e sata for hard drive. What are hard drive slots? Features of connecting hard drives to laptops

A hard disk is a simple and small "box" in appearance, storing huge amounts of information in the computer of any modern user.

This is exactly what it seems from the outside: a rather uncomplicated little thing. It is rare that when recording, deleting, copying and other actions with files of various importance, they think about the principle of interaction between a hard drive and a computer. And to be even more precise - directly with the motherboard itself.

How these components are connected into a single uninterrupted operation, how the hard drive itself is arranged, what connection connectors it has and what each of them is intended for - this is the key information about the storage device that is familiar to everyone.

HDD interface

It is this term that can correctly be called the interaction with the motherboard. The word itself has a much broader meaning. For example, the program interface. In this case, the part that provides a way for a person to interact with the software (a convenient "friendly" design) is meant.

However, it's different. In the case of the HDD and the motherboard, it does not represent a pleasant graphic design for the user, but a set of special lines and data transfer protocols. These components are connected to each other using a loop - a cable with inputs at both ends. They are designed to connect to ports on the hard drive and motherboard.

In other words, the entire interface on these devices is two cables. One is connected to the hard drive power connector on one end and to the computer power supply itself on the other. And the second of the cables connects the HDD to the motherboard.

How a hard drive was connected in the old days - an IDE connector and other relics of the past

The very beginning, after which more advanced HDD interfaces appear. Ancient by today's standards appeared on the market around the 80s of the last century. IDE literally means "embedded controller".

Being a parallel data interface, it is also commonly called ATA - However, as soon as the new SATA technology appeared and gained huge popularity in the market, the standard ATA was renamed PATA (Parallel ATA) to avoid confusion.

Extremely slow and very raw in terms of its technical capabilities, this interface in the years of its popularity could pass from 100 to 133 megabytes per second. And then only in theory, because in real practice these figures were even more modest. Of course, newer interfaces and hard drive connectors will show a noticeable gap between IDE and modern developments.

Do you think we should not underestimate the attractive sides? Older generations probably remember that the technical capabilities of PATA made it possible to serve two HDDs at once using only one cable connected to the motherboard. But the capacity of the line in this case was similarly distributed in half. And this is not even mentioning the width of the wire, which in one way or another prevents the flow of fresh air from the fans in the system unit with its dimensions.

By our time, the IDE is already naturally outdated, both physically and morally. And if until recently this connector was found on motherboards of the lower and middle price segments, now the manufacturers themselves do not see any prospects in it.

Everyone's favorite SATA

For a long time, the IDE has become the most popular interface for working with storage media. But the technologies for data transmission and processing did not stagnate for a long time, soon offering a conceptually new solution. Now it can be found in almost any owner of a personal computer. And its name is SATA (Serial ATA).

Distinctive features of this interface are parallel low power consumption (compared to IDE), less heating of components. Throughout the history of its popularity, SATA has gone through three phases of revisions:

1. SATA I - 150 Mb/s.
2. SATA II - 300 Mb/s.
3. SATA III - 600 Mb/s.

A couple of updates were also developed for the third revision:

• 3.1 - more advanced bandwidth, but still limited by a limit of 600 mb / s.
• 3.2 with the SATA Express specification - a successfully implemented merger of SATA and PCI-Express devices, which made it possible to increase the read / write speed of the interface to 1969 MB / s. Roughly speaking, the technology is an "adapter" that transfers the normal SATA mode to a faster one, which the PCI-connector lines have.

The real figures, of course, clearly differed from the officially declared ones. First of all, this is due to the excess bandwidth of the interface - for many modern drives, the same 600 MB / s is unnecessary, because they were not originally designed to work at such a read / write speed. Only over time, when the market will gradually be filled with high-speed drives with incredible performance for today, will the technical potential of SATA be fully utilized.

Finally, many physical aspects have been improved. SATA is designed to use longer cables (1 meter versus 46 centimeters used for hard drives with an IDE connector) with a much smaller size and a nice appearance. Support for "hot-swapping" HDDs is provided - you can connect / disconnect them without turning off the computer's power (however, you must first activate the AHCI mode in the BIOS).

The convenience of connecting the cable to the connectors has also increased. At the same time, all versions of the interface are backward compatible with each other (a SATA III hard drive connects to II on the motherboard without problems, SATA I to SATA II, etc.). The only caveat is that the maximum speed of working with data will be limited by the "oldest" link.

Owners of old devices will not stand aside either - existing PATA to SATA adapters will save you from the more expensive purchase of a modern HDD or a new motherboard.

External SATA

But not always a standard hard drive is suitable for the user's tasks. There is a need to store large amounts of data that need to be used in different places and, accordingly, transported. For such cases, when you have to work with one drive not only at home, external hard drives have been developed. Due to the specifics of their device, they require a completely different connection interface.

This is another type of SATA, created for external hard drive connectors, with the external prefix. Physically, this interface is not compatible with standard SATA ports, but it has a similar bandwidth.

There is support for "hot-swap" HDD, and the length of the cable itself is increased to two meters.

In the original version, eSATA only allows you to exchange information, without supplying the necessary electricity to the appropriate connector of an external hard drive. This drawback, eliminating the need to use two cables at once for connection, was corrected with the advent of the Power eSATA modification, combining eSATA technologies (responsible for data transfer) with USB (responsible for power).

Universal Serial Bus

In fact, having become the most common standard for a serial interface for connecting digital equipment, the Universal Serial Bus is known to everyone these days.

Having endured a long history of constant major changes, USB is all about high speed data transfer, powering an unprecedented array of peripherals, and ease and convenience in everyday use.

