Internal V External HDD for video editing work

[Rudyard]

My computer at home (not the one in my other defrag thead) has 2 160gb HDD but I really need a 3rd mega storage drive.

I am constantly running out of space and my capture drive is bogged down with storage and thus I cant capture until I clear some projects out.

The 1 TB or 500GB external drives are reasonable priced.

Is there a difference when working on these drives, compared to internal i.e. will things render faster, preview faster, is there a lag or slowdowns when working from externall HDDs with HD video (and DV video or uncompressed AVI)???

The ability to move it around is appealing but I guess performance at the end of the day is crucial.

So it will basically my storage and work drive i.e.
Drive 1 160GB - OS and Programs
Drive 2 160GB - Capture
Drive 3 500GB-1TB - Store/work on all files - External V Internal?

[KBeee]

An external SATA drive should work as fast as an internal SATA drive, with the added advantage of being easy to swap for another one when it's full.

[Krispy Kritter]

For storage, you can get by with an external drive. Although long transfer times for gigs of data get a bit tedious. For fast transfer times or to work from the drive, you will want an external SATA (eSATA) drive as noted above or add another internal HDD.

[edDV]

Figure an external USB2 drive will sustained transfer (or copy) at about 30-50% the rate of an internal PATA/SATA drive. Speed is adequate for DV/HDV at 1x but you will notice "calculating" and copy delays for large files. IEEE-1394 (400) drives are slightly faster than USB2. As said above eSATA is as fast as an internal drive.

Capture to an external USB2 drive is more risky since the CPU is acting as disk controller and is subject to interrupts or process crashes. Non OS PATA/SATA drives use hardware disk controllers that usually run independent of CPU activity using PCI bus mastering.

[Rudyard]

Thanks for the replies, I have never heard of an external SATA drive, only ever see USB and FIREWIRE.

I will check out the prices on ESATA.

[edDV]

Thanks for the replies, I have never heard of an external SATA drive, only ever see USB and FIREWIRE.

I will check out the prices on ESATA.

I got an external eSATA drive case in the last post Christmas sales for $24 (regular $49). It will take any PATA or SATA drive and convert to eSATA. I had to add an eSATA plate for $7.50 at MicroCenter.

Similar to this

[Rudyard]

Ed,

So is an Esata drive simply an internal SATA drive in a hard disc enclosure?

[edDV]

Ed,

So is an Esata drive simply an internal SATA drive in a hard disc enclosure?

Except the eSATA cable can go to further max length. The eSATA cable came with the enclosure. Purchased separately they are more expensve.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_ATA
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-esata.htm

Some inexpensive cases
http://www.xpcgear.com/usbidesatacase.html

[Rudyard]

Thanks EdDV for the links, I understand now. That picture in your post above is like a port to connect it to (as opposed to USB and Firewire).

1 last question, can you buy Esata drives that also have a USB port? As I will have the SATA connection at my home but any places I may take it wont have it and if I need to transfer data it will be great.

So I guess do the drives come as ESATA/USB drives much like many come with Firewire and USB ports?

[redwudz]

Yes, you can get combination eSATA and USB or FireWire enclosures. I believe edDV's link has some. If you have unused SATA ports on your motherboard, you can also use a PCI slot adapter to carry the SATA connection to the rear of the computer like the one edDV pictured. Or you can install a PCI SATA adapter card with external connections. A external SATA drive should behave exactly the same as a internal SATA drive.

[KBeee]

The drives themselves are standard hard disk drives, same as you'd put inside your case.
For ease of use you can buy an external enclosure which holds the HDD and provides a power supply, and many eSATA external enclosures have both eSATA and USB2 connections.
Just do a search on your favourite computer hardware suppliers website for external SATA to see the many options available.
I personally have 2 Icybox eSATA enclosures that have both eSATA and USB2 connections, and a nice easy flip down front to easily swap HDD's.

[edDV]

Most eSATA enclosures have USB2 ports as well. The computer end can use the adapter shown to bring a motherboard SATA connector out to the rear. You can also add eSATA ports with eSATA PCI or PC card products.