| eSATA is an example of an extension to current | | | | Anyone who operates even a home system |
| serial ATA standards. The main function of | | | | knows how easy it is for wires and cables to |
| eSATA is to make it possible for SATA drives to | | | | become snared as they run across one another |
| be attached externally, creating a wider network | | | | and make it virtually impossible to tell what runs |
| of functionality by combining the power of each | | | | where. eSATA cables are generally at least six |
| of the drives. Relatively new, eSATA means that | | | | feet long and tend to be somewhat different in |
| it is possible to engage in data transfer and | | | | appearance than USB cables and FireWire. One |
| processing much more quickly than with traditional | | | | glance at the cable and you know what it is and |
| methods of connectivity. | | | | where it goes. |
| How Does eSATA Work? | | | | Another advantage is the ease of connecting and |
| The basic idea behind eSATA is make it possible | | | | disconnecting the external drive. ESATA drives |
| to connect multiple drives without having to | | | | are designed with what are known as hot plugs. |
| employ cables or wired connections of some sort. | | | | This means the cables can be connected and |
| Traditional methods of connecting the external | | | | disconnected with ease, and without the need to |
| hard drives relied upon the use of such devices as | | | | power down the system in order to add or |
| FireWire or USB cables. eSATA does away with | | | | remove a drive. |
| all that and makes it possible to connected several | | | | Along with the esthetics, eSATA also helps to |
| external drives in a very short period of time, | | | | provide excellent rates of data transfer that are |
| without all the work of figuring out which cable will | | | | sometimes better than can be achieved with a |
| do the job. ESATA is based on established | | | | USB connection. There are currently versions of |
| standards and will work every time. | | | | eSATA on the market that will provide data |
| What Are Some of the Advantages of eSATA? | | | | transfer speeds of between 150MBps to 300 |
| One of the immediate advantages of using | | | | MBps. That is a great deal of power when it |
| eSATA is that the eSATA cables are usually | | | | comes to using an external drive, and is generally |
| longer and easier to distinguish from the jumble of | | | | much better than can be achieved using a USB |
| wiring that is used to connect various devices. | | | | cable. |