Totally unfamiliar w/ external HDs, advice/tips?

mtnmiller wrote on 7/17/2007, 9:57 AM

Well, I knew it would happen sooner or later - my 80 GB Hard Drive is full.

As comfortable as I am on the creative end of editing, I'm pretty (very) illiterate when it comes to the computer tech/hardware side of things. Do I understand correctly, that an external hard drive is what I need? If so, will I be able to directly edit/access clips on the external drive like I can those on the C: drive?

There has been some posts here before on reccomendations for external hard drives, which have been useful. However, I'm hoping to get some introductory tips on what to avoid, and what to look for. And how much I should expect to spend (I need to expand right away, so will probably have to buy from a brick and mortar, instead of online).

I'm thinking at least 300 GB. How about Rpm (I read 7200 is good for editing), or the cache (whatever that is), which I read 8MB should be enough. A fan?

I do have USB 2.0 and a firewire, and upon reading other threads, am thinking USB is the way to go.

Any advice is greatly appreciated. I'm basically a hobbiest who shoots/edits some weddings/events on the side for friends.

Thanks

Comments

Former user wrote on 7/17/2007, 9:59 AM

Is this a laptop or desktop?

If it is a laptop, then external is the way to go. I recommend firewire because it does not need any processor power to run, unlike USB.

If this is a desktop, you want to fill up the internal drive space first. Internal drives will be much faster than an external drive.

Dave T2

mtnmiller wrote on 7/17/2007, 10:04 AM

It's a desktop.

How do I go about "filling up the internal drive space"? Do I have to crack open the box?

I told you I was new to this...

Thanks

BrianStanding wrote on 7/17/2007, 10:13 AM

SATA or e-SATA all the way. Every bit as fast as an internal drive, and you can RAID or whatever. Also, no "disappearing drive" issues if you have a lot of things on the USB or firewire port. Find yourself a dual-port enclosure with either a SATA or an E-SATA port and either USB 2.0 or IEEE 1394, whichever you prefer.

Here's a couple I've been using with great success:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817716012

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16817714014

rs170a wrote on 7/17/2007, 10:16 AM

I'm guessing that Dave T2 is talking about any extra physical space you may have in your computer to mount another internal drive.
Most computers these days have made provision for hanging (i.e. connecting) at least one additional drive off the existing one.
If you're not compfortable checking for this (and it sounds like you're not), do you have a computer hardware literate friend you can ask for help?
As far as drives are concerned, I've been using Seagates and am very happy with them, especially the 5-year warranty :-)
If you do get a drive in an external case, please make sure the case has a fan in it as heat is one of (if not the) biggest reasons for premature hard drive failure.

Mike

Former user wrote on 7/17/2007, 10:30 AM

Most computers allow 4 harddrives. Some motherboards have extra connections for SATA drives, which means you can have as many as 6 internal harddrives.

An internal harddrive will ALWAYS be faster for passing data than an external drive. If your motherboard supports a SATA drive, I would recommend you get that.

Installation does require that you open the computer and connect wires as well as mount it. If you can't do this, stores like BEST BUY will do it for a fee.

External drives are good if you don't want to open the computer or you need to move the data between computers. But the data transfer thru USB or FIREWIRE will be slower than the IDE connection on the internal setup.

Again though, I recommend firewire for video use. USB requires CPU power to transfer data, and I see a big difference in speed when using USB vs. Firewire.

Dave T2

BrianStanding wrote on 7/17/2007, 10:33 AM

"An internal harddrive will ALWAYS be faster for passing data than an external drive."

Not true for SATA or eSata. External/Internal, it's all the same interface and the same speed.

The big disadvantage of firewire with a laptop is that unless you're using a Mac, most laptops only have a 4-pin firewire port. This means you'll need a separate power cable to power a 2.5" external drive. USB 2.0 sends the power along the same cable. I got a Cardbus SATA adapter for my laptop, and use that when I'm doing something (like capturing video) that's speed critical, and USB 2.0 when I'm more concerned about portability.

Former user wrote on 7/17/2007, 10:50 AM

Brian, if the SATA is hooked thru a USB or FIREWIRE connection, it will be slower than an internal drive.

Only if it is hooked to a SATA connection either internla or addon card in the computer can it be as fast for data transfer as the internal drives.

