Maximum length e-Sata cables that are available?

I

Imrahn

Contributor
As part of my HTPC project, i have an HDD enclosure bay in mind that has to be shared between 2 HTPCs.It got USB3.0 and e-SATA outputs.Now, i suppose USB cables are max 5 meters in length so i would connect it that way to the closest PC.Now, the other one is in the 2nd floor and is it possible to connect the e-SATA out to this PC?Whats the longest e-Sata cable available,some 50 ft + are available ??

Regards

Imrahn
 
^^Thanx mate....how about i use multiple USB Male to Female cables to achieve the desired length??U know how much a NAS with storage support like this one(10TB) will cost,na?Thats why going this way as this one costs around 12k only.
 
I would suggest the following:

Connect HDD enclosure bay to one of the HTPC, then use 1Gbps LAN to share those discs with other PCs. Its the most simples and less error prone way.
 
^^but that way, i have to turn ON both PCs to enjoy movie in the distant HT mate...If the connection is made like i mentioned, all i have to do is turn on the storage device and all files should be available at both HTs .
 
then you get a NAS box. 2TB Seagate box would cost you 10k approx. if you try to connect a usb device to two different machines at the same time, it wont work. ( i assume u are thinking esata to one and usb to other). this will cause the drive to hang, and cause data corruption. again if you try to keep adding cables and extend, there will be loss of signal and it wont work.
 
RedBull said:
^^Thanx mate....how about i use multiple USB Male to Female cables to achieve the desired length??U know how much a NAS with storage support like this one(10TB) will cost,na?Thats why going this way as this one costs around 12k only.
Click to expand...
In theory you could do that with repeaters/hubs,but in practice the latency would be very high and would be unusable (and its a bad hack).

Try to get a hdd enclosure with wifi/rj45,Its not so hard to find them these days.

If you want to resort to some hack to make it work in existing scenario, you could look at

1. USB extenders that you get in deal extreme et al, It runs usb over rj45,effectively you are getting the range of a LAN.

I'm not sure how effective these are,but note that most of them work in USB 1.1.

Here's one in DX,

$28.99 - 2-Port USB 1.1 + PS/2 Extender Set (50M) - USB Hubs & Switches

There are cheaper one's of course,you know its DX,your luck.

2. Using power-line Ethernet ,rest similar to above.Expensive,but clean and no extra wiring.

3. If you have wireless router already,Get the cheapest wireless router/AP with usb support and network it.

IMHO the best thing we could do than to buy instead of these expensive NAS box'es is get a good wireless router with a few usb ports (or media player with CFW like wdtv, depending on the scenario).

Sure it wont have all the greatest and latest features,but it would get the job done for most.
 
leomax said:
eSata is limited to 2m max by spec and usb by 5m by spec.

I'd suggest you try something like a NAS.
Click to expand...
very true,

just get nas hdd so you get nas store to all pc's .

you may not be able to use both ports same time for usb 3 and e sata.
 
In that case, you can get a low power device which is always on, such as TonidoPlug. It costs $99USD

TonidoPlug is a tiny, low power, low cost home server based on GHz ARM processor that allows you to access your applications, files, photos, music and media from anywhere via a web browser (Powered by Tonido software).

When an external USB hard drive or flash drive is connected, TonidoPlug converts it to a NAS storage accessible from Windows/Mac/Linux computers in the local network.

When you are outside your local network, you can still mount TonidoPlug folders as local drives (using WebDAV) for drag-and-drop download and upload support.

Effortlessly access and share your TonidoPlug's files through iPhone, Android or Blackberry apps.

You can even stream media to some UPnP/DLNA compliant devices like the XBOX 360 or PlayStation 3 (Beta).
Click to expand...

What is TonidoPlug Home Server?
 
Thanx mates....looking into the Tonidoplug thing.Varkey had also recommended the GuruPlug some time back, will call him up and see. :)
 
^ I think the best option is to source a Seagate Dockstar. It has 4 USB ports and is cheap as well. But the availability is less now.

If you need the eSata for better speeds, then you need to go for a GuruPlug or eSata Sheeva Plug or a Dream Plug which will be expensive.

Another option is a GoFlex Net has two SATA ports and one USB port. You can connect two GoFlex portable hard disks directly. You should be able to get it for about 3k or less.
 
Back
Top