Is eSATA faster or slower in terms of bandwidth than USB 3.0 or USB 3.1 in practical usage (I figure USB 3.0 or USB 3.1 must have more overhead than SATA III but I could be wrong)? I've read to use SATA III over eSATA you can't have a cable longer the 1m. What are the cabling length limitations for USB 3.0 or USB 3.1?
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Some eSATA questions
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It depends on the eSATA controller. eSATA is capable of a theoretical maximum of 6Gb/s (same as SATA III), which is slightly faster than USB 3.0's 5Gb/s.
As for maximum USB cable length, USB 2.0 apparently was limited to 5 meters. It's still the suggested limit for later revisions, but your mileage may vary. Active and fiber-optic cables do exist that can go well beyond that limit.
As for maximum USB cable length, USB 2.0 apparently was limited to 5 meters. It's still the suggested limit for later revisions, but your mileage may vary. Active and fiber-optic cables do exist that can go well beyond that limit.
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eSATA cable length is officially up to 2 meters and carries SATA III, so 5Gbit/s or 600MB/s.
USB 3.0 does not have a maximum cable length but in practice probably up to 3 meters. USB 3.0 also carries 5Gbit/s or 600MB/s. Overhead of SATA>USB and then transfer over USB is not that significant, controllers and hubs used make more of a difference.
USB 3.1/3.2 have same cable spec as USB 3.0, so no maximum specified length but in reality especially with higher speeds you are limited to couple meters. Also increased maximum bandwidth to 10/20Gbit or 1.2/2.5GB/s. To take advantage of that for storage you would basically need an NVMe SSD and controllers along with data path make a bigger difference.
USB 3.0 does not have a maximum cable length but in practice probably up to 3 meters. USB 3.0 also carries 5Gbit/s or 600MB/s. Overhead of SATA>USB and then transfer over USB is not that significant, controllers and hubs used make more of a difference.
USB 3.1/3.2 have same cable spec as USB 3.0, so no maximum specified length but in reality especially with higher speeds you are limited to couple meters. Also increased maximum bandwidth to 10/20Gbit or 1.2/2.5GB/s. To take advantage of that for storage you would basically need an NVMe SSD and controllers along with data path make a bigger difference.
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Hi,
Last system I have that has esata was from 2009 "still in operation too" and only usb 2 so obviously esata was way faster than usb 2
None of my newer system even have esata but do have usb 3.... oldest is x99 so comparing with usb 3... speed seems odd but heck you may have a system that has both esata and usb 3... :/
Last system I have that has esata was from 2009 "still in operation too" and only usb 2 so obviously esata was way faster than usb 2
None of my newer system even have esata but do have usb 3.... oldest is x99 so comparing with usb 3... speed seems odd but heck you may have a system that has both esata and usb 3... :/
Technically my z390 board doesn't have eSATA, but since my case does, all I had to do was connect that cable to a SATA III port and set that port in BIOS to removable. It's only running at SATA II speeds because of the limitations of my external enclosure.
In both my Asrock Extreme 4 x79 and my Asrock Extreme X99 motherboard manuals there's the following blurb about eSATA:
"The eSATA connector supports SATA with cables within 1 meters. The S_SATA3_3 connector is shared with the eSATA port"
I have had problems using long eSATA cables in the past too.
I think USB 3.0 will be my next enclosure.