USB comments

I have Ultrastar disks and everybody else and I use NAS boxes galore. Ethernet boxes are usually faster than USB solutions.

An 8 disk NAS can use RAID5 for fault tolerance. RAID6 can tolerate 2 disks failed. I like to have a spare disk on hand for fixing problems.

Often the faulty disk can be wiped and it bounces back. It seems disks need some revival which is why larger NAS boxes have the ability to mechanize the wipe of a faulty disk to get it back in service.

I keep some disks in assorted USB boxes and performance is usually not bad but USB 3.0 speeds are saturated by server class disks. USB 3.1 is 10 gigabit but this is uncommon. Even more rare is USB 3.2 at 20 gigabit. USB 4.0 is 40 gigabit.

NAS with multi-gigabit Ethernet is faster and more scalable than USB enclosures, especially when using RAID5 or RAID6 for data protection. Keeping spare drives on hand helps with quick recovery, and many NAS systems can wipe and revive failing disks. USB enclosures are useful but limited by USB 3.0 speeds, with faster options like USB 3.2 or USB4 still uncommon. For better performance, consider NAS with 10GbE or DAS with Thunderbolt, and use reliable enterprise-class drives like Ultrastar.

I use Ultrastar disks but Laptops are still mired with gigabit ethernet. It is hard to find true thunderbolt gear. Found a dual LTO-9 box with thunderbolt so it keep up with the tape drive speeds.

I believe my cheap 5-disk box use a SATA port expander which works but speeds are limited. For this reason I have a single disk box which is slightly faster.

I have 3-way USB-C cables which work with the 5-disk box as it draws zero power. So I can scale with that cable. USB seems to be mired at 5 gigabit. I would love USB 3.1 at 10 gigabit which would perk up everything. USB 3.2 is 20 gigabit, I wish,

I use file history to backup my laptop in case windows dies or I need to install Windows fresh. I also use 7-zip to backup everything.