elgordo1960
Technical User
I need a new HDD to store approx 12000 mp3s. I will be accessing the files on a regular basis. Is there any difference between an internal drive or an external one?? Bearing in mind my PC is on for 16 hours a day.
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Internal Hard Drive Vs External Hard Drive
- Thread starter elgordo1960
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External hard drives are normally connected via a USB port and if your system happens to have the older USB1.1 connecting a fast device such as a hard drives means it is severely bottle necked by the extremely slow 12Mb/sec connection NOT ADVISABLE!
On the other hand, If your PC is newer and has USB2, things are much better, the new standard is 40X quicker at 480Mb/sec (thats around 60mb/s) and as most modern hard drives have a sustained transfer speed around 60mb/s the USB2 bus speed only marginally restricts the drives capabilities.
Obviously! the same drive connected internally on an ATA133 bus will be free to reach the occasional 100Mb/sec burst (about average max burst for most drives) so internally the same drive will be slightly quicker but not dramaticly so.
In my opinion, the slight performance hit sustained by having an external solution is far outweighed by the benefits of portability and security.
In real world operation I doubt you would notice much differance.
Martin
Martin
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On the other hand, If your PC is newer and has USB2, things are much better, the new standard is 40X quicker at 480Mb/sec (thats around 60mb/s) and as most modern hard drives have a sustained transfer speed around 60mb/s the USB2 bus speed only marginally restricts the drives capabilities.
Obviously! the same drive connected internally on an ATA133 bus will be free to reach the occasional 100Mb/sec burst (about average max burst for most drives) so internally the same drive will be slightly quicker but not dramaticly so.
In my opinion, the slight performance hit sustained by having an external solution is far outweighed by the benefits of portability and security.
In real world operation I doubt you would notice much differance.
Martin
Martin
We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.
- Thread starter
- #4
elgordo1960
Technical User
Thanks for the quick replies! paparazi - what are the security benefits of EXT HDD??
DragonQ0105
Technical User
I wish people would use correct abbreviations, you know.
"the new standard is 40X quicker at 480Mb/sec (thats around 60mb/s)"
So it's '480Mb/sec' but also '60mb/s'...that's a bit strange...
It is: 480Mbps OR 60MB/s (B = Bytes, b = Bits)
Better yet: 480Mib/s OR 60MiB/s...
Anyhow, back to the question. I would say an internal one would suit you better because:
a) Cheaper per MB - and you need quite a lot of space for those mp3s (Approx 70GB assuming they're 6MB each)
b) Less likely to get damaged since it's in the PC
c) Less likely to be stolen (unlikely it'll happen, but still)
d) Faster access*
*Although USB2.0 is 60MB/s, this is shared by all USB Appliances. If you have many USB Devices (e.g. Printer, Scanner, Mouse, Keyboard, USB Drive, Camera etc.), you'll take a performance hit.
BUT, you don't need the faster access to play/store mp3s. So here's the question you need to answer:
Do you need to move these mp3s from one PC to another at any point?
If the answer is Yes, then get an External one. If not, go for the cheaper Internal Drives.
"the new standard is 40X quicker at 480Mb/sec (thats around 60mb/s)"
So it's '480Mb/sec' but also '60mb/s'...that's a bit strange...
It is: 480Mbps OR 60MB/s (B = Bytes, b = Bits)
Better yet: 480Mib/s OR 60MiB/s...
Anyhow, back to the question. I would say an internal one would suit you better because:
a) Cheaper per MB - and you need quite a lot of space for those mp3s (Approx 70GB assuming they're 6MB each)
b) Less likely to get damaged since it's in the PC
c) Less likely to be stolen (unlikely it'll happen, but still)
d) Faster access*
*Although USB2.0 is 60MB/s, this is shared by all USB Appliances. If you have many USB Devices (e.g. Printer, Scanner, Mouse, Keyboard, USB Drive, Camera etc.), you'll take a performance hit.
BUT, you don't need the faster access to play/store mp3s. So here's the question you need to answer:
Do you need to move these mp3s from one PC to another at any point?
If the answer is Yes, then get an External one. If not, go for the cheaper Internal Drives.
- Thread starter
- #6
elgordo1960
Technical User
Ta V Much Dragon..No I don't need to move from PC to PC so internal it is. (That's saved me a few quid!!)
