Connect External HDD to 2 computers at the same time...possible?

I just bought a 1TB Western Digital My Book Home HDD. It features 2 firewire, 1 eSata and 1 USB 2.0 connection. I thought it would be possible to have two computers hooked up to it at the same time but it doesn't seem to be working. The HDD works fine on both separate connected through either of the ports but when both hooked up end i power on the disk only one of the two will read it.
On the lappy in my sig Intel Matrix Storage manager will alert me a storage device is connected but it won't show it, this is only when i have it connected through eSata.

Is there any reason 1 ext HDD won't work on 2 computers? I know a network HDD will but that's a different situation ofcourse.

PLEASE inform!

 

It will not work. There is no architecture on the drive to single out access to individual computers.

 

You need a router with support for a usb drive. Then you can map it on both computers.

 

My ignorant attempt to describe why it won't work is due to the HDD controller will only create one connection at a time.

For it to work, there would have to be some mechanism in place to prevent both systems from potentially trying to access data on the drives at the same time on different area's of the HDD...

 

That's kinda what i thought....indeed hooking it up to a router might fix things, i'll look into it....

thx so far!

 

The problem is not to access different areas of the HDD at the same time, all HDD's can do that, it just happens to be a slow transfer rate as a result of doing this. Because if that was a problem, connecting thorugh a router would be a problem too and if using a large drive for OS + alot of other data that you will access alot during usage.

The problem is that the connection only work through one of those as you first said.

 

Are there any normal network routers that would let me hook up a usb or firewire drive? Silly question maybe....

 

Yes there is. Just look among all the routers that has an USB output or even firewire. I know netgear and asus have some.


Asus WL-500W for ex

 

They also make versions of the mybook series with ethernet connections you can put onto your home network and access as a network attached storage solution, but since you already have the drive a usb network bridge is probably the simplest solution unless you can return that one.

 

Or you can simply share the USB/firewire drive on one of the computers and not have to buy anything. That is assuming these are networked computers.

 

I have an external enclosure with usb and esata and i could access the HDD from both at the same time. Well, actually, at the same time as in it's mounted on both. I didn't try to read at the same time, nor did i try to write, at the risk of corrupting it. But if i read from one, then read from the other, sequentially, it worked.

 

Yeah hancock's suggestion might be the easiest way to go. If i was to hook it op to a router that would mean it would be to far away from either computer to have any direct connection to it, that would SERIOUSLY slow down transfer rates. It's fine either way though because the way it is now 1 comp only uses the drive for backups where the other has to be connected most of the time.

eSata is reeeeeelly fast btw

 

@spare tire
Was that the same comp connected through 2 cables? If so, that's not really the issues here

 

Hah, nope, it was two different computers.