External HD's

[Dillinger4]

Does anybody like the idea of having an external HD? Im looking at one of these. Any suggestions?

36GB, 10000 rpm, Ultra SCSI 3.5" external hard drive for PCs and Macs

2 times faster than ultra2 SCSI : up to 160MB/s
2 times longer cabling : enables up to 12 meters SCSI chain length
Unlike SCSI-3, ultra160/LVD uses differential signaling : lower sensitivity to electro-magnetic interferences and better data integrity
Ultra160/LVD is 100% backwards compatible with down to ultra (wide) SCSI
Ultra160/LVD SCSI hard disks are available at LaCie at the same price as ultra2 LVD SCSI hard disks

$539.00

http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/default.asp?EDC=243880

18GB, 7200 rpm, Ultra3 SCSI (Ultra 160/m) 68-pin external hard drive

Compatibility: Mac and PC
Mechanism: Seagate
SE external case enclosure, with two 68pin SCSI connectors.
Includes 68 to 68 SCSI LVD cable and power cord
Universal power supply
System requirements:
Windows 95 or newer. System must have a U160 SCSI card interface.
Mac - all systems.


Seek time Average (ms) 6.3ms
Buffer size 4MB
Rotational speed (rpm) 7200
Transfer rate (max MBps) 160
Interface: Ultra3 SCSI (Ultra 160/m)
Warranty 3 year

$299.00

http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/default.asp?EDC=293154

[scoutt]

$299 for a 18gig hard drive?

that seems like a waste of money as you can get 40gig for under $100.

and ata100 is just as fast as scsi now.

but to each his own I guess

[filburt1]

Don't get an external drive. Instead, get an external IDE to Firewire box, and then get the drive separately. You'll save at least $100.

[Jethro]

Hmmm depends on what you want it for, and budget.

If needing extra space for your porn collection, go out and buy yourself a 120gig and throw into your rig as a slave drive, depending on your BIOS's ability to see it.

If needing to change hard disks, we do this on one box to test new releases against WinNT, Unix, and Linux, buy yourself a cradle and extractable drives.

We do have one external drive which we use to ghost setups on XP machines, the sysops refuse to allow XP on our network.

What do you want the drive for?

[Dillinger4]

I basically want the new hd for data backup. Really to mirror the other hard drive.

[Jethro]

Okay that's a reasonable idea.....insert another hard disk and mirror the main one. Under NT should be able to get automatic switch over if main fails, of course the external does allow for multi OS swapping...which is cool if you don't wont multiple rigs..

And no have no idea how to setup mirroring, apparent isn't too difficult to achieve however....gotta love those windows wizards

[scoutt]

I thought mirroring was only done on raid platforms?

[Beacon]

Nope there's applications that will do it for you in a way.

[JungleMan]

Originally posted by Beacon
Nope there's applications that will do it for you in a way.

Could you link me to one of these?

[Beacon]

Hmm in a way:

Arco Duplidisk
DOS MIRROR command i think!
Ghost
ArcServe

b

[Jethro]

Ghost is the one we use....Norton does it, and no you don't need a raid thingy, windows offers full support.....

[Behemoth]

xxcopy

[JungleMan]

Originally posted by scoutt
and ata100 is just as fast as scsi now.

Since when is a 7200rpm ATA/100 drive as fast as a 15,000rpm SCSI???

those IBM 120GXPs are pretty fast but maybe you want to leave your computer on MORE than 8 hours a day

[Jethro]

An external hard drive is cool, if you need to switch in and out large files..... can't see much else use for em. Some Advertising companies use them to store campaigns on etc....

[scoutt]

Originally posted by jpbtennisman


Since when is a 7200rpm ATA/100 drive as fast as a 15,000rpm SCSI???

those IBM 120GXPs are pretty fast but maybe you want to leave your computer on MORE than 8 hours a day

just because the drives spins fast doesn't mean it gets sent the same speed. ata100 is almost just as fast, but still recommended for home use not a server.

[JungleMan]

Originally posted by scoutt

just because the drives spins fast doesn't mean it gets sent the same speed. ata100 is almost just as fast, but still recommended for home use not a server.

If the interface is faster (160MB/sec as opposed to 100) and the spin speed is faster, how can the drive be slower??

[JungleMan]

Originally posted by Jethro
An external hard drive is cool, if you need to switch in and out large files..... can't see much else use for em. Some Advertising companies use them to store campaigns on etc....

Expansion for laptops-- why else do you think I've got one

[Beacon]

Originally posted by Jethro
An external hard drive is cool, if you need to switch in and out large files..... can't see much else use for em. Some Advertising companies use them to store campaigns on etc....

I can think of more:

1) A new server costs at least $30 000.
2) Replacing all drives in current server costs more. say at least $3000 + time!
3) Transferrring GB's of data between countries!!

[scoutt]

Originally posted by jpbtennisman


If the interface is faster (160MB/sec as opposed to 100) and the spin speed is faster, how can the drive be slower??

not true, my IDE HD is rated at 140Mb/s but don't get it. SCSI or not you will still go as fast as the MB will let you. again bus speed comes in play here. so the drive can spin as fast as it wants. it will still only go as fast as the processor or board will let it. and last time I checked they don't make a board specific to SCSI in the user world.

that is why I say a SCSI drive is not for home use as an IDE drive is just as a fast if not faster. that is why you see SCSI dying out in the user world.