Dave T2

BrianStanding wrote on 7/17/2007, 11:02 AM

I'm not talking about CONVERTING a SATA drive to firewire or USB, This is an external enclosure with a SATA internal port and TWO external interfaces:

1. either SATA or eSATA, AND:
2. either USB 2.0 or firewire.

There's a switch on the back that lets you select whether you're using it in SATA mode or in USB/1394 mode.

Here's a picture:
Back of enclosure

Many motherboards now have at least one external eSATA port built-in. If not, most external eSATA enclosures will ship with an adapter that you plug into an internal SATA port. You then use a SATA cable to connect the enclosure to the external SATA port.

If you use this unit in SATA mode, it's just a straight passthrough, no conversion at all. Your system will simply see it as another SATA drive.

mtnmiller wrote on 7/17/2007, 11:06 AM

OK... Lot's o' tech terminology been tossed around that I'm not familiar with. Maybe a rephrasing of my initial post is in order.

I need to find out how to simply add the extra HD, before delving into specs and what works best. I do have an expansion bay on the box. Can this be used for an internal HD?

Also, it seems like SATA is worth looking into, and it seems that this is a newer technology. Would a three-year old Compaq Presario have a connection for this? Is SATA external or internal?

Thanks for your patience in helping me with this.

Former user wrote on 7/17/2007, 11:17 AM

Brian,

I got confused by your first post which you said something about using a USB or firewire. Thanks for clearing it up for me.

Dave T2

BrianStanding wrote on 7/17/2007, 11:21 AM

SATA (or Serial ATA) is indeed a newer and superior technology. It is now the standard for all internal hard drives. If you're really interested, there's more information here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SATA

It's possible your 3-year old Compaq has a SATA adapter installed in the motherboard. If not, you can install (or have installed for you, if you're nervous about opening up your case) a PCI or PCI-x (depending on your motherboard) adapter that will do the job nicely. These are pretty cheap ($20-30) or so.

As for the drive itself, you can either buy the external enclosure and the drive separately, and then put them together, or you can buy ready-made external hard drives. Here's a link that will show you what's available:

Newegg External SATA drives

Even if you don't get a SATA card right away, you could use one of these with your firewire or USB port for now, and switch later when you upgrade your motherboard or get the card installed.

mtnmiller wrote on 7/17/2007, 11:51 AM

Is there a simple way to find out if my computer has SATA capability?

Or If I crack open the hard drive, where do I look?

I can't look it up in the manual, which is long gone, unfortunately

Thanks,

Keith

BrianStanding wrote on 7/17/2007, 12:53 PM

You should be able to see it in Windows Device Manager (right-click the My Computer icon and select "Properties.") Sometimes you may need to set something in the BIOS (hold down the delete key while the machine is booting up) to make a SATA controller appear as something other than a regular ATA controller.

Here's some advice from Seagate that looks fairly useful:
Seagate SATA installation tips

Otherwise, you may need to check the Compaq website and look up your model number.

If you open up your computer case, look for a small red plastic interface on the surface of the motherboard. See the wikipedia article link above for a picture.

jday wrote on 7/17/2007, 1:00 PM

You never said which model of compaq you have. You might search the internet to find a copy of the manual. That's about the only way you will find out what you have available without opening the case.

Laurence wrote on 7/24/2007, 8:47 PM

If you're doing multi-layer video style production with HDV and Cineform, you might want to get a fast throughput system with Firewire 800 or SATA. If you just do regular film style editing with HDV (like many of us do), a decent 7200 RPM USB2 or Firewire 400 drive will work just fine. SATA or eSATA is even faster, but I doubt you'll notice the difference except on file copies.

I just bought two USB2 Western Digital MyBook external 500 gig hard drives for $129 each. For the straight ahead two stream documentary style editing I do, they are more than fast enough. I especially like that they are well cooled, cheap, small, and automatically turn on and off with your computer.

One thing that is SUPER IMPORTANT when you are looking at external drives is how well they are cooled. Lots of external drives are designed for occasional use rather than the constant churning of data that we video editors require. What you need is a drive that is at least 7200 RPM, has a recent chipset, is USB2 or faster, and is WELL COOLED. Of all the problems you are likely to run into with an external drive, failure due to overheating is the most likely.