Developed by companies such as Intel, Microsoft, Phillips, and US Robotics, the interface is the epitome of several technical aspirations:

• Expanding the functionality of computers. Before the advent of USB, standard peripherals were rather limited in variety and a separate port was required for each type (PS / 2, a port for connecting a joystick, SCSI, etc.). With the advent of USB, it was thought that it would become a single universal replacement, greatly simplifying the interaction of devices with a computer. Moreover, this new development for its time was also supposed to stimulate the emergence of non-traditional peripheral devices.
• Provide connection of mobile phones to computers. The widespread trend in those years for the transition of mobile networks to digital voice transmission revealed that none of the interfaces developed at that time could provide data and voice transmission from a telephone.
• Invention of comfortable "plug and play" principle, suitable for "hot plugging".

As is the case with the vast majority of digital technology, the USB hard drive connector has become a completely familiar phenomenon for us for a long time. However, in different years of its development, this interface has always demonstrated new peaks in the speed of reading / writing information.

In addition to this specification, different versions of USB are implemented for different types of devices. Among the varieties of cables and connectors of this interface, there are:

USB 3.0 could already offer another new type - C. Cables of this type are symmetrical and are inserted into the corresponding device from any side.

On the other hand, the third revision no longer provides for Mini and Micro "subtypes" of cables for type A.

Alternative FireWire

For all their popularity, eSATA and USB are not all options for how to connect an external hard drive connector to a computer.

FireWire is a slightly less well-known high-speed interface among the masses. Provides serial connection of external devices, the supported number of which also includes the HDD.

Its property of isochronous data transmission has mainly found its application in multimedia technology (video cameras, DVD players, digital audio equipment). Hard drives are connected to them much less often, preferring SATA or a more advanced USB interface.

This technology acquired its modern technical indicators gradually. So, the original version of FireWire 400 (1394a) was faster than its then main competitor USB 1.0 - 400 megabits per second versus 12. The maximum allowable cable length is 4.5 meters.

The advent of USB 2.0 left the rival behind, allowing data to be exchanged at a speed of 480 megabits per second. However, with the release of the new FireWire 800 (1394b) standard, which allowed the transfer of 800 megabits per second with a maximum cable length of 100 meters, USB 2.0 was less in demand on the market. This prompted the development of the third version of the serial universal bus, which expanded the data exchange ceiling to 5 Gb / s.

In addition, a distinctive feature of FireWire is its decentralization. The transfer of information via the USB interface necessarily requires a PC. FireWire, on the other hand, allows you to exchange data between devices without necessarily involving a computer in the process.

Thunderbolt

Intel, together with Apple, showed its vision of which hard drive connector should become the undisputed standard in the future by introducing the Thunderbolt interface (or, according to its old code name, Light Peak) to the world.

Built on PCI-E and DisplayPort architectures, this design allows data, video, audio and power to be transferred through a single port at truly impressive speeds of up to 10 Gb/s. In real tests, this figure was a little more modest and reached a maximum of 8 Gb / s. Even so, Thunderbolt outperformed its closest counterparts, FireWire 800 and USB 3.0, not to mention eSATA.

But this promising idea of ​​a single port and connector has not yet received such mass distribution. Although some manufacturers today successfully integrate external hard drive connectors, the Thunderbolt. On the other hand, the price for the technical capabilities of the technology is also relatively high, which is why this development is found mainly among expensive devices.

USB and FireWire compatibility can be achieved with appropriate adapters. This approach will not make them faster in terms of data transfer, since the throughput of both interfaces will still remain unchanged. There is only one advantage here - Thunderbolt will not be a limiting link with such a connection, allowing you to use all the technical capabilities of USB and FireWire.

SCSI and SAS - something that not everyone has heard of

Another parallel interface for connecting peripherals, which at one point shifted the focus of its development from desktop computers to a wider range of equipment.

The "Small Computer System Interface" was developed a little earlier than SATA II. By the time the latter was released, both interfaces were almost identical in their properties to each other, capable of providing a hard drive connector with stable operation from computers. However, SCSI used a common bus in operation, which is why only one of the connected devices could work with the controller.

Further refinement of the technology, which acquired the new name SAS (Serial Attached SCSI), has already been deprived of its former disadvantage. SAS provides connection of devices with a set of managed SCSI commands over a physical interface, which is similar to the same SATA. However, more opportunities allow you to connect not only hard drive connectors, but also many other peripherals (printers, scanners, etc.).

It supports hot-swap devices, bus expanders with the ability to simultaneously connect multiple SAS devices to a single port, and is also backward compatible with SATA.

NAS perspectives

An interesting way to work with large amounts of data, which is rapidly gaining popularity among modern users.

Or, in short, NAS is a separate computer with some disk array that is connected to a network (often a local one) and provides storage and data transfer among other connected computers.

Acting as a network storage, this mini-server is connected to other devices via an ordinary Ethernet cable. Further access to its settings is carried out through any browser with a connection to the network address of the NAS. The available data on it can be used both via an Ethernet cable and using Wi-Fi.

This technology allows you to provide a sufficiently reliable level of information storage and provide convenient easy access to it for trusted persons.

Features of connecting hard drives to laptops

The principle of operation of a HDD with a desktop computer is extremely simple and understandable to everyone - in most cases, it is required to connect the power connectors of the hard disk to the power supply with the appropriate cable and connect the device to the motherboard in the same way. When using external drives, you can generally get by with just one cable (Power eSATA, Thunderbolt).

But how to properly use laptop hard drive connectors? After all, a different design obliges to take into account several other nuances.

Firstly, to connect storage media directly “inside” the device itself, it should be borne in mind that the HDD form factor should be designated as 2.5 ”

Secondly, in a laptop, the hard drive is connected directly to the motherboard. Without any additional cables. Simply unscrew the cover for the HDD at the bottom of the previously turned off laptop. It has a rectangular appearance and is usually fastened with a pair of bolts. It is in that capacity that the storage device should be placed.

