eSATA vs any new Thunderbolt/USB3.0 enclosure...

[maxiedaniels]

I've been reading performance reviews of the new OWC ThunderBay, the OWC Elite Pro Dual Thunderbolt, and various other interfaces. I feel like *every* one is significantly slower than native speed. I then read about the FirmTek ThunderTek /PX with SeriTek/Q6G, which adds eSATA ports over Thunderbolt. The performance tests show it has almost native speeds.

However, that specific review uses a FirmTek eSATA four drive enclosure, which isn't the setup I want. Will any eSATA enclosure work just as well? Or do eSATA enclosures vary greatly just like USB3.0/Thunderbolt enclosures?

 

[Tsumi]

I believe eSATA just does a direct connection to SATA, no controller in between to interfere.

 

[evilsofa]

Are you going to have SSDs or HDDs in the enclosure? HDDs will not come even close to maxing out any of those.

 

[FnordMan]

Are you looking at one drive or multiple? There's a rather large caveat to running multiple drives over one cable: both ends need Port Multiplier support.

Aside from that you'll get better performance from eSATA vs. something like Thunderbolt or USB 3.0. Is this on a machine that doesn't move? I've heard things about eSATA being picky about being moved so it'll be better in a fixed application.

 

[maxiedaniels]

Machine doesn't move, and I'll be using both SSD and HDD. I'm only concerned with SSD performance here. What's port multiplier on, eSATA specifically?

 

[FnordMan]

Machine doesn't move, and I'll be using both SSD and HDD. I'm only concerned with SSD performance here. What's port multiplier on, eSATA specifically?

To quote tvtropes: "Exactly what it says on the tin" Port Multipliers run multiple drives over one cable, just like I mentioned it. Note this does involve bandwidth sharing so it's less than ideal for a SSD. If you just want to run the one drive it's not something you have to worry about.

 

[maxiedaniels]

Okay, interesting.. I'll make sure to double check for that.

But to clarify my original question: is there different performance between individual eSATA enclosures, or are they all the same because it's just straight SATA? For example, various USB3.0 drives have massive differences in speed due to chipsets, etc.

 

[FnordMan]

Okay, interesting.. I'll make sure to double check for that.

But to clarify my original question: is there different performance between individual eSATA enclosures, or are they all the same because it's just straight SATA? For example, various USB3.0 drives have massive differences in speed due to chipsets, etc.

If it's a pure eSATA it shouldn't matter. Things may get a bit more interesting with those eSATA/USB combo enclosures but properly done it shouldn't matter much at all.