Storage Solutions Need External harddisk to boot from.

[amanbhosle]

You heard it right . I want a external hard disk to boot from .
Storing data backup is the next choice but it must be fast enough to give me decent experience as i m going to install operation system on it.

Minimal requirement :
1TB (But if i need to compromise on speed then even 300 Gb will also do)
Price < 8000
It must be fast enough as i m going install window 7 on it + software's like Photoshop ,corel draw .

I inquired some external harddisks @ croma ,
Is Western digital My passport suitable for my need?

Lappy is so powerful with all new features like 8gb ram i3 processor,usb 3.0 .

Also let me know where can i get killer deal (If online then COD is preferred )

Waiting for all techie answers

 

[fragpic]

Windows does not support installing to external HDD.

 

[amanbhosle]

Windows does not support installing to external HDD.

Thanks Chaitu for quick response but i know some workarounds to get it installed.

If not window 7 then i will go with win xp .

 

[fragpic]

Thanks Chaitu for quick response but i know some workarounds to get it installed.

If not window 7 then i will go with win xp .

What work around??
Please post the link
AFAIK Windows re initializes all the usb ports when booting so it is impossible to boot from usb.

 

[amanbhosle]

What work around??
Please post the link
AFAIK Windows re initializes all the usb ports when booting so it is impossible to boot from usb.

Thought i have not tried it but do look at this .
How to Install Windows 7 on External HDD part 1 - YouTube
Love to get your comments on it.

- - - Updated - - -

What work around??
Please post the link
AFAIK Windows re initializes all the usb ports when booting so it is impossible to boot from usb.

Thought i have not tried it but do look at this .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUV5qhB5ErY
Love to get your comments on it.

^^^My Bad the video was very misleading .

 

[fragpic]

Thought i have not tried it but do look at this .
How to Install Windows 7 on External HDD part 1 - YouTube
Love to get your comments on it.

- - - Updated - - -


Thought i have not tried it but do look at this .
How to Install Windows 7 on External HDD part 1 - YouTube
Love to get your comments on it.

^^^My Bad the video was very misleading .

That is for creating a windows USB setup not installing the OS,as you said the title is misleading.
I've tried before but this usb re initialization process is built into the OS and it cannot be disabled AFAIK

 

[amanbhosle]

That is for creating a windows USB setup not installing the OS,as you said the title is misleading.
I've tried before but this usb re initialization process is built into the OS and it cannot be disabled AFAIK

This is getting really exciting but little out of topic.

Chaitu check this out NT 6.x fast installer: install win7 directly to usb external drive - Windows 7 - reboot.pro
Look like these hackers can do anything.

Back to the topic . Please suggest any fast external usb drive .

 

[fragpic]

This is getting really exciting but little out of topic.

Chaitu check this out NT 6.x fast installer: install win7 directly to usb external drive - Windows 7 - reboot.pro
Look like these hackers can do anything.

Back to the topic . Please suggest any fast external usb drive .

Seems interesting....

Coming to the drive
As it is going to be the OS drive,it needs to have good read speeds
Check the below table and decide
.

 

[amanbhosle]

Seems interesting....

Coming to the drive
As it is going to be the OS drive,it needs to have good read speeds
Check the below table and decide
.View attachment 18532

Two queries

Do size matters in performance?
For example
Is This spec is valid for both 500Gb / 1TB drives ?

losafe solo g3 seems winner of all but where can i get it from ? I prefer cash on delivery if its going to be online.

And what about after sales warranty (Never heard of this brand in indian market)

- - - Updated - - -

^^^^^ OMG prices are as high as 30000 20000 :lol:

My budget is < 8000 Please suggest some VFM brands

 

[fragpic]

Two queries

Do size matters in performance?
For example
Is This spec is valid for both 500Gb / 1TB drives ?

losafe solo g3 seems winner of all but where can i get it from ? I prefer cash on delivery if its going to be online.

And what about after sales warranty (Never heard of this brand in indian market)

- - - Updated - - -

^^^^^ OMG prices are as high as 30000 20000 :lol:

My budget is < 8000 Please suggest some VFM brands

You cant get the fastest one as it is way out if your budget.
The next best is the Seagate Backup Plus
You can even get the WD My passport which costs around 5K.