All laptop hard drive connectors are absolutely identical to their larger "brothers" designed for PCs.

Another connection option is to use an adapter. For example, a SATA III drive can be connected to USB ports installed on a laptop using a SATA-to-USB adapter (there are a huge number of such devices on the market for a variety of interfaces).

You just need to connect the HDD to the adapter. It, in turn, is connected to a 220V outlet for power supply. And already with a USB cable, connect this entire structure to a laptop, after which the hard drive will be displayed during operation as another partition.

eSATA interface and high-speed external case for desktop drives of any capacity

Capacious external drives and containers for 3.5-inch hard drives, as a rule, focused on the use of traditionally convenient USB (1.1 and 2.0) and FireWire (IEEE 1394a, 1394b) serial interfaces for these purposes, and for some time now they have been added to network interfaces (Fast and Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Wireless USB). Despite the attractiveness of such solutions, their main drawback is a very mediocre interface speed, which is significantly lower than the capabilities of modern hard drives used in such devices (the exception, perhaps, is the still rare and expensive IEEE 1394b and Gigabit Ethernet - and then with a number of reservations). Another important drawback here is the need to use special interface converters - controllers that translate the signals and protocols of one of the above external interfaces into the "native" signals of the IDE or Serial ATA disk interfaces. Not only do such controllers contribute significantly to the cost of external drives and containers themselves, but they are also an inevitable link in the delays in the operation of these devices, an additional point of failure and equipment failures.

eSATA interface (external Serial ATA)

At the same time, for some time now, the problem of choosing an interface for an external drive or a container for hard drives has found a very nice and optimal solution: the introduction of a serial Serial ATA disk interface, which was originally focused on hot plugging drives and an increased (compared to IDE) signal cable length, made it possible to create external drives and containers almost for nothing, simply by bringing the (internal) Serial ATA port outside the computer. This is exactly what some manufacturers did at first, until, finally, the eSATA standard (External Serial ATA, later issued as part of the Serial ATA 2.5 specifications and design guides) was adopted, which regulates the details of the external use of the Serial ATA interface.

eSATA was standardized in mid-2004 by defining the design of cables, connectors, and signal requirements for the external use of SATA drives. eSATA is characterized by:

• full speed SATA interface for external drive use;
• the absence of protocol conversion from IDE / SATA to USB / FireWire, that is, the availability of all disk functions, including S.M.A.R.T. for the host controller (and this is important!);
• signal cable length up to 2 meters (unfortunately, USB/FW/Ethernet cables can be longer);
• low-voltage signal transmission over the cable (400-500 mV for transmission and 240-500 mV for reception), which reduces power requirements, reduces interference, and also satisfies the cable length increased to 2 m;
• better than SATA protection against static electricity (ESD) when connecting cables, reduced electromagnetic interference (EMI) of cable signals that meet FCC and CE standards;
• better reliability and durability of the cable connection in the connector than SATA, designed for multiple switching.

It can be noted that the higher speed and lower latency of external drives with eSATA makes them a better choice when working with digital video and HD content. Of course, eSATA takes full advantage of all the useful features of the Serial ATA interface, such as Native Command Queuing (NCQ), Port Multiplier, Hot Plug and more. eSATA opens up new horizons for using high-speed RAID arrays in consumer external drives, since previous interfaces significantly limited their speed, so that the original meaning of their creation was lost. eSATA is suitable for easy expansion of disk capacity in server systems, as it can be easily connected to SATA II and SAS controllers.

A brief comparison of the main features of eSATA with other external disk interfaces is shown in the following table 1:

Table 1. Brief comparison of external and internal disk interfaces.

*- according to the site

The shape and design of the eSATA cable and connectors have been specified as a shielded version of the SATA 1.0a connectors and a modified connector shape and a circular metal ferrule of the plug and socket:

eSATA connectors.

There is no L-shaped connector key here, there is no vertical option for installing the connector.

For ESD protection, the stroke depth of the connector is increased from 5 to 6.6 mm, the contacts are additionally recessed inside. For better EMI protection, additional shielding of the cable (it is thicker than simple SATA) and connectors has been introduced. Mechanically, the connector is made more reliable, has a reinforced latch compared to SATA. It is designed for at least 5,000 "pokes" (100 times more than for a SATA connector).

Signal requirements have also undergone minor changes: if for a meter internal SATA cable, the signal level tolerances ranged from 400 to 600 mV during transmission and from 325 to 600 mV during reception, then for a two-meter eSATA cable they were weakened to 400-500 mV at transmission and 240-500 mV when receiving. The requirements for the design of eSATA controller boards have also been added.

In particular, this may cause some early SATA chipsets and boards to not fully meet the requirements of eSATA signaling, and may even require an eSATA buffer chip. And to connect eSATA ports to old motherboards, it is better to use an additional PCI host controller on a newer chipset.

Examples of using eSATA in laptops.

Note also that early products (motherboards and PCI controllers) with conventional (internal) SATA ports brought out to the outside are not eSATA-compatible and cannot now be used in conjunction with eSATA solutions (without appropriate improvement / modification). eSATA-compatible devices are marked with a special logo (pictured above). The disadvantage of eSATA, which is quite significant for external storage applications, is the lack of power lines from the host to the drive, as is the case with USB and FireWire. That is, eSATA drives will have to be powered by a separate cable from external units, or from additional USB / FireWire ports of the computer.