DragonQ0105
Typical! I don't get confused about the terms just how to write them so in this case I did a google on USB2 specs and copied what they had written! guess they were wrong then lol.
elgordo1960
what are the security benefits of EXT HDD?? well it only has to be turned on when being used! SO less chance of contracting a virus and less wear and you can just lock it away if need be.
But the real benefits are you can unplug and more all these lovely music files to another PC hundreds of miles away, no fuss.
USB2 HDD enclosures can be purchased for as little as £18/$30
Martin
We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.
Typical! I don't get confused about the terms just how to write them so in this case I did a google on USB2 specs and copied what they had written! guess they were wrong then lol.
elgordo1960
what are the security benefits of EXT HDD?? well it only has to be turned on when being used! SO less chance of contracting a virus and less wear and you can just lock it away if need be.
But the real benefits are you can unplug and more all these lovely music files to another PC hundreds of miles away, no fuss.
USB2 HDD enclosures can be purchased for as little as £18/$30
Martin
We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.
- Thread starter
- #8
elgordo1960
Technical User
Ta Dragon, I'll look into HDD enclosures B4 I decide!!
- Thread starter
- #9
elgordo1960
Technical User
Found this for £18...looks very groovy too!!
IcyBox IB350U *Silver* External HDD Case USB2 for 3.5" Hard Drive PATA
IcyBox IB350U *Silver* External HDD Case USB2 for 3.5" Hard Drive PATA
- Thread starter
- #11
elgordo1960
Technical User
I don't have firewire on my PC right now but I might consider a USB/firewire caddy for future use!!
- Thread starter
- #13
elgordo1960
Technical User
Got myself a Seagate 160GB HDD and an Icybox usb/firewire enclosure. (Still waiting for the pci firewire card to arrive so using USB) Breeze to set up an install. The external HDD is NTFS and the internal is FAT. I guess this won't be a problem for WinXP?? Anyway ta for the advice, I'm very happy with it!!
elgordo!!
elgordo!!
Well, i was gonna jump in and say that both have their place. But i prefer firewire external case or usb2.0 external as i can leave it off when not needed and save wear and tear on the hard drive, plus its portable whenever i should need it to be. And, the kicker, all it is is a box and a hard drive. You were going to buy the hard drive anyway, so you are really asking is the usb or firewire box worth the price of around $30 US and i say, yes, its a real steal at that price. Granted, for firewire you usually need to get a pci card where with USB most computers have it built in, but, again, for the portability, its great.
Good luck with that. Oh, one thing, in your system tray, you will find a little green arrow, click on that arrow to "safely remove" your external drive, or take it offline, BEFORE you turn your computer off so that you dont lose or scramble your data!!! Only takes a couple seconds!!
And, if you buy a firewire box, make sure you get an oxford 911 chipset!
Good advice + great people = tek-tips
Good luck with that. Oh, one thing, in your system tray, you will find a little green arrow, click on that arrow to "safely remove" your external drive, or take it offline, BEFORE you turn your computer off so that you dont lose or scramble your data!!! Only takes a couple seconds!!
And, if you buy a firewire box, make sure you get an oxford 911 chipset!
Good advice + great people = tek-tips
- Thread starter
- #15
elgordo1960
Technical User
Thanks for the tip...I haven't been doing that...I hope my data is OK (I've transferred 7500 mp3s so far)
- Thread starter
- #16
elgordo1960
Technical User
I clicked on the green arrow and I get the error:
PROBLEM EJECTING USB MASS STORAGE DEVICE
"The device "generic volume" cannot be stopped right now. Try stopping the device later"[/color red]
PROBLEM EJECTING USB MASS STORAGE DEVICE
"The device "generic volume" cannot be stopped right now. Try stopping the device later"[/color red]
Then you either have to wait a while and try again or use task manager to stop any service thats using that drive at the time.
I believe you are ok if you try the little green arrow and either get the ok or if you get the other message, as long as you dont have a program that is writing to the drive.
I forgot to mention about that, you usually get the message that its ok to turn the drive off.
Good advice + great people = tek-tips
I believe you are ok if you try the little green arrow and either get the ok or if you get the other message, as long as you dont have a program that is writing to the drive.
I forgot to mention about that, you usually get the message that its ok to turn the drive off.
Good advice + great people = tek-tips
- Thread starter
- #18
elgordo1960
Technical User
I can disconnect safely if I switch to another user though!!
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