Technical > PC Hardware Discussion/Reviews > esata

esata

eSATA, standardized in 2004, provides a variant of SATA meant for external connectivity. It has revised electrical requirements in addition to incompatible cables and connectors.

If you have native support on your mobo for SATA then connect the hard drive directly to it.
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*** Never Forget 9/11 ***

reply to tymfdc
I think ESATA only brings the SATA connection to an external jack and lets you plug an ESATA specified cable into it. I know the cable is important as the wrong ESATA cable can significantly affect transfer speeds.

For me finding an ESATA II cable locally was impossible.

I think you can buy PC kits that convert internal SATA jacks to ESATA.

I like ESATA it is much faster than USB.
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"People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use."

reply to tymfdc
Reminder: do not purchase SATA-to-eSATA bracket adapters.

What most consumers don't know is that the cable length limitations of eSATA are incredibly stringent. Users will buy a SATA-to-eSATA bracket, then buy a 6 foot long eSATA cable and expect things to work... only to find that their eSATA drive drops off the bus randomly, has weird I/O errors, or other problems. Only after much cursing and forum posting do they find out that the cable length between the bracket and the internal SATA connector on their mainboard contributes to the overall length. Most internal SATA cables are a foot long.

eSATA has a maximum permitted cable length of 2 metres (6.6 feet).

A much better choice is to purchase a PCI/PCI Express SATA controller which has native eSATA ports on the back of it.
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Making life hard for others since 1977.
I speak for myself and not my employer/affiliates of my employer.

reply to tymfdc
Excellent tip koitsu, as per usual .

-P