Strictly speaking, support for hotplugging SATA drives assumes (by standard) that a full-featured Serial ATA power connector (15-pin) is used to power the drive, and not a regular Molex with +5, +12 lines and ground (or an adapter from Molex to SATA power). The fact is that specifically for hot plugging, the Serial ATA power connector provides not only an additional power line with a voltage of +3.3 V, but also contacts of a different length on the +5 and +12 V lines responsible for the correct sequence of power supply to disk when hot plugged. However, at the moment, manufacturers of the vast majority of consumer (personal) equipment ignore this requirement and supply power to the switched disk (including inside eSATA devices) the old fashioned way.

eSATA can be used for more than just external hard drives and RAID controllers. For example, optical drives can also be connected to eSATA, eSATA ports themselves can be installed in set-top boxes, PVR tape recorders and game consoles, and the appearance of such devices is a matter of the future.

So, having gained support for eSATA in the form of specifications, equipment manufacturers (controllers, motherboards, containers and external drives) hastened to develop and offer such devices to the market, and the most expensive motherboards began to be equipped with eSATA ports. As a result, in 2006, devices with eSATA support appeared on store shelves in large numbers, which invariably arouse interest among buyers due to a number of attractive features. And we will get acquainted with one of these devices in this article.

The device and characteristics of the container Thermaltake Muse eSATA 3.5

Thermaltake Muse eSATA 3.5 (model A2319) is a stylish all-metal outer case for a 3.5-inch Serial ATA hard drive.

It is part of the company's Muse line of metal outer cases for hard drives, one of which we have already met earlier.

Unlike the cases of most other external drives and containers, which use predominantly plastic or combined components, the TT Muse eSATA 3.5 case immediately inspires respect, since it is made entirely of aluminum, and all 4 parts of the case itself are made by casting + milling (rather than profiling thin sheets) , and the minimum thickness of the body walls is 2 mm (plus stiffeners and sidewalls up to 5 mm thick). The case outside and inside is processed to obtain a beautiful fine-grained surface (the paint will not peel off over time, because it simply does not exist) and in place contains stylish designer stripes-inserts (like body casting elements) with longitudinal texturing. The weight of the housing with filling (without disk) is almost 750 grams, which additionally makes the structure heavier, partially reducing the self-vibration of the rotating drive. Product dimensions - 220 x 125 x 40 mm, which is relatively small for containers of 3.5-inch drives, although sometimes there are slightly more compact ones.

Complementing the good visual impression is an attractive round pointer indicator with blue backlighting, giving the product the characteristic features of belonging to the company's products (remember, for example, Thermaltake indicator panels with similar measuring instruments).

The case can be installed both vertically on the supplied metal stand (moreover, carefully thought-out light-colored rubber-plastic pads prevent slipping and scratching of the case), and horizontally (there are inconspicuous rubber “legs” on the bottom).

The case does not have special ventilation holes, however, since it is completely metal, heat dissipation from the disk should not cause noticeable difficulties, which, nevertheless, we will examine in detail below.

The design of the case is such that the installation and removal of the drive is extremely simple - for this not a single screw connection is used, - but at the same time, the fixation of the disk in the case is rigid and reliable. The fact is that the case consists of a massive base with longitudinal stiffening ribs, to which the sidewalls are screwed from the ends, and a hinged top cover is attached to the hinge (metal spoke) from one side.

The hard drive is simply placed on the base of the case, securely fixed at the bottom on four guides

through cushion pads.

And when the case cover is closed (with a massive side latch), it securely presses (through thick microporous rubber) the drive to the base, preventing it from any backlash and at the same time creating additional protection (shock absorption) when the case is hit/shocked.

I remember that the Thermaltake Muse USB container for 2.5-inch drives uses approximately the same mounting principle.

However, in that case there was a real danger of deforming the disk by pressing on the top cover of the case, while in the case of 3.5-inch hard drives such a danger is actually excluded.

As a result, the mechanical part of the body and the appearance of the container A2319 can be assessed as solid excellent. Which, unfortunately, cannot be said about the design and functional thoughtfulness of the electronic part of this product.

According to the specifications, the Muse eSATA 3.5 container has an external eSATA interface (for an external communication cable) and an internal SATA interface (for a disk), and both SATA 1.0 and SATA 2.5 are supported with data transfer rates up to 3 Gb / s. Guaranteed compatibility with PC and MAC with the appropriate hardware.

On the "rear" end of the case (although it can just as well serve as the front end, since there are no controls / indications on the front) there is a power switch, an eSATA connector and a multi-pin power connector.

An integral functional part of this container is the included Thermaltake A2360 branded eSATA bracket for the rear panel of the PC system unit,

on which there are eSATA connectors (with an internal SATA cable on the back side) and proprietary power supply + 12V and + 5V (from an internal 4-pin Molex power connector). The wires from the pin-connector, which is included in the break of the hard drive activity indicator on the system board (or a separate expansion board of the SATA host controller), are connected to the same connector, which, in principle, allows you to send a disk activity signal from the computer to the container. The kit is complemented by meter-long eSATA cables (standard, available from TT under the A2361 brand) and power (special, although it will probably not be difficult to find a similar one).

Recall that the eSATA cable connector is not compatible with the internal SATA connector, so replacing one cable with another (and vice versa) will not work.

The process of connecting a TT Muse eSATA 3.5 container to a computer using this bracket and two cables is straightforward and is illustrated in the following figure.

The only point worth paying attention to is the connection of the disk activity indicator wire inside the computer: if you include it in the gap of the disk activity indicator intended for the front panel of the PC system unit case (as recommended by the user manual), then you risk getting a situation where the external the container will indicate the activity not only of its own drive, but also of all hard drives and optical drives in the system unit. :) Apparently, the optimal case from this point of view is the case of connecting an external container and its indicator to separate to the SATA controller board (in the PCI and PCI Express x1 slot), and internal drives to the controllers on the motherboard. For example, a cheap PCI controller based on the SiI3112A chip will come in handy here, at the same time protecting the motherboard from force majeure failure and guaranteed hot-plug support (see below).

