Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Toolbox: Photo/Video Storage
Huge capacities and fast transfer speeds are making this an exciting year for external hard drives
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Thanks to ever-increasing image file sizes and the convergence between photo and video, external hard drives are having a technological renaissance. The new USB 3.0 format is pushing data-transfer read and write speeds to record levels. At the same time, the demands for huge capacities are growing exponentially as our archives are adding up to larger libraries of photos and other files. Even better, as capacities are going up, prices are going down, and technologies previously reserved for top-of-the-line storage drives are now offered as universal features. With external drives approaching the same levels of performance as internal drives, but with the added convenience of portability, it’s a great time to consider upgrading your hard drive.
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The most compelling development in external storage is the recent production of drives featuring USB 3.0 connection. Also referred to as SuperSpeed USB, home computers are just starting to take advantage of the blistering transfer rates, which clock in at 4.8 GB/s—about 10 times faster than Hi-Speed USB 2.0. USB 3.0 is backward-compatible with most interfaces, too, so even though your computer doesn’t have a USB 3.0 input right now, you’ll be able to use these drives with most computers. Then, when you upgrade to a new computer, you’ll be set.
Available in 1 TB and 2 TB capacities, Western Digital’s My Book 3.0 includes an optional USB 3.0 HBA adapter for upgrading current PCs to USB 3.0. The SuperSpeed USB 3.0 port then offers up to a 5 GB/s data-transfer rate. The My Book 3.0 is plug-and-play ready for Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7, and the exterior features Western Digital’s classic library-esque style. List Price: $199 (1 TB with adapter); $279 (2 TB with adapter).
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FireWire 400 and FireWire 800 are the video professional’s choice. They’re able to provide high speeds of data transfer for larger files (400 MB/s and 800 MB/s, respectively), and they also interact with the computer differently than USB (via isochronous interaction) so that data streams are uninterrupted, allowing you to work on video or other files even if they’re located on external drives. High-end eSATA connections also are a good choice for moving big files fast, thanks to 3 GB/s data-transfer rates, though many computers will require an additional adapter for installing an eSATA interface.
With USB 2.0, FireWire 400, FireWire 800 and an eSATA connection, the G-RAID and G-RAID mini family from G-Tech provide the high-speed connections and sizable capacities needed when working with large volumes of photo, video and audio files. The G-RAID is available with up to 4 TB of capacity, while the G-RAID mini, designed as a portable solution, is available with up to 1 TB of space. The G-RAID mini also offers a RAID 1 configuration for mirroring of data. List Price: Starts at $249 (1 TB G-RAID); $219 (500 GB G-RAID mini).
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