computer building - Desktop PC with External Hard Drive only

08
2014-07
  • Agnel Kurian

    Is it possible feasible to assemble a desktop PC that only uses an external hard drive (i.e. with no separate internal hard drive) ? The idea is to be able to carry my data with me all the time without having to copy between external and internal drives.

    If this can be done, what kind of connector do I use between the external hard drive and the motherboard (external drives only mostly have USB connectors)?

    Update: From @Ramhound's comment, it seems that relying on a USB connector will result in poor performance. This might be fixed using a Seagate GoFlex drive which has support for an eSATA connector. Is this feasible? Can the eSATA connector withstand repeated plugging/unplugging?

    • Answers
  • Scott Chamberlain

    Like the comments above said eSATA is the way to go. To address your update question, eSATA is designed for a lifetime of 5000 parings (vs the 50 the internal SATA connector has and the 1500 USB has)

    One other thing you should note, depending on what OS you are using you may not be able to use the USB drive as the boot sequence of some OS's will re-initialize all USB devices during startup, this can be a problem if the OS is not fully in memory when this happens as the drive will go offline briefly. I know for sure this is a problem with XP and will cause bluescreens on boot, but I don't know if it still happens on Vista or newer.

    Edit: It looks like from your question you where having a hard time finding eSATA drives, here is a Newegg search listing all of the eSATA external drives available.


    • Related Question

    computer building - How can I test if my hard drive is installed/working before installing an OS?
  • user3183

    I'm have a Raptor 10K 300gb drive.

    I built my system, and I can't seem to hear the drive at all! I'm trying to install Windows 7, but it complains about some CD Rom driver in the beginning of the install.

    Anyhow, I want to make sure it is not my hard drive that is the problem, because frankly I can't hear it at ALL and that makes me nervous.

    Is there a way for me to test the drive and ensure it is working/connected properly?


    • Related Answers
  • Sasha Chedygov

    If it asks you for drivers at the beginning of the installation, that usually means it was a bad burn. Try burning the ISO again at a lower speed.

  • nik

    After you have done basic tests with your BIOS bootup,

    1. Pickup a Ubuntu LiveCD and boot from it -- this will check your CD-ROM and system bootup
    2. Install Ubuntu on a USB drive (something like a 2-4 GB flash drive would do)
      • boot from the USB drive
        • this will work if your system can boot from USB (most recent motherboards can)
      • you can check your harddisk from Ubuntu

    If you know your system boots from USB, you could just build Ubuntu boot USB on some other machine and directly check the HDD after confirming a successful boot.

  • Slink84

    You can check if it is detected in BIOS. Usually, if it's there, then it's working. Just press delete several times while your PC boots up to go to the BIOS screen. It depends on the version, but your drive list should be somewhere in the "Standard CMOS Features" or something alike (usually, the first option in the list).

    And as far as I know, raptors are quite silent. So it should be OK :]