The printed circuit board of the TT Muse eSATA 3.5 container is extremely simple, although it takes up a lot of space.

So the question even arises, why not solder, for example, a simple SATA-USB translator and a USB connector in an empty place, thus giving the product more versatility (however, TT already has a new Muse A2357 model in the same case where USB port added to eSATA). Or, say, do not equip the board with its own voltage converters (at least from +12 to +5V) and a universal power connector so that the container can be powered not only from the computer on the rear panel of which the Thermaltake A2360 proprietary bracket is installed, but also from an external unit power supply - to work with different computers equipped with an eSATA port (by the way, this drawback has been corrected in the latest TT Max 4 model, which has an external power supply). In general, the developers here are clearly stingy at first.

Another bewilderment is the stylish arrow indicator Thermaltake. Yes, it is beautiful, but what's the use of it if, when turned on, its arrow is actually fixed in one single position and only trembles slightly (and the backlight is unchanged)? The position of the arrow conditionally reflects the magnitude of the supply voltage (which is approximately constant). And although the Datatransfar Meter function is declared for this device, that is, supposedly "measuring the speed" of data transfer over the interface, in fact, this device simply reflects the activity of the disk access indicator signal (see above), and its circuit implementation on the A2319 board is as follows that the arrow twitches when accessing disks very weakly, almost imperceptibly (apparently, they messed up with the resistor values). Without giving real information about whether calls are made to the container disk, and not to any of the internal drives of the system unit. It is clear that the Serial ATA interface does not have additional signal lines to get this information in a simple way, but such an almost complete uselessness of the indicator is somehow depressing. Let's hope that the situation has been corrected in the new models of TT eSATA containers, where the use of a separate interface chip can help with this.

Separately, it is worth mentioning that it is optimal to use a container with SATA controllers that fully support the function of hot plugging/disconnecting drives. Unfortunately, not all SATA controllers (especially early ones) are capable of supporting hot-plug and hot-swap, so in order to avoid misunderstandings, you should limit yourself to Intel chipsets with southbridges ICH6/7/8, VIA VT8237R, Nvidia nForce, ATI, SiS , Silicon Image, ULi or others with AHCI hot-plug support. When hot disconnecting such a drive from the system, you should not forget to use the Safety Remove option of the operating system in order to avoid data loss and even system freezes.

Packaging and equipment

The massive and colorful TT Muse eSATA 3.5″ box is more of an image load,

although everything is neatly laid out inside, and the container is fixed between polyurethane foam shock absorbers, so that it can be transported even with a disc inside.

Completeness is also worthy-sufficient, including a detailed user manual with illustrations:

And since our hero does not have any other frills, we can only evaluate his functional characteristics in work.

Tests

The tests were carried out using a system based on:

• Processor Intel Pentium 4 3.2 GHz
• Motherboard based on the i945G chipset
• Patriot DDR2-533 2×256 MB system memory
• Main hard drive
• Case with 350 watt power supply
• Operating system MS Windows XP Professional SP2

The container with the drive was connected to the ICH7R controller on the motherboard and was recognized in the system as a regular (internal) hard drive.

First of all, let's check if the SATA speed drops. So, for example, with a Hitachi Deskstar 7K400 HDS724040KLSA80 drive with a Serial ATA 1.0 interface with a transfer rate of 1.5 Gb / s, the disk test of the Everest 2.50 utility showed an interface speed of 115.2 Mb / s, which, within the measurement error, coincides with the speed interface of this disk when connected internally (see, for example, ). The average random access time for this drive in a TT Muse eSATA 3.5 container was 12.8 ms,

which also corresponds to the case of an internal connection.

For more recent 500 GB Maxtor DiamondMax 11 6H500F0 and Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 ST3500641AS drives supporting Serial ATA II at 3 Gb/s, the interface speed measured by HD Tach 3.0.1.0 utility was:

And

which is also almost identical to the case of internal connection of these drives. After running a couple more tests and making sure that the performance of modern hard drives does not drop at all when used in an A2319 container, we came to the conclusion that it is better to test the heating of drives inside the A2319 case in more detail during active operation, since this particular aspect may turn out to be the most critical and, in ultimately affect the performance and reliability of hard drives.

To emulate the load by the active operation of the drive inside the container, the Heating pattern was used for the Iometer program with a more or less typical pattern for intensive disk operations:

This load warms up the disk somewhat less than, for example, a continuous test for the average access time when reading (random reading in blocks of 512 bytes), however, the latter actually does not occur in real work for any long time, while the Heating pattern reflects the realities and at the same time it is a fairly active "burner", which is confirmed by the data on the power consumption of disks under similar loads (see, for example, the last part of our review).

This pattern was run cyclically at a command queue depth of 1, 4, 16, and 64 (15 minutes per queue), and after each hour of measurements, the temperature readings of the drive in the A2319 container, as well as the motherboard and disk in the testing system unit, were taken. The results were recorded based on readings from SpeedFan 4.27 (continuously) and Everest 2.50 (hourly).

2 high-capacity drives were selected as test drives placed in the A2319 container for this test:

• Hitachi Deskstar 7K400 HDS724040KLSA80 400 GB as the most voracious (and "hot") SATA drive we know from test results.
• Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 ST3500641AS 500 GB as the most capacious (at the time of our testing) hard drive supporting SATA 3 Gb/s, while having an average consumption among peers during active work.

Based on the results obtained during the continuous operation of the container with the disk for 4 hours, the following graphs were built.

As you can see, after a couple of hours of active work, the temperature of the hard drive stabilizes. At the same time, the Seagate drive heated up to only 46 degrees, which can be considered a very good indicator, and the Hitachi drive heated up to 51 degrees, which also satisfies the specifications for its operating temperature with a margin.