The perfomance of the 500gb will be slightly better than 1 tb configurations cos 500gb drives are made of a single platter but 1 TB drives consist of two platters of 500gb each so lesser data density and hence slower access times

 

[Crazy_Eddy]

cos 500gb drives are made of a single platter but 1 TB drives consist of two platters of 500gb each so lesser data density and hence slower access times

If both use 500GB platters, then they both have the same platter density and performance should be the same.

You heard it right . I want a external hard disk to boot from .

Why not use your internal disk? :confused1: Most external drives use 5400rpm drives, and the latency will make things sluggish.

 

[fragpic]

If both use 500GB platters, then they both have the same platter density and performance should be the same.

Your theory is correct if you assume all the data written onto the HDD is organised in a particular order ,but in real life usage data is scattered around in the HDD ,the data is spread over a larger surface area(2 separate platters instead of one but only 1 head to read the data) so the read/write head takes a little more time to cover the entire surface.

Why not use your internal disk? :confused1: Most external drives use 5400rpm drives, and the latency will make things sluggish.

Many laptops come with 5400rpm drives especially the 1tb ones and they work alright, granted they have a higher latency than 7200 drives, but still for day to day work you will not find much difference

 

[Crazy_Eddy]

(2 separate platters instead of one but only 1 head to read the data) so the read/write head takes a little more time to cover the entire surface.

Each platter surface has its own read/write head.

Many laptops come with 5400rpm drives especially the 1tb ones and they work alright, granted they have a higher latency than 7200 drives, but still for day to day work you will not find much difference

Yeah there's a trend of 5400rpm drives showing up in laptops these days But even with increased platter densities, the rpm difference is noticeable with heavy apps like Photoshop etc.

 

[fragpic]

Each platter surface has its own read/write head.

Yes it is true but your understanding of how hard drives work is incorrect.First of all, the heads for each platter do not move independently of each other - they're all fixed to the same actuator. When the heads for one platter move to a particular position on the disk, all the heads move to that position.Note that although there is a separate head for each surface of each platter, the drive can only transfer data through one head at a time.So spreading the data across two different platters forms a queue of sort where each head has to wait for the other to finish its data transfer task,hence causing delay.

 

[Crazy_Eddy]

the heads for each platter do not move independently of each other - they're all fixed to the same actuator.

I didn't say they move independently. Just correcting your "1 head for 2 platters", "more surface area to cover" statement. If each platter surface has a head respectively, then each head covers the same platter surface area irrespective of the number of platters!

Note that although there is a separate head for each surface of each platter, the drive can only transfer data through one head at a time.So spreading the data across two different platters forms a queue of sort where each head has to wait for the other to finish its data transfer task,hence causing delay.

You seem sort of confused. If there is a data queue, how does it matter which platter the data is on? Even if queued data is on platter surface 1 and head 1 is busy with a data transfer on platter 1 , the queue still needs to wait for that task to finish before it gets fetched. The only possible lag I see is in the controller electronics switching between read/write heads, and electronics isn't slow. If you don't find rotational speeds to have any difference, I'm surprised how you can find electronics to be slower

 

[luster]

if a file is spread across different location/platter then the read time will be more than if it is on same location/platter. that's why de-fragmentation of hdd makes access faster.
so AFAIK, single platter 500gb will faster than 1tb with two 500gb platter.

 

[amanbhosle]

^^^^ So which External HDD has one platter covering 1TB surface area ?

 

[fragpic]

You seem sort of confused. If there is a data queue, how does it matter which platter the data is on? Even if queued data is on platter surface 1 and head 1 is busy with a data transfer on platter 1 , the queue still needs to wait for that task to finish before it gets fetched. The only possible lag I see is in the controller electronics switching between read/write heads, and electronics isn't slow. If you don't find rotational speeds to have any difference, I'm surprised how you can find electronics to be slower

In any case, if anyone is this particular they can always partition/short-stroke the disk.

