristalL

Prominent
Jul 19, 2017
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So currently I have an asus AC1300 router setup as an access point on my network. I have a 2tb seagate external hard drive connected to the single usb port on the router and it is being shared over the network using SMB. I have a few 2.5'" laptop drives sitting around and I was wondering if I could use a powered usb hub and SATA to usb adapters to connect all the drive to the router since it only has one usb port.

Are there any issue with this setup? Also would I be able to write or read from multiple drives at the same time if they are connected Via a USB hub.

Router: https://www.amazon.com/RT-ACRH13-Dual-Band-AC1300-4-port-Gigabit/dp/B01LXL1AR8/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1500494146&sr=1-1&keywords=asus+AC+1300

Current external drive : https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00TKFEE5S/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
Solution
I don't see any real issue in it simply "working".

Where I do think you'll see some issues is in some speed. A USB3.0 port has theoretical transfer speeds up to 640MBps (obviously never hit in real-world usage) Considering some flash drives can do >150MBps read and >100MBps write, SATA3 based HDDs should achieve these type of results too.

Then say, for example, you attach 4 SATA3 HDDs (via USB) to a hub. In theory, that 640MBps is then divided by 4 = 160MBps (2.5x that of the max theoretical USB2.0 transfer speeds) and greater than the drives should be capable of. The problem being that 160MBps is theoretical and will provide nowhere close on a "per device" basis, limiting the real-world transfer speeds of the drives...

Barty1884

Retired Moderator
I don't see any real issue in it simply "working".

Where I do think you'll see some issues is in some speed. A USB3.0 port has theoretical transfer speeds up to 640MBps (obviously never hit in real-world usage) Considering some flash drives can do >150MBps read and >100MBps write, SATA3 based HDDs should achieve these type of results too.

Then say, for example, you attach 4 SATA3 HDDs (via USB) to a hub. In theory, that 640MBps is then divided by 4 = 160MBps (2.5x that of the max theoretical USB2.0 transfer speeds) and greater than the drives should be capable of. The problem being that 160MBps is theoretical and will provide nowhere close on a "per device" basis, limiting the real-world transfer speeds of the drives. Probably more akin to attaching to a USB2.0 port individually (workable, but not ideal).


So, yeah. I see no reason it wouldn't 'work', but it'll very likely give you slower transfer speeds than using a single USB3.0 external HDD.
 
Solution