X-bit labs

300GB Storage Devices: Which One is Better?

Category: Storage

by Andrey Kuznetcov

[ 06/08/2004 | 02:53 PM ]

With huge masses of information around us, the requirements to storage media have grown considerably. So what does the user have to do if he needs to store and transport extra-large amounts of binary digits? Our today’s review is going to answer this question and help you choose a device optimal from several points of view, including price, performance, ease of connection and transportation.

Table of contents:

• Testing Participants
  
• Maxtor MaXLine II 5A300J0
  
• Maxtor OneTouch B14D300 FireWire/USB 2.0
  
• STLab Case for 3.5” HDDs (FireWire/USB 2.0)
  
• Testbed and Methods
  
• Performance in WinBench 99
  
• Performance in Intel IOMeter Sequential Read & Write Patterns
  
• Performance in Intel IOMeter File Server & Web Server Petterns
  
• Performance in Intel IOMeter Workstation Pattern
  
• Performance in X-bit FC-Test
  
• Performance in PCMark04
  
• Conclusion
  

With huge masses of information around us, the requirements to storage media have grown considerably. When transferring data from one computer to another, not on a network, you often find yourself copying all files onto your hard disk and detaching it and carrying it to the other machine. Hard disk drives are oftentimes preferable storage media due to two their properties: high capacities and high data-transfer rates. The capacity bar is 400GB for today’s devices, but this doesn’t seem too much when you take to video editing in real time or some other resource-consuming activities.

So what does the user have to do if he/she needs to store and transport extra-large amounts of binary digits? Our today’s review is going to answer this question and help you choose a device optimal from several points of view, including price, performance, easy connection and transportation. A size of 300GB is going to be our starting point: we took devices from Maxtor Corporation for our tests as they meet our requirements and, until recently, have had no competitors as concerns the maximum capacity. So how may these 300 gigabytes of storage space be available to you?

First, you can use an ordinary IDE-interfaced hard disk drive, the 5A300J0 model number. This solution means the lowest cost, highest data-transfer rates and minimal dimensions of the transported device. The disadvantages are the inconvenience of the process of plugging/unplugging the drive (you have to open the system case up, if you’ve got no HDD rack) and the risk of damaging the drive during transportation.

Second, quite contrary to first, you can buy an originally and truly external device, like Maxtor’s OneTouch drive. The pros of this solution include easy connection across FireWire or USB 2.0 interfaces, protection of the device against external physical impacts, and a case design to tickle your refined aesthetic feeling. The cons of this solution are high cost and lower performance.

The third variant is an in-between one. You can use the same 5A300J0 drive in a separately-obtained case with support of the modern interfaces, USB 2.0 and FireWire. This variant seems to be close to Solution 2, but it also seems to save you some money (if you go for a not very expensive container).