eSata flash drive

I'm looking for a bootable eSata stick (just like those small USB flash stick but eSata ).
Size 16GB or more, can anyone recommend me any models/manufactureres?

 

eSATA doesn't have it's own power except in certain circumstances, when you have an eSATA+USB combo port. Only something like this really works: Kanguru Solutions 32GB e-Flash (eSata, USB2.0) (KEFL-32G)

A plain eSATA thumb drive doesn't exist, and a normal eSATA external drive needs a USB port for power.

 

why would you want such a thing ? bootable external device feels very odd for long term usage.

 

Well, bootable to install windows when I'm reformatting, eSata to transfer bigger files from time to time, it's faster and I don't have USB 3.0.
I just thought it would be a neat solution instead of buying a new 32 gig USB thumb drive (my current one is broken).

 

As many people mentioned, the primary drawback of eSATA is that most implementations of eSATA require external power. You need to find an eSATA-P port, and an eSATA-P device in order to get power through the eSATA port.



You are honestly much better off getting a fast USB flash drive, because:

(1) eSATA isn't going to be much faster, unless you're using an SSD in an external enclosure. The flash memory and controllers used in thumb drives are all aimed at USB 2.0 speeds (~30MBps sequential throughput).

(2) Not every machine has eSATA. USB 2.0 is universal. Every machine you will ever touch will be able to use a USB flash drive.



If you were to go out and buy a drive today, I'd say get the Patriot XPorter XT Rage. There was a thread on these forums that discussed a fast USB flash drive, and the Patriot XPorter XT Rage was the drive to buy for its ridiculously fast write speeds.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/accessories/554363-reliable-usb-2-0-flash-drive-comparisons.html

And if it helps you at all - I reinstalled Windows 7 Enterprise Edition on 3 of my laptops this past week off of a fast USB flash drive (Patriot XPorter XT, a drive that is slower than the Rage XT). It took 14 minutes for the Windows install per machine, from POST to desktop. I spent more time downloading drivers than I did installing Windows.

 

I just installed Windows 7 x64 and Ubuntu 10.10 x64 from my new Patriot Xporter USB drive to my Intel SSD a few days ago. Windows took 7 to 8 minutes to install and Ubuntu took even less, perhaps 5. I would say just stick with USB as you're not gonna squeeze out much more time with eSATA. It's much better to invest in an SSD.

 

Ok, thanks for the advice. It seems they're pretty rare but there are some thumb drives with esata and USB 2.0 as far as I've seen now, that would be a neat solution if it's really a lot faster than USB 2.0 drives.

@Iron Eagle: 7-8 minutes from a USB thumb drive sounds great, was it a customized version (smaller)?

I just thought it would be nice as a "rescue stick", for example with a bootable version of linux on it, and as said to transfer bigger files. That would be pretty useful and especially portable. But you're right of course, eSata isn't very popular unfortunately.

 

This is the drive I bought: Newegg.com - Patriot Xporter XT Boost 8GB Flash Drive (USB 2.0 Portable) Model PEF8GUSB

It's just a regular RTM Professional edition installed on a USB drive formatted using Microsoft's USB Format Tool.

My 7 to 8 minute estimate is from the moment I press "Install" to when Windows 7 has finished installing 100% of the system files on my drive. It doesn't include the reboot time as well as the configuration time (entering network settings, user settings, etc.).

I had the same idea as you. I wanted to put the Windows 7 and Ubuntu installers on a USB drive, but it turns out you cannot easily partition a USB flash drive. There is a way to do it, but I haven't yet convinced myself to risk my newly bought (and very fast) flash drive.

 

I own a Patriot XPorter XT 4GB flash drive. Love it. Fast, reliable drive. Owned it for about 2 years, before I decided to buy another one.

That is when I found the XPorter XT Rage drive. It's even faster than the standard XPorter XT. If you're going to buy a new fast flash drive, the Xporter XT Rage is the one to get.

 

I think you're assuming that an eSATA flash drive would automatically be faster than a USB 2.0 flash drive. This is not the case.

If you want an eSATA device that is faster than USB 2.0, you will need to go with USB storage drives, like a HDD / SDD in an eSATA enclosure.

If all you want is to have a backup flash drive to install Windows faster than installing it off of a DVD, then get a USB 2.0 (or 3.0) flash drive. It will work on every computer you ever touch, because every computer has a USB port (unlike eSATA).

 

The aData N909 was (is?) supposed to be 90/50 MB, way above USB speeds but I can't find a place to buy.

 

Yeah, thanks! That's what I was looking for... in the meantime I found some other manufacturers which have / had such thumb drives, but they're hard to find. No one seems to sell them.

Nvm, I think I go with an USB drive for the moment.