Thus, we can conclude that the Thermaltake Muse eSATA 3.5 container provides enough cooling for the hard drive placed inside even when it is actively working, and the performance of the drive is at the same level as if it were used inside the computer.

Price

In the table below you can see the average Moscow prices for Thermaltake Muse eSATA 3.5″ (A2319) as of the moment you read this article:

Unfortunately, at the time of writing this article, there were quite few offers of this product in Moscow, and the price turned out to be very high - about fifty dollars, or even more. A cursory search of American sellers also showed a very modest nature of the proposals and a high price.

Conclusion

So, the Thermaltake Muse eSATA 3.5″ (A2319) container for external connection of hard drives via the eSATA interface demonstrated worthy consumer qualities, among which the excellent mechanical design, excellent appearance, excellent operating speed and quite acceptable cooling and shockproof properties are especially attractive. Some drawback is the ill-conceived electronic part (although it is extremely simple here), the lack of support for the USB interface (as an alternative) and the need to use a special bracket and cable to power the container with the disk from the desktop computer used. That is, the actual impossibility of using this drive with a laptop or mini-PC. In addition, the current price for this product seems to be somewhat overpriced, since even for a lower price you can buy a less famous, but more functional aluminum container for IDE and SATA drives with external interfaces not only SATA, but also USB. But more on that another time. ;)

Today, the eSATA port has long ceased to be something really new and exotic. However, at the same time, not all users are familiar with it and do not quite clearly imagine what advantages and disadvantages this standard gives in everyday work with a computer.

A little about eSATA

Of course, first of all, beginners will be interested to know eSATA - what it is and what it is eaten with. If you try to answer in a simpler way, then this standard lies in terms of speed and ease of use somewhere between the USB 2.0 standards and traditional SATA. The term itself is abbreviated as External, that is, a port that uses advanced serial data exchange technologies and has the ability to hot-swap both hard drives and other devices connected to the computer on the fly.

Despite the fact that the eSATA connection appeared back in 2004, today users often prefer more traditional technologies - USB and SATA.

Advantages

Of course, the eSATA standard would not have gained popularity if it did not have its own objective advantages. And these include:

• the possibility of extending the cable for data transmission up to 2 meters without the risk of signal distortion;
• eSATA signal compatibility with SATA;
• faster data transfer than USB 2.0;
• cheapness in production makes it possible to equip chipsets with several eSATA ports and use this connector in many devices. For example, there is an eSATA external hard drive and even flash drives;
• hard drives can be combined into RAID arrays;
• you can replace hard drives on the go, which is unthinkable if you use a traditional SATA interface.

As you can see, this interface has a lot of advantages, at least compared to such common and familiar standards as USB 2.0 and SATA.

Flaws

Answering the question, eSATA - what is it, one cannot ignore the disadvantages of this type of connection. Despite the fact that this type of interface has been put into operation since 2004, not all devices are equipped with ports of this standard, and so far its use is complicated by some inconveniences:

• physical incompatibility of eSATA and SATA ports;
• the data exchange rate is still somewhat lower than that of SATA. Numerous synthetic tests have confirmed this;
• cable length is limited to two meters, which is less than in the case of USB;
• an eSATA hard drive will require additional power via USB and 1394 or via a regular outlet (in new models of external devices this is often not necessary);
• eSATA and SATA use different signal levels;
• organization eSATA sometimes requires a special controller on the system board;
• there are not many devices that have yet been released that would support this standard.

As for directly, eSATA surpasses the USB 2.0 standard, which is quite widespread today, but is inferior to modern USB 3.0. It is possible that this is precisely the reason why eSATA connectors are not popular today: after all, it is easier to work with USB, and the speed in version 3.0 is higher.

Types of eSATA

Oddly enough, but this interface has its own varieties. However, there are not many of them. Or rather, just two:

1. Actually eSATA, the features of which were mentioned above.
2. ESATAp - a distinctive feature of this type of port is that it became possible to power the device directly through the eSATA cable, while SATA required that power be supplied through an external source without fail. The postfix p means power.

It would seem that with the advent of such a standard as eSATAp, all problems have been solved, and this port is ready to become self-sufficient. But then USB 3.0 arrived, and eSATAp couldn't compete with it.

And plus 12 volts

However, you can connect any USB device to the eSATA port. Interfaces allow you to do this. In this case, the device will be fed simultaneously and in both directions.

The main problem in this case is that some models of hard drives require not only the standard 5 volts to power up, but as many as 12. But laptops do not provide such a powerful power source. Therefore, an improved version of eSATAp was developed, which provides for additional power contacts in the connector. The interface received the unofficial name eSATAdp, that is, dual power.

If there is no eSATA

Not too often, but sometimes it is necessary to remove an eSATA device when there is only a SATA port on the motherboard. For example, if you need to connect an external eSATA to any device.

This can be done, but it will require a passive extender that connects directly to the SATA on the motherboard. If we are talking about a laptop or netbook, then it is possible to make such a connection through PC Card adapters, as well as through Express Card. But in this case, the maximum cable length will be limited to only one meter, which is not always convenient.

eSATA-enabled external devices

At one time, before the advent of USB 3.0, the eSATA interface was predicted to have a fairly bright future. An external eSATA drive can be found on sale now. After all, USB 3.0 has not yet been able to replace its predecessor USB 2.0 everywhere.

And since the eSATA standard is intended primarily for fast data exchange, it is quite logical that all kinds of drives make up the lion's share of the market for external devices that support this interface. These are external hard drives and flash drives. But you can also find printers and scanners on sale that use this type of connection in their work.

Unfortunately, some confusion about the small amount of diversity among eSATA, eSATAp, and eSATAdp has led consumers to get confused about port and cable compatibility. And even an eSATA adapter does not always help to solve this problem, especially if the difficulties are associated not only with compatibility, but also with the need to carry out additional recharge (those same 12 volts). In addition, the eSATAdp standard has not yet been standardized.

