How good is external (USB) HDD?

[zidane1strife]

I hope the enclosure isn't the fanless adaptec one. That's the one that ate my drive.

It's made from aluminum, and the hdd fits inside with a bit of free room. But it's indeed fanless, it's a compusa 3.5" Hdd enclosure. It normally costs $45, and it's look is similar to those ceramic white, used in pocket external hdds, so I hope it doesn't cause any trouble.

 

[BRiT]

I hope the enclosure isn't the fanless adaptec one. That's the one that ate my drive.

I have a few DVD-R/CD-R units and 4 hard-drive units [120, 160, 250, 250 gigs]. I've chosen to run the larger 5.25" enclosures, in particular the FireXpress series. The purpose was multi-fold. They stack nicely and allow for easy swapping of components. The aluminum is sturdier than plastic units. Another reason is the use of an external power-brick. This means there is less heat generated inside the enclosure. I was also trying for a quiet setup. It has a small 40mm internal fan. I found it too annoying, so I disconnected it. I have the drives set to spindown. I've been running without it for close to three years without any issues.

 

[mito]

SCSI is a packet level protocol.

ATAPI is simply SCSI over ATA.

Is this because both are parallel? I don't get it.

 

[Frank]

SCSI is a packet level protocol.

ATAPI is simply SCSI over ATA.

Is this because both are parallel? I don't get it.

SCSI is a communication protocol, meant for transferring and storing blocks of data, just like the TCP protocol is for sending and receiving blocks of data out of order. You could use it with any kind of direct point to point connection.

There are multiple different layers in each kind of connection, from the physical cable, through a protocol that allows the devices to talk to each other, resulting in a protocol that allows you to perform specific tasks. And you can even run multiple, different protocols alongside each other through the same cable.

 

[_xxx_]

Here's some explanation of protocol models for the interested:
http://www.comptechdoc.org/independent/networking/guide/netstandards.html

 

[Deepak]

So finally which one to get, internal o external?? And will a 160 GB HDD be compatible with A7N266-VM?