eSATA Vs. USB

While we have all heard of and extensively used the universal serial bus (USB) and firewire, a lot of people ask about the lesser used technology of the eSATA and how it would fare in the eSATA vs. USB vs. firewire debate. This article will deal primarily with the comparison of the USB and eSATA devices. Let me start with a brief introduction of the eSATA technology. ESATA stands for External Serial Advanced Technology Attachment. It is an interface for external devices, which work on the eSATA platform. This technology is said to have its advantages over the traditional USB 2.0 port and even over FireWire and hence people look for the comparison between eSATA and USB. When the eSATA came out, it boasted a better, more advanced technology than the erstwhile popular USB 2.0, but early signs indicate that with the release of USB 3.0, an advanced version of the USB technology, the eSATA will probably not even be able to hold up a candle against it.

Comparing eSATA and USB 2.0

Let's first compare the eSATA and the USB 2.0 technologies. Assuming that the three best criteria to judge the performance of both these technologies are transfer rates, PCMark05 scores and common usability, we'll see how these two compare against each other.

Transfer Rates
The assumption is that for one technology to be adjudged superior than the other in this criterion, the file copy speed from either drive to computer or vice versa should be higher. The eSATA transfer rates are quite a lot higher and the upper limit of the transfer rate can be as high as 3 Gb/sec, which is spectacular when compared to the transfer rates of the USB based hard drive which is around the 480 Mb/sec mark.

PCMark05 Score
Widely considered to be an excellent benchmark for measuring overall computer performance, the debate can also be solved by the PCMark05 rating. So, while the PCMark05 gives a score of 3578 to your normal USB 2.0 external hard drive, the eSATA device again is the better rated of the two at a score of 5342.2.

Common Usability
Unfortunately for the eSATA, this device loses out to the USB, as the USB port is more commonly seen in most computers as compared to the eSATA port. For computers that do not come with an existing eSATA port, purchasing a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) is necessary to be able to use eSATA based devices. But due to the popularity of the USB port, the USB will come out on top for this criterion.

And so we come to the end of the debate, we can firmly conclude that with the exception of common usability, the eSATA data storage device comes out firmly on top. If you were to compare eSATA vs. USB 3.0, a newly emerged technology, the USB comes out on top, as its file copy speeds are remarkably higher.