eSATAp Support Group

USB 3.0 or eSATAp (6Gbps)? Why not both?

Colin Kee — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 14:06:16 +0000

Finally best of both worlds.

Who said you can’t have your cake and eat it? Finally best of both worlds collide.

USB 3.0 has merged with eSATAp due to eSATAp bracket flexibility.

Delock 61862 and 42488 has certainly made many DIY enthusiast dream come true.

61862 Comes with low profile bracket for HTPC so you can play HD videos from external storage media without any lag.

42488 allows you to use both USB 3.0, eSATA and eSATAp.

USB 3 crush eSATAp? 6Gbps & 3Gbps SATA strike back.

Colin Kee — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 07:05:05 +0000

It is a myth than USB 3.0 can crush eSATAp (eSATA/USB).

Stephen Foskett, Pack Rat reviews IOMEGA USB 3.0. shows that USB 3.0 can’t even match SATA 3Gbps. You can also check out an older CruchGear review here.

Here are the theoretical specifications fyi.

SATA Revision 3 = 6Gbps (750MB/s)

SATA Revision 2 = 3Gbps (325 MB/s)

USB 3.0 = 5Gbps (625 MB/s)

USB 2.0 = 480Mbps (60 MB/s)

According to the review SATA 6Gbps can reach 300MB/s, while SATA 3Gbps is 200MB/s.

USB 3.0 peak at 150-200MB/s although it has a theoretical speed of 5Gbps (625MB/s), thus just as USB 2.0 its only at 1/3 its speed.

The reason is very simple why USB 3 even have difficulty outperforming SATA 3Gbps. True eSATAp (eSATA/USB) is just a simple external bracket for the onboard SATA + USB connector, there is virtually no translation required.

USB always have problem with memory and cpu overheads. The original USB 2.0 promised 60MB/s but in reality it is only 20MB/s (1/3).

eSATAp will always have the advantage due to SATA being the default connector for all HDD/SSD and optical drives.

Even when Intel Light Peak is out, eSATAp will still be around, but USB 3.0 is subjective taking into consideration the additional cost or an additional chip set to implement this technology.

USB was able to win the war against Firewire IEEE 1394 (found on Apple Macintosh) due to its better marketing strategy.

That doesn’t mean USB is better than FireWire.

TREADLAYERS.com review SSD on SATA 6Gbps

Colin Kee — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 06:58:28 +0000

TREADLAYERS.com review SSD on SATA 6Gbps.

The theoretical benchmark for 6Gbps is about 750MB/s, thus at about 60% you can get about 450MB

The SSD speed measured about 332MB/s which is very good. USB 3.0 is about 200MB/s.

A review of Delock 89233 PCI-e eSATAp card.

Colin Kee — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 16:18:49 +0000

Delock PCI-e card with port multiplier capability

The Delock 89233 PCI-e eSATAp add on card adds two eSATAp (eSATA/USB) port to your computer. This is suitable for users who needs or do not have spare SATA port to convert to eSATAp port.

This card also supports port multiplier and RAID functions. Port multiplier is needed for connecting your computer to NAS (Network Attached Storage). The RAID functions supported are RAID 0, 1, 5 & 1+0.

We were surprised to know that our external HDD can be automatically detected by Windows 7 and can actually be safely add/remove via the Windows tray icon. Previously, we have to use external software like HotSwap! to perform this task on other cards.

A benchmark is performed using CrystalDiskMark and here are the results. Note that a USB 2.0 HDD performance will be in the range of 15MB/s-25MB/s.

Hitachi DeskStar 1TB. Speed at 128.3MB/s (1.26Gbps)

Hitachi DeskStar 500GB. Speed at 91.31MB/s (730Mbps)

Hitachi DeskStar 500GB. Speed at 88MB/s (704Mbps)

Implementing eSATAp

Colin Kee — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 06:24:33 +0000

Many notebooks are equipped with this combo port, so ask for an eSATAp capable notebook.

For desktop workstation(MAC Pro), you simply need a backplate bracket (Delock).

It cost less than USD 15 (SGD 19). The best part, plug & play. ZERO driver, no BIOS AHCI or OS tweak is needed.

eSATAp bracket (eSATA + USB)

All machines (since 2005, PC and MAC) has SATA and USB connectors.

*AHCI = Advanced Host Controller Interface

Is my notebook esatap ready?

Colin Kee — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 02:39:37 +0000

An eSATAp port on a notebook.

Is my notebook eSATAp ready?

