Power-Over-eSATA announced - bit-tech.net Forums

CardJoe · 18th Jan 2008, 08:44

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2008/01...ta_announced/1

The SATA International Organization is working on an extension to the external SATA spec which allows devices to draw power directly from the host PC.

xrain · 18th Jan 2008, 08:55

I almost wont have a reason to keep my hard drives in my computer anymore!

mikeuk2004 · 18th Jan 2008, 09:40

The way I see it is that you will only need a small hard drive in your computer for the OS and have everything else stored on a esata drive so you can just unplug and plug into a laptop for example. No need to keep the drive fixed inside a desktop anymore.

ToMMo · 18th Jan 2008, 10:14

I agree, the most annoying thing about external hard drives are the amount of plugs and wires involved, this is something i would definitely invest in. With 3 externals but only 2 power leads due to one going kaput, it's a pain to keep swapping them over!

Hamish · 18th Jan 2008, 10:38

thats awesome

but i wonder how much power is it going to be able to supply?
enough to run a 3.5" drive?

Mankz · 18th Jan 2008, 11:33

Thats good news!

gvblake22 · 18th Jan 2008, 13:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hamish

thats awesome

but i wonder how much power is it going to be able to supply?
enough to run a 3.5" drive?

Agreed, should be interesting to see how much it can actually run. If it can handle a full sized 3.5" high capacity drive, then I'm very excited!

Renoir · 18th Jan 2008, 15:37

I'm looking forward to this development. With a bit of luck my next laptop will have this capability. One question about esata though. I've read on wikipedia that "With passive-adapters, the maximum cable length is reduced to 1 meter, due to the absence of compliant eSATA signal levels" so my question is which chipsets have the compliant signal levels and for those that do do they retain the 2m max cable length? Anybody know?

Iorek · 18th Jan 2008, 20:58

Cool, I don't have any e-Sata yet, but i have a few USB drives that need other power, either pulling a second usb lead or brick. they're a pain

it'll be nice to be able to power things over one cable (I know some of the USB things are suppose to do it using usb power, but i've not seen it working well yet with bigger disks).

g_gimbert · 18th Jan 2008, 21:22

This is really how it should have been in the first place!

Although having a server setup for any major storage needs kind of cancels the need for this with me anyway

Certainly would make backing up data easier though without the need to fumble around looking for a power cable.

[Edit] As I see it, it would also make it easier for average-joe to increase the storage in their PC too? [/Edit]

PhoneyVirus · 18th Jan 2008, 21:54

First things first there are no speeds on this new SATA-IO, and i been hearing talk about this one cable with power over a year now.
About USB-3.0 now theres something to talk about system I/O will get dramatically upgrade when USB 3.0 makes its debut in the later half of 2008. Details on the updated spec are sketchy, but Intel (the creator of USB) says it and its partners plan to get the ubiquitous standard up to 5Gb/s. Intel says the new spec will be backward-compatible with previous generations of USB but will have the added benefit of being able to run over either copper or optical cabling using the same connector. USB-3.0 will be finalized in the first half of 2008 and have a rollout similar to the high speed USB-2.0 launch: controllers will initially be available via PCI-Express add-in cards, with motherboard integration slated for 2009. Now with that off my head STOP!! and think your 4Gb USB-3.0 drive plug it in, the full 4Gb USB-3.0 drives data can transfer all that in 1s. So SATA-IO if it had optical and at 5Gb/s then there is some to talk about, so i hope to see optical on eSATA SATA in the up coming years.

