External Harddrive questions

Hello

I just got a new harddrive enclosure for my seagate 7200.10 320GB drive because my Rosewill enclosure stopped working.

So I have a few questions. It's a thermaltake Max4 Active Cooling and works well. Interface is eSATA and USB 2.0.

Transfer speeds to and from my laptop (which has 5400RPM seagate drive) are pretty slow with eSATA. They're about as fast as USB. Is this normal since it's a slower internal drive?

Also, I want this drive to last a long time, I dont want to do anything wrong like turning it off at the wrong time. Now I've just been leaving it plugged in, and flicking the switch on when I need it, then flicking it off. Is this ok or should I have it shut off and start up with the computer?


Thanks

 

Anyone? The drive makes some wierd buzzing noise when I turn it on with the switch.

 

What is your throughput?

 

What is throughput?

The interface is a Rosewill expresscard for my laptop, if thats what you mean.

 

How much data you can transfer. Download SiSoft Sandra it is free. Then run the bench mark to get results. That will tell us much about how your HDD is working. Internal should be maybe 40MB/s to 60MB/s tops so what is yours doing?

 

yes the transfer speed is going to be indeed slower due to the specs. of your internal, and you shouldn't just turn on and off your hard drive try and "Safely remove" after your done with it, though i don't really think it makes a difference, it just ensures that all reading/writing has stopped before it disconnects from your computer...

 

Ok I tested the internal drive using the harddrive benchmark.
Read: 31mb/s 16ms

and the External Drive:
Read: 58mb/s 13ms


and the removeable storage benchmark on the external drive:
21616ops/min



I find this interesting. It says the drive is spinning at 10000RPM...even though it's a 7200rpm drive. Huh?

Are these the right benchmarks?



I'm mostly concerned with the powering sequence for this drive since I want it to last a long time. That is, when connected via eSATA, is it safe to click the power switch on and off when I'm not using it? It seems to make a strange buzzing sound when I do.

When I hook it up with the USB cable though, it seems to start up more slowly, and I have the option to 'safely remove hardware', whereas eSATA doesn't give me that option.

Thanks for the help guys.

Also, is it normal for a harddrive to constantly make a very slight clicking noise? There's no activity light blinking but I can still hear it.

 

Anyone? I'm curious why sisoft sandra said the drive was spinning at 10000rpm.

 

i was wondering if mabey the sound it normal but since HDs are normal in enclosed computures you really dont hear the sound, but now that its outside the and doesnt have as much space for the sound to disipate, you hear more of it.

idk just a theory!

 

Yea you've got a good point. I think I hear every little noise when it's right next to my ear.

If I use it mostly on USB, the transfer speeds are decent enough just for accessing information. It shuts off and starts up with the computer so I dont have to touch the switch.

eSATA is a different story.