See that is the problem,you assume that all the data on the hard drive is neatly organised but it is not.For example, consider a file write operation,part of the file would be written to platter 1 and some part on platter 2.So when the file is requested by the system each head has to access a different platter, but as they do not move independently, each head has to wait for the other to finish the transfer process.
There is also the issue of slower access times with multi-platter HDDs cos the weight of the actuator(needs to carry two heads) is more than that of a single platter actuator.

Also I never said anything about rotational speeds not making a difference.I only said that in regular day to day tasks, the speed difference is not significant enough.I know that it makes a lot of difference in gaming and other intensive tasks but everything else(except copying large data like HD movies and stuff) the difference is not perceivable.For the OPs requirement of having an external drive, there is no option of a 7200rpm without having a separate power supply so it cannot be suggested.

if a file is spread across different location/platter then the read time will be more than if it is on same location/platter. that's why de-fragmentation of hdd makes access faster.
so AFAIK, single platter 500gb will faster than 1tb with two 500gb platter.

+1

 

[Crazy_Eddy]

^^^^ So which External HDD has one platter covering 1TB surface area ?

Please be very careful with the info being given by the others here - a lot of incorrect facts being spread.
To address your question, nobody knows what hard disks are being put in external drives. In any case the highest density platters for 2.5" drives are 500GB each as of now.

cos the weight of the actuator(needs to carry two heads) is more than that of a single platter actuator.

Will you settle on an actual figure? First you said 2 platters/1 head, now its 2 platters/2 heads. Unfortunately the correct answer is - 2 platters/4 heads.
A single platter has 2 sides/surfaces and 2 heads! (not including cases like 160GB drives with 320GB platters and single sides/heads) As per you, if a single platter with 2 surfaces and 2 heads is not slow, why would 3, 4, 5 etc heads be slow?

I know that it makes a lot of difference in gaming and other intensive tasks but everything else the difference is not perceivable.

Noticeable with booting the OS and even using a browser.

there is no option of a 7200rpm without having a separate power supply so it cannot be suggested.

Ahem : http://www.seagate.com/external-hard-drives/portable-hard-drives/performance/goflex-turbo/ . Anyway I'm not suggesting an external 7200rpm, i'm just asking why he wouldn't use a faster internal drive in the first place.

+1

That was a ridiculous post, and by agreeing with it you're contradicting your own logic If you have a 2 platter drive and you defragment it, it isn't going to shift all the data to 1 platter, its going to shift it to the outer tracks on both platters. Why would it do that if 2 platters are slower than 1 platter? Figure this out and you'll understand whats wrong with your posts. Hint - lookup hard disk cylinders and figure out how data is actually stored on a drive with multiple platters.

 

[amanbhosle]

Please be very careful with the info being given by the others here - a lot of incorrect facts being spread.
To address your question, nobody knows what hard disks are being put in external drives. In any case the highest density platters for 2.5" drives are 500GB each as of now.


Will you settle on an actual figure? First you said 2 platters/1 head, now its 2 platters/2 heads. Unfortunately the correct answer is - 2 platters/4 heads.
A single platter has 2 sides/surfaces and 2 heads! (not including cases like 160GB drives with 320GB platters and single sides/heads) As per you, if a single platter with 2 surfaces and 2 heads is not slow, why would 3, 4, 5 etc heads be slow?


Noticeable with booting the OS and even using a browser.


Ahem : Seagate . Anyway I'm not suggesting an external 7200rpm, i'm just asking why he wouldn't use a faster internal drive in the first place.



That was a ridiculous post, and by agreeing with it you're contradicting your own logic If you have a 2 platter drive and you defragment it, it isn't going to shift all the data to 1 platter, its going to shift it to the outer tracks on both platters. Why would it do that if 2 platters are slower than 1 platter? Figure this out and you'll understand whats wrong with your posts. Hint - lookup hard disk cylinders and figure out how data is actually stored on a drive with multiple platters.

Hey guys . I m a simple guy and love to here some simple answer . No offense to highly talented guys commenting but my brain cant just digest it .
So whats a final take on this . I have killer Lappy Ram is 8Gb . i5 processor .