Re: [SLE] 9.2 USB hard drive enclosure recommendations

Hylton Conacher (ZR1HPC) wrote:
Hi,

Basil Chupin wrote:
Hylton Conacher (ZR1HPC) wrote:

<snip>
>>
I would have thought that every HD is compatible however it was a compatible enclusure I am seeking ie no drivers required.

I am getting this feeling that we are not on the same wavelength...

The ENCLOSURE is simply an aluminium case/box which houses the hard drive. It uses a USB (or a Firewire or both) connector to hook up to your computer and once you plug it into your computer the OS automatically recognises it as a USB device and mounts it. The enclosure does not have any drivers - they are already installed in you OS.

It was the incorect feeling you were having :D and also some misunderstanding on my part. I had read, some time back on this list that someone was having trouble with a USB HD enclosure. I asumed it was a M$ product and that it probably required drivers from the Windows OS.

To clear up any confusion, are all the HD enclosures Linux compatible ie have a look at Lacie or did I read the site wrong ie it would seem only a d2 160Gb is compatible?

Basically you are saying that all the HD enclosure is is a nice steel box for a HD and they require no additional software, other than what is already in the Linux OS?

Yes.

Enclosures are mostly aluminium but there are steel ones around as well. Aluminium dissipates heat quicker than steel and are lighter but steel ones suppress noise better (but this last feature really applies to cases for computers and not for these small enclosures).

The OSs have the necessary drivers installed to be able to recognise the USB (and/or Flywire) external drives so it is simply a matter of plugging the device into a USB port. (The exceptions to this would be SuSE v10.0 which has (?had) a problem in recognising USB devices, and Windows prior to XP and (?)2000 - you need to install driver(s) in 98/Me.

The other software you possibly may need is if you want to do PROPER backups in Windows where the inbuilt Backup facility has limitations (for example, the Registry backup does not backup the full Registry). Something like Acronis True Image I am told is the way to go for Windows.

But you do not need any additional software if you want to do a backup in, say, SuSE by copying across a directory or 2 two or 3 or 4 or.... I copy my /home directory across to a partition formatted in reiserfs on the USB HD as a backup and also store backups of files on it as well.

It is easier and a quicker solution for me purchase a USB drive

Are you talking here about a Hard Drive or a USB *FLASH* drive? I am talking about an HD.
Defeinitely the USB HD I am looking at as the Flash disks do not hold enough info ..yet.

4 GB is the biggest I saw last week at the Computer Fair.

than try and fight with getting a better snd more decent switchbox between the two machines. Asides I can always use the drive to ferry large amounts of information too.

What "switch boxes" are you talking about? Where do they come from?!
The two machines are networked (ie have network cards) into a switch and both use a single keyboard/video and mouse, hence I have a KVM switch to switch between the two machines. The KVM switch is a little problematic and buying a new one is plenty $$$$. Purchasing the USB HD enclosure seems to be a better idea, $$ wise.

Back in 1990 I took over as Sysop of the largest BBS here and had a switch specially made to be able to switch between the server and the workstation to be able to do maintenance (using the same keyboard and monitor). The switch cost a small fortune - and it didn't work well so I had to chuck it :-(. It was a mechanical switch but now you can get electronic ones which work well I am told but, as you say, they COST.

However, there is a small program (for Linux) which does this job. I have never used it but have its name here somewhere. I'll see if I can find it. But perhaps someone in this forum already has its name handy - anyone?


You simply plug the USB connector on the "enclosure" into one of the USB ports on your computer - and if you have 2 computers then you plug it into each one as and when required.

Understood, just as I conect up any other USB device.

Correct.


<snip>

I have 2 of these external HDs which I "put together" by buying 2 enclosures: 1 is a 200GB/16MB cache Maxtor and the other a 80GB/4MB cache Maxtor which I use to backup the data on the 3 computers that I have.

Just out of interest does the 2nd drive appear under a different mount point if both enclosures are connected to a hub that is connected to the PC?

Now, here we have a potential terminology problem. By "hub" do you mean one of those USB cables which plugs into a USB port on your PC but at the other end of the cable has a 4-port (or more than 4 ports) box which allows 4 USB devices to be plugged in?

If this is what you mean by a "hub" - a one-to-many - cable then the answer to your question is that you CANNOT plug SAME devices on such a cable/hub because only ONE of them will work. DIFFERENT devices will work OK. For example you can plug in a mouse, mp3 player, HD, and a keyboard at the 4-port end and they will work but if you plugged in 2 mouses then only 1 will work.

However, if your PCs each have 2 USB ports then you can plug each of your enclosures - like I do - into a separate port and both will be recognised as a separate unit, be assigned an individual ID (eg, sda5 and sda6 or in Windows drive "O" and drive "P" or whatever) and they simply become just another device on your PC.

Another way to tackle this is to get a USB card which you plug into a PCI slot; these normally can have upto 6 ports (?or more - there is a finite number of USB ports you can have on a PC).


<snip>

I also hate groping for the powerpoint.
3) preferably has an built-in fan to cool the box

I have one of these already :) , it is called a desktop PC :)

I *am* getting the feeling that we are on 2 different plains.

When you get your external USB case, bought or built, and it doesn't have a fan then you will know what I am talking about here. While your PC has at least 1 fan and a large enough space within it for the heat from the HD to dissipate, the heat in the external case is trapped in very, very confined space and even though modern HDs can operate at ~70 degrees C I don't like to think that any of mine operate at close to that temperature.

I was joking Basil and saying that mine is bigger than yours ;) All understood however.

I thought that you may be and I was looking for a smiley (:-)). Pays to put one in sometimes :-).


External HDs are not backup media I have been told and accepted however tey do make good MTAs :)

Ce? "External HDs are not backup media"?! That's how they started life- as backup units for those who didn't have a second HD installed or, if they did, wanted a destination which could be transferred from one computer to the next for backup purposes.
Assumed from an earlier remark, I think on this thread. Forget it, I have.

Tnx

Not a problem.

Cheers.

PS Hans is giving good advice about an enclosure which he knows about. My only comment is that enclosures with both USB and Flywire connectors are more expensive - but in the end may be cheaper if suddenly you have a need to connect it to the Flywire connector on the PC- or even daisy-chain a number of these enclosures. Horses for courses.


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