USB2 vs Fast Ethernet Hard Disk access

[Juan]

I want to be able to connect internal hard disks (mainly IDE ones but want SATA for future) using an external holder but I'm not sure whether to just buy an external enclosure that uses USB2 or pay at least twice as much for a NAS device that uses a Fast Ethernet connection. I would use the device for accessing data as normal and for backing up but I wouldn't necessarily have the device connected all the time.

I was wondering how much of a difference is there in transfer speeds between USB2 and 100Mbit Ethernet?


Also, can NAS devices take 2.5 inch disks or just 3.5 inch disks?

Thanks

[Paul]

The good point of a NAS is that the ethernet connection allows you to put it on your Network and access it from multiple machines. If you are not using a network at home you probably won't need to go above USB2 or USB3 for general usage. How big are the files you are looking to access/ move/ backup?

[AbyssUnderground]

USB2.0 (480Mbps) is faster than 100Mbps Ethernet, but Ethernet will allow easy access via a network.

[ZrByte]

Originally Posted by AbyssUnderground

USB2.0 (480Mbps) is faster than 100Mbps Ethernet, but Ethernet will allow easy access via a network.

Don't forget that's just the interface speed, not the drive speed. Most single drives rarely perform more than 40MB/s (320Mbps) most perform closer to 20MB/s (160mbps) So fast Ethernet doesn't fall far short. But then thats irrelevant anyway as all but the most modern and often expensive of NAS units don't achieve full interface speed anyway. My fastest was 8.5MB/s (68Mbps) over gigabit LAN though that was about 2 years ago so maybe things have improved.

Personally unless you plan to access it from another machine (or console if the NAS you are looking at supports uPnP) I would go with USB 2. Will be easier to run and likely to be much faster and cheaper.
I have one of these SATA only so no good for the OP but a fantastic bit of Kit, You can even get an 8 bay version if you are so inclined.

[AbyssUnderground]

I've never ever seen any single IDE drive that has a capacity of 80GB or more perform less than 60MB/s, so I don't know what drives you use. The performance is always limited by the interface on USB2.0 drives and NAS drives with a 100Mbps interface. All modern hard drives will outperform a USB2.0 interface without any trouble at all.

If you want a simple enclosure, look on www.ebuyer.com as they can be bought for under £10. You can choose from SATA or IDE (PATA) for the same price, and it's worth getting one of each if you intend on having both drives. Forget a NAS device if you're only using it for the occasional backup as they're slower than USB2.0.

[Jameseh]

You could look at Windows Home Server if your willing to go up to £300, depends what your wanting from it really.

[Welshchris]

what about USB3.0? why not wait until USB3.0 externals become available if ur not in a major hurry.

[Lord Nikon]

or eSATA

[AbyssUnderground]

For USB3 or eSATA you're assuming the OP has these options available on their motherboard, otherwise it would require an upgrade. For occasional use, USB2.0 is the best way to go.

if you are backing up then yes a USB drive would suit but if you intend to share a Network attached device would be better

To illustrate if you are sharing between computers you copy to USB device remove device take it to other pc and copy from device. With NAS you just copy across. In real world computing the NAS shares faster than having to write to and then read from the USB