usb 2.0 hd's?!?!?!!?

[JPWRana]

ok... i don't know if this is possible, but you guys tell me. Isn't it, and wouldn't it be better if the hdd's were instead of an ATA cable (wide, and slow speeds) or SATA (although much less wide than regular ATA, but still about same speeds as ATA) be replaced with usb 2.0 cables? The usb cables are much more less of a hassle than the ATA cables, and speeds are MUCH MUCH MUCH more higher from usb 2.0 compared to ATA or SATA.

If it is so possible, then why don't we have that now? I guess you can also say the same for firewire, because its similar to usb 2.0 (in speeds and cable thickness).

The greatest risk of all is not taking one!

 

[Napoleon]

I think USB2.0 and FireWire speeds are expressed in megabits/second (480Mb/s and 400Mb/s, respectively). SATA speed is given in megabytes/second (150MB/s).

So, directly comparable maximum transfer speeds would be (480/8)MB/s = 60MB/s for USB2, (400/8)MB/s = 50MB/s for FireWire and 150MB/s for SATA. It *is* possible to to use USB2 or FW as storage interface, there already are (external) USB2/FW disks out there. It's just that they aren't quite fast enough, especially if you have lots of other stuff hooked up to same USB2 or FW channel.


<b>What do you mean, "don't touch that heatsink"? Step aside and let me show you howWAAAAH!!</b>

 

[JPWRana]

oh ok... i was confused, that's all. I thought usb 2.0 or firewire woulda been better for hdd's. Now wait... if ATA and SATA ARE faster, then y aren't external devices connected using ATA and SATA? just because of the wide ribbon?

The greatest risk of all is not taking one!

 

[Ncogneto]

ATA cables have limitations in signal degradation and reflection with increasing distances thus making them unsiutable for long distances. I do believe that SATA uses twisted pair and could be used as such.

It's not what they tell you, its what they don't tell you!

 

[lhgpoobaa]

yeah. due to signal integrity and noise factors ATA cables should be no longer than 18" (45cm).
longer ones do exist, but at the possible cost of signal integrity.
so the length and flexibility of old ata ribbon cables has long been a problem.
serial ata however can have cables up to 1 meter in length apparently, so we may see external S-ATA drives in the future.

for the time being usb2.0 is adequate... 480mbits/sec = 60MB/sec. a decent speed, considering that the best IDE hard drives can sustain around 50mb/sec internally.

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