I'm building a new HD-capable FE/BE box and was planning on
going with an external 750GB eSATA drive (probably in an Antec
MX-1 case). From reading the upgrade hints, it sounds like SATA
is less of an issue than it used to be, but I'm still not sure
if KM will "just work" with an SATA drive or not.

Will I regret not having an internal drive? I might be able to
fit in an internal 2.5" drive. If I do put in an internal
internal PATA drive, I guess that would eliminate any problems
associated with installing to an SATA drive. [I'm not 100%
sure I've got enough left in my power budget for an internal
drive without adding an extra 12V->5V switcher.]

_________________
Grant

My first box was SATA and there was never a problem with it.

After running out of disk space I added a second drive, just for recordings. It was PATA. The extra space was filled up almost immediately, and I added a remote frontend to my setup at about the same time. With the PATA my machine just didn't feel quite right after that. I replaced the PATA with a SATA, made some other "adjustments" to my overall setup, and I'm great again.

What wasn't right? Playback mostly, on both the master and remote. I can't say for sure that it was the PATA, I was dealing with a few other issues at that time as well, but I think I'm running better with the SATA.

IIRC, SATA has been a non-issue since R5E50. I don't know anything about external SATA however. All my SATA experiences have been internal.

Hi,

I have tried the external esata, would lock up on me. Internal is ok so far. Maybe the extra cable lengh, don't know. Your mileage may vary.

Mike

How long a cable were you using? If you're using a normal
motherboard SATA controller the spec says total cable length
can't exceed 1m. If you're using an eSATA controller (which
has slightly different electrical specs), then spec is 2m.

Not that everybody always meets the specs...

I ordered an Antec MX-1 external housing and a WD SE16 750GB
drive to put in it. If all else fails, I guess can add an eSATA
controller board.

_________________
Grant

Hi,

The cable was ~ 18 - 24 inches connecting to a jack on the back. At about a 100 ~ 200 gig it usually passed gas.

Mike