PhoneyVirus

Hamish · 18th Jan 2008, 22:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhoneyVirus

First things first there are no speeds on this new SATA-IO, and i been hearing talk about this one cable with power over a year now.
About USB-3.0 now theres something to talk about system I/O will get dramatically upgrade when USB 3.0 makes its debut in the later half of 2008. Details on the updated spec are sketchy, but Intel (the creator of USB) says it and its partners plan to get the ubiquitous standard up to 5Gb/s. Intel says the new spec will be backward-compatible with previous generations of USB but will have the added benefit of being able to run over either copper or optical cabling using the same connector. USB-3.0 will be finalized in the first half of 2008 and have a rollout similar to the high speed USB-2.0 launch: controllers will initially be available via PCI-Express add-in cards, with motherboard integration slated for 2009. Now with that off my head STOP!! and think your 4Gb USB-3.0 drive plug it in, the full 4Gb USB-3.0 drives data can transfer all that in 1s. So SATA-IO if it had optical and at 5Gb/s then there is some to talk about, so i hope to see optical on eSATA SATA in the up coming years.

PhoneyVirus

yea cos we all know hard drives are hitting the 3Gb/s limit of sata

Indybird · 19th Jan 2008, 02:06

This is very cool, but I've had the thermaltake External enclosure that comes with a molex to enclosure power adapter in an Expansion slot. Though it has "no power block", it is still technically two cables, but that doesn't bother me.

-Indybird

notatoad · 19th Jan 2008, 02:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikeuk2004

No need to keep the drive fixed inside a desktop anymore.

yep, now i keep all my drives fixed inside my fileserver

. esata is an enthusiast technology. i don't really see a market for esata-only drives. there is no point in me buying a disk that i can only plug into my computer. i want to be able to bring it over to my friends place and plug it into his computer too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by phoneyvirus

and think your 4Gb USB-3.0 drive plug it in, the full 4Gb USB-3.0 drives data can transfer all that in 1s

current flash memory has a hard time saturating the 480Mb/s provided by usb2. at this point, usb3 is just wasted bandwidth. also, 4Gb (gigabit) != 4GB (gigabyte). storage is talked about in bytes, bandwidth in bits. eight bits in a byte.

Hamish · 19th Jan 2008, 03:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by supertoad

yep, now i keep all my drives fixed inside my fileserver

. esata is an enthusiast technology. i don't really see a market for esata-only drives. there is no point in me buying a disk that i can only plug into my computer. i want to be able to bring it over to my friends place and plug it into his computer too.

thats what external enclosures are for

i already have a USB + eSATA external caddy, use eSATA on my machine but can hook up USB to connect to others

Hazardous · 19th Jan 2008, 07:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iorek

... i have a few USB drives that need other power, either pulling a second usb lead or brick. they're a pain

it'll be nice to be able to power things over one cable...

There's a solution available now which would suit your needs - namely Ultra's 'Stackable' devices

(Original pics courtesy of Bjorn 2D)

All the devices are connected to/powered by a single, 180w PSU... such that the PSU itself, is the only device in the 'stack' which requires plugging into the mains

The only drawback I can see with it, is that you can only use Ultra's own products in the 'stack'

iwod · 19th Jan 2008, 13:36

I hope it can power the Western Digital GP Series 3.5" Drive

18th Jan 2008, 08:44	#1
CardJoe Player Character bit-tech Staff Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 7,940	Power-Over-eSATA announced http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2008/01...ta_announced/1 The SATA International Organization is working on an extension to the external SATA spec which allows devices to draw power directly from the host PC. __________________ this is joe's non-bit-tech blog

18th Jan 2008, 09:40	#3
mikeuk2004 What you Looking at Fool! Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Sheffield, UK Posts: 3,045	The way I see it is that you will only need a small hard drive in your computer for the OS and have everything else stored on a esata drive so you can just unplug and plug into a laptop for example. No need to keep the drive fixed inside a desktop anymore. __________________ -\|- Xfire - Mikeuk2005 -\|- Xbox Live - Mike UK 2006 -\|- Playstation Network - Mikeuk2004 -\|-

