Solved External HDD storage (non USB) alternative?

[yankleber]

I have a bunch of USB HDD drives where I keep my stuff more or less organized. So I have a drive for movies, other for videos, other for music, other for work backup, etc, etc, etc.

The problem is that I am really tired of use them for several reasons... first because USB is slow, second it eats all my USB ports, third because keep it connected to my PC slows down my boot, four because it's a PITA to keep plugging/unplugging it as I need, oh well, there is an infinite list of disadvantages.

Question here is if it does exist some kind of external storage device to what I can add drives as I go (like a self power supply hub) and that be fast, therefore not USB connection. Also it would specially desirable that it could keep connected to the computer but could be turned on/off with a dedicated switch only when necessary.

Does such device/interface/whatever exist?

 

[Snick]

yankleber

Are you saying you want to keep using USB Flash Drives you have? If they are running through USB 2.0 and/or they are USB 2.0 flash drives speed will not increase. If you have a USB 3.0 connection and you are using a USB 2.0 Flash Drive, transfer speeds are at USB 2.0.

I added a Vantec USB 3.0 PCIe Host Card to my desktop, 2 rear ports & insert with 2 ports for front. I also have a Seagate External Hard Drive, 4tb that I purchased a few years ago that I was running through USB 2.0. Big difference in read/write speeds.
USB 3.1 is the latest, most expensive upgrade. Is the extra expense worth it for an older computer? ????

USB 2.0 transfer speed is 480 megabits per second (Mbps), while USB 3.0 transfer speed is 4,800 Mbps. This means USB 3.0 is approximately 10 times faster than USB 2.0. More recently, USB 3.1 has also been released and has a data transfer rate of 10,000 Mbps.

Snick

 

[SIW2]

Caddies with power switch so disks can be hotswapped.

KKmoon Dual Bay 3.5" + 2.5" Inch SATA III Hard Drive HDD & SSD Tray Caddy Internal Mobile Rack Enclosure Docking Station with USB 3.0 Port Hot Swap: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

ORICO Trayless Mobile Rack for 3.5" SATA III HDD into 5.25 Inch PC Bay - Hot Swap for SATA 6 Gbps: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

 

[yankleber]

Are you saying you want to keep using USB Flash Drives you have?

On the contrary, I absolutely DO NOT want to keep it!

Caddies with power switch so disks can be hotswapped.

[MENTION=29]SIW2[/MENTION] you NAILED IT! This is what I need. Also it drove me to some extra research and I learn that SATA drives are hot-swap by design (I didn't know that).

Thanks!

 

[SIW2]

You might have to set up hotswap in your bios