External Hard Drives - What The Future Holds
Once upon a time, in a land not so far away, computer storage was limited to what
could fit on the internal hard drive of your computer, or what you could burn to a CD or DVD disc. However, things have changed considerably since those early days. Of course, those "early days" were only a few short years ago. Technology has advanced by an amazing amount in a relatively short period of time.
Where once the landscape was littered with removable storage media (tapes, discs, etc.), modern consumers have a broader range of choices today. However, even those choices that consumers have started to grow accustomed to are changing and evolving very quickly. What does the future hold for external hard drives? What might consumers expect to see as technology continues its relentless march? Here, you will find a brief rundown of some of the most immediate changes that you might notice in the days ahead.
Changing Connectivity Technology
No matter what type of external hard drive you choose, from an NAS system (network-attached storage) to a desktop or netbook-grade external hard drive, there has to be a way to connect the drive to your device. Currently, USB is the most popular means of doing this, though FireWire is also available.
In the future, it is quite possible that FireWire will disappear altogether, despite the advantages that this technology offers. FireWire is far faster than USB 2.0, and it can be daisy chained, allowing you to connect a string of devices at one time. However, it is also the most expensive solution on the market and the speed of transfer it offers does not necessarily offset this cost, at least to home network users. FireWire is generally used in a professional situation, where multimedia files need to be stored immediately.
What will replace FireWire as the high-speed connectivity of choice? There's actually some dispute about this, as there are two options available. Below, you'll find more about both of these, as well as some preliminary conclusions.
eSATA Connectivity
In the world of external hard drive connectivity, eSATA is the reigning king in terms of raw speed. In fact, eSATA even beats out the vaunted FireWire for performance. 3 GB/s can be transferred across an eSATA connection, compared to just 400 or 800 MB/s with a FireWire connection. However, there is a problem with eSATA connections - there's no juice.
FireWire and USB technology both provide current through the connecting cable. In some instances (especially with the 12 V capabilities of FireWire), this is enough to actually run the device. Some USB 2.0 devices require an external power source, though, like desktop external hard drives.
An eSATA connection does not provide any power, though, which means that any device with this type of connection will definitely need to have an external source of electricity in order to operate. While this is not necessarily a bad thing, particularly if you want an external hard drive that you don't ever move, it does play a role in emerging portability concerns.
Finally, eSATA is just plain expensive. It costs more than FireWire technology even. This means that many consumers will not be willing to pony up the cash to take advantage of the transfer speeds it provides.
USB 3.0 Connectivity
USB connections have become ubiquitous in modern society. It's virtually impossible to find a device that does not offer a USB connection. In fact, many eSATA-enabled devices also offer a USB connection for consumers to use. However, the vast majority of these are all USB 2.0, which has reached the limit of its usefulness. Does this mean that this technology is going to fall by the wayside?
Actually, the world has already seen the deployment of USB 3.0 - an incredible evolution from the 2.0 version of this technology. In fact, the first devices using 3.0 have already rolled of the assembly lines of manufacturers, during the first quarter of 2010. Of course, most consumers will not be affected by this technology until the end of 2010, but by this time, it will certainly be a dominating force in the marketplace, if not the main player.
What does 3.0 offer that other technologies don't? It's an unusual combination, including these key factors:
-Affordability
-Speed
-Backwards compatibility
Let's tackle affordability first. USB 3.0 is more affordable than FireWire or eSATA connectivity technology. This gives it an advantage out of the box. In almost all circumstances, unless the situation dictates otherwise, consumers gravitate toward the most affordable solution that will meet their needs.
Second, USB 3.0 is fast - as fast as or faster than eSATA according to the developers. This technology offers transfer speeds over 4 GB/s according to the developers. This is a considerable amount faster than eSATA and far faster than what is able to be achieved through a FireWire connection. Of course, those figures won't be the actual data throughput seen by consumers, but it's still enough to boost USB 3.0 into the top echelons of upcoming external hard drive technology.
Finally, USB 3.0 is backwards compatible. The same cables and the same connections can be used here as with version 2.0. Of course, full 3.0 speeds can only be attained when the host computer, the peripheral device and the cable connecting them are all 3.0 compatible, but the backwards compatibility does offer some peace of mind for consumers.
Changing Form Factors
The final note on the future of external hard drives involves the form factors seen. This will simply be a continuation of the same trends seen currently. In other words, drives will continue to become smaller and smaller. This offers better portability, certainly. However, it also offers other benefits.
For instance, a desktop external hard drive usually tops out around 2 TB in terms of capacity. However, with smaller drive units with that capacity, manufacturers can package 2 drives in the same housing, providing 4 TB of storage in a device with the same footprint as an older 2 GB system. The same rules apply to netbook-grade external hard drives.
Therefore, the future of external hard drives can be summed up as follows: Faster, more connectible and more portable than ever before.
by: Ed Molino
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