The Drive: 500GB, Portable, USB 2.0
The Replica is simply a 250GB or 500GB Momentus 5400.6 hard drive wrapped up in a USB 2.0-based shell. Since the primary purpose of this drive is backup, we can live without eSATA or FireWire ports (the latter of which isn't that popular anyway).
Obviously, the drive is bottlenecked by its USB 2.0 interface, reaching a maximum throughput of 32 MB/s (a shame, since we're starting to see pre-production USB 3.0 devices in the lab that'll alleviate this limitation). This is a good result for USB 2.0, but mediocre when compared to other, higher-performance portable or external storage solutions. The 18.3 ms access time also is an average (but sufficient) result.
The device only comes with a mini-USB port and two holes for the included, detachable stand. The stand integrates a USB connector and cable, allowing it to work as a docking station for the Replica drive. Seagate also included a short USB cable to directly attach the drive to a system, for times like when you’re on the road.
