Today, the eSATA port has long ceased to be something truly new and exotic. However, at the same time, not all users are familiar with it and do not quite clearly understand what advantages and disadvantages this standard provides in everyday work with a computer.
A bit about eSATA
Of course, it will be interesting for beginners to find out first of all, eSATA - what it is and what it is eaten with. If you try to answer easier, then this serial port standard lies in speed and usability somewhere between USB 2.0 standards and traditional SATA. The term itself is abbreviated as External Serial ATA, that is, a port that uses advanced serial communication technologies and has the ability to "hot" replace on the fly both hard drives and other devices attached to the computer.
Despite the fact that the eSATA connection appeared back in 2004, today users often prefer more traditional technologies - USB and SATA.
Advantages
Of course, the eSATA standard would not be widespread if it did not have its own objective advantages. And these include:
- the possibility of extending the cable for data transmission up to 2 meters without the risk of signal distortion;
- eSATA signal compatibility with SATA;
- faster data transfer compared to USB 2.0;
- low cost in production allows you to equip chipsets with multiple eSATA ports and use this connector in many devices. For example, there is an eSATA external hard drive and even flash drives;
- hard drives can be combined into RAID arrays;
- you can replace hard drives on the go, which is unthinkable if you use the traditional SATA interface.
As you can see, there are plenty of advantages for this interface, at least in comparison with such common and familiar standards as USB 2.0 and SATA.
disadvantages
Answering the question, eSATA - what is it, you cannot ignore the disadvantages of this type of connection. Despite the fact that this type of interface was launched in 2004, not all devices are equipped with ports of this standard, and so far its use is complicated by some inconveniences:
- physical incompatibility of eSATA and SATA ports;
- the speed of data exchange is still somewhat lower than that of SATA. Numerous synthetic tests have confirmed this;
- the cable length is limited to two meters, which is less than in the case of USB;
- an eSATA hard drive will require additional power via USB and 1394 or through a regular power outlet (in new models of external devices this is often unnecessary);
- eSATA and SATA use different signal levels;
- eSATA sometimes requires a special controller on the motherboard;
- not many devices that support this standard have yet been released.
As for the data transfer speed itself, eSATA surpasses the USB 2.0 standard, which is quite widespread in this regard, but is inferior to modern USB 3.0. It is possible that the fact that eSATA connectors are not popular today is connected with this: after all, it is easier to work with USB, and the speed in version 3.0 is higher.
ESATA Views
Oddly enough, but this interface has its own variations. However, there are not so many of them. Or rather, just two:
- Actually eSATA, the features of which were mentioned above.
- ESATAp - a distinctive feature of this type of port is that it became possible to recharge the device directly through an eSATA cable, SATA required to supply power through an external source. The postfix p means power.
It would seem that with the advent of a standard such as eSATAp, all problems have been resolved, and this port is ready to become self-sufficient. But then USB 3.0 arrived, and eSATAp could not compete with it.
And plus 12 volts
However, you can connect any USB device to the eSATA port. Interfaces allow you to do this. At the same time, the device will be powered up simultaneously and data will be transferred back and forth .
The main problem in this case is that some hard drive models require not only standard 5 volts for recharge, but as much as 12. But laptops do not have such a powerful power source. Therefore, an improved version of eSATAp was developed, which provides for the presence of additional power contacts in the connector. The interface is unofficially called eSATAdp, i.e. dual power.
If no eSATA
Not too often, but sometimes you need to output an eSATA device with only a SATA port on the system board. For example, if you need to connect an external eSATA to any device.
You can do this, but for this you need a passive extension cable that connects directly to the SATA on the motherboard. If we are talking about a laptop or netbook, then it is possible to make such a connection through PC Card adapters, as well as through Express Card. But in this case, the maximum cable length will be limited to only one meter, which is not always convenient.
External devices with eSATA support
At one time, before the advent of USB 3.0, the eSATA interface was predicted for a fairly bright future. An eSATA external drive can be found on sale even now. After all, USB 3.0 has so far failed to oust its predecessor USB 2.0 everywhere.
And since the eSATA standard is primarily intended for fast data exchange, it is quite logical that all kinds of drives make up the lion's share of the market for external devices supporting this interface. These are external hard drives and flash drives. But you can also find for sale printers and scanners that use this type of connection in their work.
Unfortunately, some confusion associated with the presence of even a small, but a variety of interfaces SATA, eSATA, eSATAp, as well as eSATAdp, led to the fact that consumers are confused with the compatibility of ports and cables. And even the eSATA adapter does not always help to solve this problem, especially if the difficulties are associated not only with compatibility, but also with the need to conduct additional recharge (the same 12 volts). In addition, the eSATAdp standard has not yet been standardized.
For now, it remains only to carefully monitor cable compatibility so as not to confuse the eSATA, SATA cable and others. And hope that either all of these are finally standardized, or some more universal port will replace the variety of SATA ports.
Why not FireWire or USB
Of course, the answer to the question of what eSATA is, what it is, cannot be considered complete without an attempt to analyze the capabilities of competitors. In this case, FireWire and USB.
And there are three reasons why eSATA has not yet been supplanted by them:
- To organize data exchange through these two ports, you need to convert the PATA or SATA protocols to USB or the same FireWire. However, the bandwidth has significant limitations. This was not very noticeable in earlier times, but with the advent of solid-state drives with volumes of 500 GB or more, which today will not surprise anyone, this threshold has become quite noticeable.
- The second reason is that even in the case of FireWire there is a limit on the data transfer rate of 400 Mbps, since FireWire controllers operate according to the IEEE 1394A standard . Here, such a limitation is evident not so much when using large hard drives as high-speed, as well as voluminous RAID-arrays, which, of course, require very considerable speeds.
- Finally, FireWire and USB drives do not have access to some low-level features. For example, to the SMART function. At the same time, eSATA is spared this drawback.
Although competitive interfaces are very popular among ordinary users due to their convenience, however, in some cases, an eSATA interface is indispensable. So, if the user needs a high speed transmission of large amounts of information, this standard will be an ideal solution for this kind of tasks. Unfortunately, its implementation is associated with certain technical difficulties, but if there is additional power, for example, using an external unit, this will not be a problem.
Outlook for eSATA
It is still difficult to say anything with a 100% guarantee regarding the future of this interface. But without trying to predict when answering the question of eSATA - what it is, you can’t do it either.
While there are devices on the market that support ports such as USB 2.0, USB 3.0, and the aforementioned FireWire, the future of eSATA is uncertain. On the one hand, manufacturers are not in a hurry to actively use this port in all their devices, and on the other hand, they still make drives with this interface, but they don’t forget about USB 3.0.
ESATA looks good if you need to, for example, connect bulk storage devices or process multimedia content in HD quality. Also, this interface will help everyone to have their own RAID array at home.
But many users will prefer to use a slower, but as simple and intuitive interface as USB 2.0 in their daily work. Indeed, most of them do not need to work with fast and capacious drives, in addition, often users are frightened by the need for additional power to the device with an eSATA interface. They are ready to put up with some speed limits for the sake of convenience. But in some cases, it is impossible to do without it.
So you should not continue to expect a significant impact on the market from the eSATA interface, but it will not quickly give up its position, since there is still a need for it.
Many experts claim that this standard will exist until the spread of a more modern new standard, or eventually USB 3.0 will take the lead. However, until this happens, you can safely purchase drives that operate on the basis of eSATA.