[iBook] external drive: USB vs. firewire

[Ben Chong]

On Sep 22, 2005, at 7:49 PM, Michael Elliott wrote:

> Excuse me?  USB2 is plenty fast for mass storage.  I'm a long-time  
> Mac fan, but I've had lots of crashes or problems with my Macs  
> refusing to recognize a Firewire drive, even if another Mac does so.
>

USB2 is fast enough by itself for mass storage. Comparatively  
speaking, firewire is faster because of a better protocol.

My experience with USB has mainly been related to powering the USB  
2.5" drive from the USB port. Version 1.1 ports are not spec for  
powering USB drives. Even 2.0 ports may not work depending on the  
drive you have in the external case and depending on which port you  
use (e.g. in the case of my iBooks).

I've had no trouble with Firewire so far. I guess also because I use  
only one brand of external firewire 2.5" case.

> HOWEVER...one question I have:  will the drive in a USB 2.0 case be  
> BOOTABLE in case of an emergency?  I know that Firewire is.
>
> Michael
>
>
> On Sep 21, 2005, at 10:31 PM, Ben Chong wrote:
>
>> Speedwise, firewire is probably faster. The USB protocol is not  
>> made for fast mass storage transactions.
>>
>> Also, if you are looking at 2.5" USB drives, there is the  
>> consideration of power. In my 1.33GHz and 1.2GHz 12" iBooks, the  
>> USB ports are not made equal. Only one port (one next to the  
>> firewire connector) is really capable of powering a 2.5" USB hard  
>> drive. The firewire port has no trouble at all driving firewire- 
>> capable 2.5" drives.
>>
>>
>>
>
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--
Ben
http://www.svgeek.com