For now, it remains only to carefully monitor the compatibility of cables so as not to confuse the eSATA cable, SATA and others. And hope that either all this is finally standardized, or some more universal port will replace the variety of SATA ports.

Why not FireWire or USB

Of course, the answer to the question of eSATA - what it is, cannot be considered complete without an attempt to analyze the possibilities on the part of competitors. In this case, FireWire and USB.

And there are three reasons why eSATA has not yet been replaced by them:

1. To organize data exchange through these two ports, you need to convert the PATA or SATA protocols to USB or the same FireWire. However, it has significant limitations. This was not too noticeable in the old days, but with the advent of solid-state drives with volumes of 500 GB or more, which today do not surprise anyone, such a threshold has become very noticeable.
2. The second reason lies in the fact that even in the case of FireWire there is a limit on the information transfer rate - 400 Mbit per second, since FireWire controllers operate according to the standard. Here, such a limitation is striking not so much when using large hard drives as high-speed ones, but also voluminous RAID arrays, which, of course, require quite considerable speeds.
3. Finally, FireWire and USB based drives do not have access to some low level features. For example, to the S.M.A.R.T. At the same time, eSATA is free from this shortcoming.

Although competitive interfaces are in high demand among ordinary users due to their convenience, however, in some cases, one cannot do without an eSATA interface. So, if the user needs a high speed of information transfer of a large volume, this standard will be an ideal solution for such tasks. Unfortunately, its implementation is associated with certain technical difficulties, but if there is additional power, for example, using an external unit, this will not be a problem.

eSATA prospects

While it is difficult to state anything with a 100% guarantee regarding the future of this interface. But without trying to predict when answering the question of what eSATA is, it is also indispensable.

While there are devices on the market that support ports like USB 2.0, USB 3.0, and the aforementioned FireWire, the future of eSATA is uncertain. On the one hand, manufacturers are in no hurry to actively use this port in all their devices, and on the other hand, they still produce drives with such an interface, but they don’t forget about USB 3.0 either.

ESATA looks good if you need, for example, connecting large drives or processing multimedia content in HD quality. Also, this interface will help everyone to have their own RAID array at home.

But many users will prefer to use a slower, but as simple and intuitive interface as USB 2.0 in their daily work. After all, most of them do not need to work with fast and capacious drives, in addition, users are often scared away by the need for additional power supply to a device with an eSATA interface. They are willing to put up with some speed limits for the sake of convenience. But in some cases, it is impossible to do without it.

So we should not expect a significant impact on the market from the eSATA interface in the future, but it will not give up its positions quickly either, since there is still a need for it.

Many experts argue that this standard will exist until the spread of a more modern new standard, or eventually USB 3.0 will take over. However, until this happens, you can safely purchase drives that operate on the basis of eSATA.

Hello! In we examined the hard disk device in detail, but I specifically didn’t say anything about interfaces - that is, ways of interacting a hard disk and other computer devices, or more specifically, ways of interacting (connecting) a hard disk and a computer.

Why didn't he say? And because this topic is worthy of a volume no less than an entire article. Therefore, today we will analyze in detail the most popular hard disk interfaces at the moment. I’ll make a reservation right away that an article or a post (whichever is more convenient) this time will have an impressive size, but unfortunately there’s no way to go without it, because if you write briefly, it will turn out to be completely incomprehensible.

Computer hard drive interface concept

First, let's define the term "interface". In simple terms (namely, I will express myself with it, if possible, because the blog is designed for ordinary people, such as you and me), interface - the way devices interact with each other and not only devices. For example, many of you have probably heard about the so-called "friendly" interface of a program. What does it mean? This means that the interaction between a person and a program is easier, does not require much effort on the part of the user, compared to the "unfriendly" interface. In our case, the interface is just a way of interacting specifically with the hard drive and the computer motherboard. It is a set of special lines and a special protocol (a set of rules for data transmission). That is, purely physically, it is a cable (cable, wire), on both sides of which there are inputs, and on the hard drive and the motherboard there are special ports (places where the cable is connected). Thus, the concept of an interface includes a connecting cable and ports located on the devices connected by it.

Well, now the most "juice" of today's article, let's go!

Types of interaction between hard drives and the computer motherboard (types of interfaces)

So, the first in line we will have the most "ancient" (80s) of all, in modern HDDs it is no longer found, this is the IDE interface (aka ATA, PATA).

IDE- translated from English "Integrated Drive Electronics", which literally means - "built-in controller". This was later called the IDE as an interface for data transfer, since the controller (located in the device, usually in hard drives and optical drives) and the motherboard had to be connected with something. It (IDE) is also called ATA (Advanced Technology Attachment), it turns out something like "Advanced Technology Attachment". The fact is that ATA - Parallel Data Transfer Interface, for which soon (literally immediately after the release of SATA, which will be discussed below), it was renamed PATA (Parallel ATA).

What can I say, although the IDE was very slow (the bandwidth of the data transfer channel ranged from 100 to 133 megabytes per second in different versions of the IDE - and even then purely theoretically, in practice it is much less), but it allowed two devices to be connected to the motherboard at the same time using one loop.

Moreover, in the case of connecting two devices at once, the bandwidth of the line was divided in half. However, this is far from the only drawback of the IDE. The wire itself, as can be seen from the figure, is quite wide and, when connected, will take up the lion's share of the free space in the system unit, which will negatively affect the cooling of the entire system as a whole. All in all IDE is outdated morally and physically, for this reason, the IDE connector is no longer found on many modern motherboards, although until recently they were still installed (in the amount of 1 pc.) On budget motherboards and on some motherboards in the middle price segment.

