Most users do one of two things when their PC runs out of hard disk space: they either add an additional drive or rely on external storage with a USB 2.0 or Firewire connection. However, both options have their disadvantages, since installing a new drive can be a cumbersome process, while external hard drives do not offer the same level of performance as that of directly attached Serial ATA (SATA) or UltraATA. However, external SATA (eSATA) is a worthy alternative.
eSATA falls under the DAS (Direct Attached Story) category, which comprises storage products that are hooked up externally at a high speed using fast interfaces such as SATA, SAS or UltraSCSI.
Taiwanese storage firm Thecus' eSATA device accommodates two SATA drives, with a maximum bandwidth of 300 MB/s. Still eSATA is not going to replace USB 2.0 or Firewire any time soon: eSATA is comparatively a nascent technology and most motherboards do not yet offer it, while USB or Firewire can be found on almost any computer today. For this reason, Thecus decided to equip the N2050 with both eSATA and USB ports.
Patrick Schmid was the editor-in-chief for Tom's Hardware from 2005 to 2006. He wrote numerous articles on a wide range of hardware topics, including storage, CPUs, and system builds.