18th Jan 2008, 10:14	#4
ToMMo Multimodder Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Woking Posts: 218	I agree, the most annoying thing about external hard drives are the amount of plugs and wires involved, this is something i would definitely invest in. With 3 externals but only 2 power leads due to one going kaput, it's a pain to keep swapping them over! __________________ PC: Intel C2D E8400 @ 3.0Ghz, 2GB Corsair TwinX Dominator DDR2-8500 (1066), Asus P5K-SE, BFG Nvidia 8800GTS 512MB, Corsair HX 520W, Samsung 750GB Spinpoint F1 running Vista MacBook: 2Ghz, 2GB, 80gig running Vista, Leopard, Ubuntu Servers: 3 other PC's in cardboard boxes

18th Jan 2008, 21:22	#10
g_gimbert Multimodder Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Oldham, UK Posts: 194	This is really how it should have been in the first place! Although having a server setup for any major storage needs kind of cancels the need for this with me anyway Certainly would make backing up data easier though without the need to fumble around looking for a power cable. [Edit] As I see it, it would also make it easier for average-joe to increase the storage in their PC too? [/Edit] __________________ Intel Pentium 2180 @ 3Ghz, MSI X38 Diamond, OCZ Platinum DDR3 2Gb, Geforce 8800GT 512 OC, Creative X-Fi PCIe, Maxtor 200Gb SATA, Optiarc DVD-RW SATA. ViewSonic VX924, Creative 4.1, Logitech LX700, Windows Vista Ultimate. The Cake Is A Lie

18th Jan 2008, 08:55	#2
xrain Multimodder Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Fairbanks, Alaska Posts: 177	I almost wont have a reason to keep my hard drives in my computer anymore!

18th Jan 2008, 10:38	#5
Hamish I Mod, Therefore I Own Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: London Posts: 3,587	thats awesome but i wonder how much power is it going to be able to supply? enough to run a 3.5" drive?

18th Jan 2008, 15:37	#8
Renoir Multimodder Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Milton Keynes, UK Posts: 190	I'm looking forward to this development. With a bit of luck my next laptop will have this capability. One question about esata though. I've read on wikipedia that "With passive-adapters, the maximum cable length is reduced to 1 meter, due to the absence of compliant eSATA signal levels" so my question is which chipsets have the compliant signal levels and for those that do do they retain the 2m max cable length? Anybody know?

18th Jan 2008, 20:58	#9
Iorek What's a Dremel? Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 9	Cool, I don't have any e-Sata yet, but i have a few USB drives that need other power, either pulling a second usb lead or brick. they're a pain it'll be nice to be able to power things over one cable (I know some of the USB things are suppose to do it using usb power, but i've not seen it working well yet with bigger disks).

18th Jan 2008, 21:54	#11
PhoneyVirus _ Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Canada Posts: 13	First things first there are no speeds on this new SATA-IO, and i been hearing talk about this one cable with power over a year now. About USB-3.0 now theres something to talk about system I/O will get dramatically upgrade when USB 3.0 makes its debut in the later half of 2008. Details on the updated spec are sketchy, but Intel (the creator of USB) says it and its partners plan to get the ubiquitous standard up to 5Gb/s. Intel says the new spec will be backward-compatible with previous generations of USB but will have the added benefit of being able to run over either copper or optical cabling using the same connector. USB-3.0 will be finalized in the first half of 2008 and have a rollout similar to the high speed USB-2.0 launch: controllers will initially be available via PCI-Express add-in cards, with motherboard integration slated for 2009. Now with that off my head STOP!! and think your 4Gb USB-3.0 drive plug it in, the full 4Gb USB-3.0 drives data can transfer all that in 1s. So SATA-IO if it had optical and at 5Gb/s then there is some to talk about, so i hope to see optical on eSATA SATA in the up coming years. PhoneyVirus

19th Jan 2008, 02:06	#13
Indybird Why are you reading this? Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Michigan Posts: 27	This is very cool, but I've had the thermaltake External enclosure that comes with a molex to enclosure power adapter in an Expansion slot. Though it has "no power block", it is still technically two cables, but that doesn't bother me. -Indybird

19th Jan 2008, 13:36	#17
iwod Minimodder Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 44	I hope it can power the Western Digital GP Series 3.5" Drive