The next, no less popular than the IDE at one time, interface is SATA (Serial ATA), a characteristic feature of which is serial data transmission. It is worth noting that at the time of this writing, it is the most massive for use in a PC.

There are 3 main versions (revisions) of SATA, which differ from each other in bandwidth: rev. 1 (SATA I) - 150 Mb/s, rev. 2 (SATA II) - 300 Mb/s, rev. 3 (SATA III) - 600 Mb/s. But this is only in theory. In practice, the write / read speed of hard drives usually does not exceed 100-150 Mb / s, and the remaining speed is not yet in demand and only affects the speed of interaction between the controller and the HDD cache memory (increases the disk access speed).

Among the innovations, we can note - backward compatibility of all versions of SATA (a drive with a SATA rev. 2 connector can be connected to a motherboard with a SATA rev. 3 connector, etc.), improved appearance and ease of connecting / disconnecting a cable, increased compared to with IDE cable length (1 meter max, vs. 46 cm on IDE interface), support NCQ functions since the first revision. I hasten to please the owners of old devices that do not support SATA - there are adapters from PATA to SATA, this is a real way out of the situation, allowing you to avoid spending money on buying a new motherboard or a new hard drive.

Also, unlike PATA, the SATA interface provides for "hot-swapping" of hard drives, which means that when the computer's system unit is powered on, you can attach / detach hard drives. True, to implement it, you will need to dig a little into the BIOS settings and enable AHCI mode.

Next in line - eSATA (External SATA)- was created in 2004, the word "external" indicates that it is used to connect external hard drives. Supports " hot swap" drives. The length of the interface cable has been increased compared to SATA - the maximum length is now as much as two meters. eSATA is not physically compatible with SATA, but has the same bandwidth.

But eSATA is far from the only way to connect external devices to your computer. For example firewire- serial high-speed interface for connecting external devices, including HDD.

Supports "hot-swap" hard drives. In terms of throughput, it is comparable to USB 2.0, and with the advent of USB 3.0, it even loses in speed. However, it still has the advantage that FireWire is able to provide isochronous data transfer, which contributes to its use in digital video, as it allows real-time data transfer. Undoubtedly, FireWire is popular, but not as popular as, for example, USB or eSATA. It is rarely used to connect hard drives; in most cases, various multimedia devices are connected using FireWire.

USB (Universal Serial Bus), perhaps the most common interface used to connect external hard drives, flash drives and solid state drives (SSD). As in the previous case, there is support for "hot swapping", a rather large maximum length of the connecting cable - up to 5 meters in case of using USB 2.0, and up to 3 meters - if using USB 3.0. It is probably possible to make a longer cable length, but in this case, the stable operation of the devices will be in question.

The data transfer rate of USB 2.0 is about 40 Mb / s, which is generally low. Yes, of course, for ordinary everyday work with files, a channel bandwidth of 40 Mb / s is enough for the eyes, but as soon as we talk about working with large files, you will inevitably start looking towards something faster. But it turns out there is a way out, and its name is USB 3.0, the bandwidth of which, compared to its predecessor, has increased 10 times and is about 380 Mb / s, that is, almost like SATA II, even a little more.

There are two types of USB cable pins, type "A" and type "B", located at opposite ends of the cable. Type "A" - controller (motherboard), type "B" - connected device.

USB 3.0 (type "A") is compatible with USB 2.0 (type "A"). Types "B" are not compatible with each other, as you can see from the figure.

Thunderbolt(Light Peak). In 2010, Intel demonstrated the first computer with this interface, and a little later, the equally well-known Apple company joined Intel to support Thunderbolt. Thunderbolt is cool enough (well, how else is it, Apple knows what it's worth investing in), is it worth talking about supporting such features as: the notorious "hot swap", simultaneous connection with several devices at once, really "huge" data transfer speed (20 times faster than USB 2.0).

The maximum cable length is only 3 meters (probably more is not needed). Nevertheless, despite all these advantages, Thunderbolt is not yet "mass" and is used mainly in expensive devices.

Go ahead. Next in line we have a couple of interfaces that are very similar to each other - these are SAS and SCSI. Their similarity lies in the fact that they are both used primarily in servers that require high performance and the shortest possible access time to the hard disk. However, there is also a reverse side of the coin - all the advantages of these interfaces are offset by the price of devices that support them. Hard drives that support SCSI or SAS are much more expensive.

SCSI(Small Computer System Interface) - a parallel interface for connecting various external devices (not just hard drives).

It was developed and standardized even a little earlier than the first version of SATA. The latest version of SCSI has "hot swap" support.

SAS(Serial Attached SCSI), which replaced SCSI, had to solve a number of shortcomings of the latter. And I must say - he succeeded. The fact is that due to its "parallelism" SCSI used a common bus, so only one of the devices could work with the controller at the same time, SAS does not have this drawback.

In addition, it is backwards compatible with SATA, which is undoubtedly a big plus. Unfortunately, the cost of hard drives with SAS interface is close to the cost of SCSI hard drives, but there is no way to get rid of this, you have to pay for the speed.

If you are not tired yet, I propose to consider another interesting way to connect the HDD - NAS(Network Attached Storage). Network attached storage systems (NAS) are very popular these days. In fact, this is a separate computer, a kind of mini-server responsible for storing data. It connects to another computer via a network cable and is controlled from another computer through a regular browser. All this is necessary in cases where a large disk space is required, which is used by several people at once (in the family, at work). Data from the network storage is transferred to users' computers either via a regular cable (Ethernet) or via Wi-Fi. In my opinion, a very convenient thing.

I think that's all for today. I hope you liked the material, I suggest subscribing to blog updates so as not to miss anything (the form in the upper right corner) and we will meet you in the next blog articles.