Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Firewire Harddrives

Posted by Hemos on from the no-power-and-400-Mbps-transfer dept.

schmack writes "VST Technologies have recently released FireWire Harddrives. They look fantastic in stunning red and yellow with that swell FireWire image on them. They perform pretty good too -- 400Mbps transfer rate, you don't need a power supply if you're not connecting more than one [FireWire will provide enough juice] and they come in 2, 4 and 6 GIG configurations.

2 of 113 comments (clear)

  1. Firewire vs... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5

    IDE is 2 devices per chain. No competition at all.
    IDE drives are cheaper 'cause there's no smarts on the drive itself. It uses precious CPU time to do I/O. Thanks, but no thanks.
    IDE doesn't hotswap. Firewire does.
    Forget IDE. Let's go to SCSI.
    SCSI needs unique IDs for every device on the chain. Firewire negotiates.
    SCSI doesn't hotswap. Firewire does.
    SCSI is limited to 7 (15) devices in each chain. Firewire is limited(!) to 63. I'm at 7 SCSI now.
    SCSI cable lengths are voodoo, and must be shorter the faster you go (increased crosstalk on parallel data lines).
    SCSI cables are much more fragile than Firewire.
    SCSI cable connector - there're 3 or 4 different ones, aren't there? Firewire has two.
    Yes, Firewire is a subset of SCSI - but not the hardware. It's a subset of the SCSI protocol. It says nothing (IIRC) regarding the hardware (I could be wrong on this one).
    SCSI requires a computer in the chain.
    SCSI termination... ugh. "Let's see... is my internal drive terminated?" "Do I terminate this one, or maybe that one?" Give me a break. Firewire doesn't hassle you with ANY of that. Plug the d*** thing in.
    SCSI has big honkin' connectors. Firewire is little bitty. Think Palm.

    USB is slow, slow slow.
    USB is limited(!) to 127. Firewire loses here.
    USB requires a computer in the chain. Firewire doesn't. Firewire is peer-to-peer. I thought we settled this conceptual hash a while back (with p-t-p being better).
    Not sure about USB cable lengths.
    USB 2.0 is vapor... I don't want to hear, "Wait 'til next year..." That's loser talk.

  2. Clearly you guys are missing the point by John+Siracusa · · Score: 5

    This thing is the size of a big wallet and requires nothing but a FireWire cable to plug into it. It's from VST, a company that also makes a lot of notebook accessories and drives. This is not a giant desktop drive for use with digital video, nor is it representative of what a FireWire drive aimed at such a market could do. Get a grip.