In additional to offering USB and FireWire connection types, SATA has also been added to the list. SATA based internal hard drives can use SATA hard drive enclosures. This is because SATA based hard drives usually offer greater performance in terms of offering large memory cache, RPMs (Rotations Per Minute), and overall transfer rates. Of the two interfaces, SATA hard drives are much more common now than IDE based hard drives. Interface – When you are purchasing an internal hard drive, they come in two interfaces: IDE and SATA. Some new Mac Pro computers include the slightly faster FireWire 800 interface, and a few external hard drives have this connector. While the theoretical bandwidth for USB 2.0 is higher than that of FireWire 1394a, actual transfer speed is comparable. However, if you have both types of ports, you’ll need to decide which type of connectivity to use. Your choice will probably be predetermined by the type of ports you have available and the type of system (Microsoft Windows or Apple Macintosh) you’re running. These materials include plastic, metal, aluminum, or even a combination of the three.Ĭonnection Type – Most external hard drives connect to your computer through USB (Universal Serial Bus) 2.0 and USB 1.1, or FireWire.

Materials – External hard drive enclosures are constructed from a variety of materials. What Are the Types of External Hard Drive Enclosures? Protecting sensitive data when virus attacks computers. Lower the cost of removable storage by reusing hardware designed for internal use. Recovering the data from a broken or damaged computer. Simple and cheap approach to hot swapping. Preventing the heat from a disk drive from increasing the heat inside an operating computer case. Sharing the data on a drive in a network-aware enclosure.

Transferring data between non-networked computers, jokingly known as sneakernet.Īdding a backup source with a separate power supply from the connected computer. Here are the top ten benefits of using a hard drive enclosure:Īdding additional storage space and media types to small form factor and laptop computers, as well as sealed embedded systems, such as digital video recorders.Īdding more drives to any given server or workstation than their chassis can hold. What Are the Benefits of External Hard Drive Enclosure? In addition, data can be backed up and archived on an external hard drive so that it doesn’t take up any additional space on your primary hard drive. Using an external hard drive will also reduce the probability of data loss or data corruption. It is easy to transfer data to an external hard drive on most computers and operating systems. Hard drive enclosures can provide many benefits one such benefit is giving traditional internal hard drives portability. What Is an External Hard Drive Enclosure?Įxternal Hard Drive Enclosures are used to make an internal hard drive external by enclosing it in a case.

Firewire 800 external drive enclosure