Brand name	Series name	Notebook Model Name
Acer	Aspire	4935G / 5930G / 6530G / 6930G / 6935G / 8930G
Asus		VX2S / V2S / G2S / A7S / F6S
Clevo		650V / M570 / M860
Dell	Latitude	E4200 / E4300 / E5400 / E5500 / E6400 / E6400ATG / E6500 / XT2
	Precison	M2400 / M4400 / M6300 / M6400 / Adamo
Fujitsu	Amilo	Si2636
	Lifebook	A6210
Gigabyte	W series	W476V / W576V / W476M / W576M
	Q series	Q1458M / Q1580M / Q1458V / Q1580V / M1305
HP	Pavilion	DV3007 / DV3509 / DV3607 / DV4-1017TX / DV4-1117TX / DV4-1119TX / DV5-1003TX / DV5-1021TX / DV5-1101AX / DV5-1121TX / DV5-1127TX
	Presario	CQ40-132AX / CQ45-101TX / CQ45-217TX / CQ45-301TX
	HDX	X16-1002TX / X18-1003TX / HDX9200 / HDX9300 / Voodoo Envy 133
Lenovo	Y series	Y450a / Y550a / Y650
LG		S510
MSI		GX620 / GX400 / GX600 / EX300 / EX625 / EX630 / GT628 / GT729 / GT735 / GX720 / PR420 / PR621
NEC	Versa	P9210
Toshiba	Satellite	E105 / U400 / M300 / A300 / A350 / P300
	Satellite Pro	U400 / S300 / S300M
	Portege	A600 / M750 / R600
	Tecra	A10 / M10 / R10
	Qosmio	G55 / X305

Brand name	Series name	Motherboard Model Name
ASUS
ASRock	Intel i7	X58 SuperComputer / P55-Deluxe / P55-Extreme / X58-Deluxe / X58-Extreme
MSI	AMD AM3	P55-GD65 / 790FX-GD70 / 790FX-GD70 winki
Gigabyte	Intel i7	GA-EX58A-UD4P / GA-EP55-UD3P / GA-EP55-UD3R / GA-EP55-UD4 / GA-EP55-UD4P / GA-EP55-UD5

Oracle VM Virtualbox, Sun Vmware, Windows Virtual PC

Colin Kee — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 03:39:09 +0000

eSATAp can be a killer technology partner for virtualisation as compared to USB. USB is just too slow for virtualization.

Virtualization is a process whereby you run an external Operating System (OS) in a virtual environment.

The OS is stored in a virtual image file which could be external to the computer.

It is like having a 2nd computer in a file.

Source:

http://myitforum.com/cs2/blogs/sjames/archive/2008/08/08/esata-versus-usb2.aspx

USB 3.0 VS eSATAp

Colin Kee — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 06:06:50 +0000

CrunchGear compare USB 3.0 and eSATA (Original).

Credit:
http://www.crunchgear.com/2010/02/05/esata-is-faster-than-usb-3-0-at-least-right-now/

NCIX also compares USB 3.0 with eSATA (original non self powered).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqlqCoQMLsQ

This has proven that the more expansive USB 3.0 is not faster than the more economical eSATA or eSATAp.

How to connect multibay NAS storage to eSATA port.

Colin Kee — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 03:32:41 +0000

Although eSATAp (eSATA/USB) can be implemented using a basic bracket, users needing advanced feature can use a PCI-express card. These advance feature includes port multiplier and for machine without spare SATA ports.

Source:

http://blogs.technet.com/b/roblarson/archive/2009/03/01/beware-of-integrated-esata-ports.aspx

1) Multi bay NAS storage have port multiplier

2) Thus in order to support these NAS storage, the desktop PC/Mac Pro must have port multiplier capable eSATAp port.

To enable port multiplier capable eSATAp on your desktop/Mac Pro use the Delock 89233 PCI-e x1 card

It supports 2 eSATAp (eSATA+USB) port with port multiplier capability.

http://www.delock.com/produkte/gruppen/pci-express/Delock_PCI_Express_Card_2x_Power_Over_eSATA_5VSLASH12V_89233.html

Delock PCI-e card with port multiplier capability

HotSwap! Safely remove hardware

Colin Kee — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 02:38:33 +0000

Hot swapping and hot plugging are terms used to separately describe the functions of replacing system components without shutting down the system.

HotSwap! is a very useful program for safely removing hardware which the original Windows XP/Vista/7 cannot.

It is so powerful you can even safely remove your IDE DVD-RW. All SATA devices can be hotswap.

We have attached a mirror to the HotSwap! software

http://esatap.sg/sw/hotswap5.zip (mirror)

http://pcsg3.com/sw/hotswap5.zip (mirror)

Main site:

http://mt-naka.com/hotswap/index_enu.htm