Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

ESATA III in an ESATA II enclosure ... just as fast?

Jan 18, 2011 2:30AM PST

I have several WD Caviar Black sata drives which are supposed to be sataIII (Gb/s), so I ordered a 6Gb/s card for both my laptop and desktop.
Then I ordered what I was told was a 6Gb/s dual dock (http://www.satasite.com/sata-ii-hot-swap-2-bay-aluminum.htm). When it arrived, it says "SATA II Aluminum Hot swap System" and on the box it sayd in large friendly letters, "FAST 300 MB/s!"
So I called the manufacturer and they tell me that as long as my drives and controller card are 6Gb/s, that's what I'll get.
Is this true?
The dock is a Granite Digital Model #2601.
Thank you!
Russell

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
6Gb/s harddrive?
Jan 18, 2011 4:17AM PST

Are they available?

- Collapse -
Yes...you should be able to find them at your favorite
Jan 18, 2011 6:12AM PST

retailer.

VAPCMD

- Collapse -
Re: disk
Jan 18, 2011 4:55AM PST

If I read that page, I read that that drive bay supports Sata III (6 GB/s) disk, but has a performance "up to 600 MB/s".

Easy to check. You've got 'several drives', you say. So you put two of those in that dock, make a 6 GB file on it, defrag it for the best performance and copy it to the other disk. How long does it take? My guess: at least an minute.

Kees

- Collapse -
Reading the product description I note the words
Jan 18, 2011 6:10AM PST

'compatible with' or 'supports'. Based on what I read...it doesn't meet the SATA III standard but it's backwards compatible with SATA II or SATA I.

SATA II Hot-Swap 2-Bay Aluminum External Enclosure
* Supports all 3.5" SATA 6Gb/s (SATA III), SATA 3Gb/s (SATA II) and SATA 1.5Gb/s (SATA I) Hard Drives
* Use as individual SATA drives or as SATA RAID
* Store large amounts of data at ultra fast data transfer rates of up to 600 MB/s
* Hot-swap capability allows you to insert or remove drives without powering down the computer
* Aluminum enclosure and tray construction protects the hard drive, plus provides extra cooling
* Comes complete with two Hot-Swap trays

What's In the box:

* SATA II Hot-Swap 2-Bay Aluminum External Enclosure
* Two Hot-Swap Drive Trays
* External 115/230 VAC 50-60 Hz, 40 watts universal input

Specifications
* Connectors: Two eSATA connectors
* Compatibility: Compatible with all 3.5" SATA 6Gb/s (SATA III), SATA 3Gb/s (SATA II) and SATA 1.5Gb/s (SATA I) Hard Drives
* Performance: Up to 600 MB/s
* Power Supply: External 115/230 VAC 50-60 Hz, 40 watts universal input
* Dimensions: 7 in. (L) x 5 in. (W) x 3.75 in. (H)
* Weight: 6 Lbs
* Warranty: One Year Manufacturers Warranty

Let us know how it turns out.

VAPCMD

- Collapse -
re: esata III dock
Jan 18, 2011 10:08AM PST

I'll test a few large file transfers and see how it seems to perform.
Thanks
-R

- Collapse -
(NT) Ok...let us know.
Jan 18, 2011 11:29AM PST