External HDD speeds

[Ant007]

Hi all,

First time posting on this forum particular forum.
I have what I like to call my media server.
The server has 1gb memory and a 300gb second hdd.
I have various bits of kit around my home to play the media from this server(which is running XP Pro Service pack 2).
I have a PS3 and am running a piece of software on my server which allows my PS3 to see my media.
I feel that the power of my media server is not strong enough to provide the files to my PS3 correctly.
I also have a lovely shinny new Vista machine with 3 gb of memory. I would like to transfer all my media to run from this machine. I would also like to transfer the media to an external HDD and run it on my Vista pc.
So after all that what suggestions do you have. Should I purchase a new addtional internal sata drive or are speeds from a USB external drive fast enough to deliver the media to my various devices.

Thanks

 

[cdogg]

If the external drive is only hosting data and doesn't contain any system files, then it should be good enough. You can get up to 50MB/s (60MB/s minus the overhead issues) with the USB 2.0 interface. That's about as fast as your average hard drive and should be good enough to stream most media file types with the exception of extremely high quality HD like the type found in Blu-Ray discs.

Many internal drives average transfer rates between 55-65MB/s these days, but again, the difference only matters for what you plan on using it for. If portability is a nice feature you would like to have, then I'd just get the external drive.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Einstein
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[Ant007]

Thats great.
it is exactly what I was after. I think I will go with you and get an external drive.

Thanks

 

[voisey]

Ant007 - I'm not a technical guy but if you have a wireless network you might like to consider a NAS drive [Network Accessible Storage] as your externall HDD. This is something I've recently purchased (1TB) and I've put all my media onto it (music, photos and docs). This NAS drive is connected into my wireless network via patch lead and is seen as an independent device - I can therefore access it from my laptop, tower system, wife's laptop and my WiFi network radio. If I remember right it cost about £110 - well worth it.

Chris

 

[Ant007]

Hi Voisey,

I was considering such a thing.
We use one in work as an additional storage location.
At the moment cost has become an issue and when i was sourcing a NAS I found them to be to expensive for m small pockets but I think i might reconsider and price up again.

Thanks for your input.

 

[cdogg]

Yes, built-in NAS capability is a great feature and a good suggestion too. Just keep in mind that security may be an issue. For more control over who can access the device, it would be best to have it connected to and shared by the Vista PC. Using NAS, you can still lock it down but would have to go the tedious route of configuring settings on the wireless access point or router.

Of course the main advantage to NAS is that the shared drive won't rely on a PC being powered on all the time, which will consume a lot more power and inflict more wear and tear on other components in the long run...

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Einstein
[tab][navy]For posting policies, click [/navy]here.