USB 3.0 will crush eSATA, FireWire ( Alex tells us why )

CNET ^ | January 13, 2009 11:21 AM PST | Alex Serpo

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Intel demonstrated a working version of USB 3.0 at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Here's why it will make eSATA and FireWire obsolete.

When USB 3.0 is expected to hit the market in early 2010, it will have been 10 years since the now ubiquitous USB 2.0 was introduced (April 2000). The current USB 2.0 specification runs at a theoretical maximum speed of 480Mbps, and can supply power (for those looking for the hard details, you can find the USB 2.0 specification here (zip file).

According to the USB Implementers Forum, there were 2 billion USB 2.0 devices shipped in 2006 (one for every three people in the world), and the install base was 6 billion (almost one for every person in the world). In November 2007, the USB Implementers forum announced the USB 3.0 specifications, and Intel officially demonstrated the technology at CES 2009.

Now, the juice: USB 3.0 promises a theoretical maximum rate of 5Gbps, meaning it's 10 times faster than USB 2.0. USB 3.0 is also full duplex, meaning it can upload and download simultaneously (it's bi-directional); USB 2.0 is only half duplex.

Put side by side with eSATA and FireWire 800, USB 3.0 is far superior. eSATA, an external connection that runs at the same speed as the internal SATA 1.0 bus, has a maximum theoretical of 3Gbps. This makes USB 3.0 faster than eSATA and about six times faster than FireWire 800 (full duplex at 800Mbps).

[zeugma]

I can fit my 6GB work folder (containing all my work files) in my pocket and thus take all my files from the office to home and back so I can work wherever I want.

I'll go you one better. I've got a 8gb microSD card that has an entire VMWare workstation onj it. When I travel, as long as there is a computer handy (mac, linux, or winders), I can boot up my VM for any work I need to do. Next task is to master a bootable thumb drive so I can boot off of it with any computer capable of booting from USB.

[zeugma]

Got one of those with John Dillinger’s fingerprint. That’s what I want to take with me next time I go to the DMV

[steve-b]

"I'm giving her all the bandwidth I can, Captain. If I give her anymore, she'll blow!"

If you need the bandwidth for porn, that's not necessarily a problem, now is it?

[Petronski]

Where would a fella buy a thing like that?

Seriously.

[martin_fierro]

Can't find the thumb one ANYWHERE anymore (too small capacity, probably), but I did find this one:

2 GB, $40

[jeffc]

Oooohhh now! No double entendre allowed, LOL!

And stop staring!

[antiRepublicrat]

Has anyone ever seen a computer that had a Firewire 800 port on it?

My iMac has it, and I swear my external Firewire 800 RAID runs faster than my internal SATA hard drive. Actually, it's hard to get one hard drive that will fill up Firewire 800's bandwidth.

[antiRepublicrat]

It’s kind of funny that he compares a technology that won’t be out for over a year with years-old technologies.

[antiRepublicrat]

That’s one of the cooler one. I want a Lego brick.

[mamelukesabre]

I don’t see solid state replacing hard drives any time soon. I do see flash drives replacing floppy and CD type drives easily. The ideal setup, imo, would be a USB plug that accepts micro SD cards.

[zeugma]

I've been seriously considering making my own Lego brick USB out of one of those itty bitty kingston USBs for microSD cards that I have. I think I can get it into a 2x4 brick. The problem is going to be hollowing out the brick just so to make it not look like crap. I'm not sure yet if I could do it and still have it connect easily to other bricks. FYI, I'm a serious Lego freak, which probably explains my love of Unix.

[zeugma]

The ideal setup, imo, would be a USB plug that accepts micro SD cards.

You mean like this? (don't know how long that link will work.)

That is the thing I'm going to try to Legoify. (look ma! I made a new word!)

[ShadowAce]

FYI, I'm a serious Lego freak, which probably explains my love of Unix.

My kids are into FIRST's Lego League, where they get to program robots made from the Mindstorms sets.

They placed second this year in the state competition.

[Dead Corpse]

We were running two ext HD's for re-imaging Intel MacBooks. One was Firewire, the other USB 2.0. Same size drive image on the same version of NetRestore. Identical hardware save for the ext drives.

USB drive finished a full 15 minutes before the Firewire.

Gripe all you want, in a realworld drag race... Firewire FAILED on an Epic scale.

[AFreeBird]

I don’t see solid state replacing hard drives any time soon.

They're already being offered in some laptop lines. Faster overall, and use less power than HDD. The only drawbacks at this point in time are cost and capacity, but that is also changing fast.

The mechanical disks' days are numbered.

[antiRepublicrat]

I loved the Legos as a kid. My mom got them for me back when you could just buy a huge bunch of them instead of having to get kits.

[antiRepublicrat]

USB drive finished a full 15 minutes before the Firewire.

That is very interesting. I've never seen USB faster.

[zeugma]

My kids are into FIRST's Lego League, where they get to program robots made from the Mindstorms sets.

They placed second this year in the state competition.

Excellent! Give them my congratulations. I'll bet y'all have a lot of fun with it.

[antiRepublicrat]

Also, USB is a lot easier to implement for a broad range of peripherals, from slow speed like mice to medium-speed stuff. You'll never see a FireWire mouse.

USB was designed for low-speed connections, which is why you see it used for mice. Firewire was designed only for high-speed connections.

[Dead Corpse]

Then you’ve never set up two devices on two identical machines and let ‘em run the same sized data package. That 480 vs 400 makes a difference over 30GB.