external SATA (eSATA) - any experiences?

[Chris Ruprecht]

John Austin wrote:
> On Sun, 2006-11-12 at 19:55 -0500, Chris Ruprecht wrote:
>   
>> Hello all,
>>
>> I'm trying to find a reliable solution for external hard drives 
>> (non-SCSI because of costs).
>> I tried USB and FireWire and am not impressed by either speed nor 
>> reliability. I'm now thinking of using an eSATA solution but I have not 
>> hear of any experiences (good or bad). Has anybody tried this? It 
>> promises high speed and it looks like it might be as reliable as 
>> internal drives.
>>
>> Please let me know if you heard anything ...
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Chris
>>
>>     
> Hi
>
> I have been using "plug in" SATA drives for about a year - no problems
> whatsoever !!!!
> My machines only have SATA 1 but some of the boxes support SATA 2
>
> Remember they are not HOT SWAP yet, coming very soon I believe.
>
> I have fitted a SATA to SATA cable/socket from Lindy to a Shuttle and
> can easily connect the following
> on the back panel
>
> 1. PATA drive in an ext ICYbox with SATA 1 and USB I/F
>    35MB/sec with simple hdparm read
>
> 2. SATA to SATA Icybox for SATA 2 drives
>    Full speed hdparm read 70MB/sec I think
>
> Also have a couple of brilliant internal 5.25in Icybox SATA   "slots"
> that carry a raw SATA 2 disk (no disk caddy needed) again full SATA
> speed
> Only 11 UK pounds and very well built.
>
> I have removed my DVD-ROM from the Shuttle and replaced it with the
> Icybox SATA "disk holder".
> Temp may be a problem on this particular machine
> but it has been working OK for 3 months.
>
> This is probably the best solution if you don't want
> to move data to other peoples machines, but just plug in for backup or
> installation of a new operating system.
>
> I have not used eSATA cable/sockets yet.
>
> I have labelled all my disks using e2label but still get into trouble
> (have to do things on the command line) when moving them from machine to
> machine !!!!
> I'm hoping hotswap will solve that problem and the
> pain of a reboot.
>
> Unplugging/plugging in when the machine is up does not kill my machine
> it just doesn't notice !
>
> John
>
>
>   
Thank you, John, this is good to know. I'll be going eSATA shopping 
soon, I suppose.

Best regards,
Chris