Is firewire faster than USB 2.0?

[ranjan2001]

I have a usb 2.0 portable hdd but lately I had to copy 30-40 gb data & found that it takes good amount of time doing that, its faster but I am wondering if firewire would have done that faster than usb 2.0

I found a firewire casing (Interface: USB 2.0/ firewire COMBO) here in nehru place & I can swap the case keeping the same seagate 80gb hdd.


I am thinking if firewire is faster than I buy this casing though its quite expensive than the usb casing......................so is it worth at 1200/- for firewire?

http://www.svbinternational.com/exte...394_usb_20.htm

[goobimama]

Well technically Firewire400 (400mbps) is slower than USB2.0 (480mbps). But in the real world tests, Firewire seems to hold its own for raw speed. The difference is in the architecture so a FW drive will have a better sustained write/read speed, sometimes even 70% faster than USB2.0. And then there's Firewire800 (800mbps) which is used in high end stuff, not very commonplace (The Western Digital Pro drives come with FW800)

Not sure if its worth the extra 1200 bucks for firewire, especially since its such a low capacity hard drive...

[shashank4u]

go for usb 2.0 ...if u got ample money then go for firewire..simple
AFAIK usb 2.0 provides gud speeds inlarge transfers.

[sam9s]

Originally Posted by goobimama

Well technically Firewire400 (400mbps) is slower than USB2.0 (480mbps). But in the real world tests, Firewire seems to hold its own for raw speed. The difference is in the architecture so a FW drive will have a better sustained write/read speed, sometimes even 70% faster than USB2.0. And then there's Firewire800 (800mbps) which is used in high end stuff, not very commonplace (The Western Digital Pro drives come with FW800)

Not sure if its worth the extra 1200 bucks for firewire, especially since its such a low capacity hard drive...

Adding to what goobi said the reason Firewire is faster than USB 2.0 is....

FireWire, uses a "Peer-to-Peer" architecture in which the peripherals are intelligent and can negotiate bus conflicts to determine which device can best control a data transfer

Where as USB 2.0 uses a "Master-Slave" architecture in which the computer handles all control functions and dictates data flow between the attached peripherals and this adds additional system overhead resulting in slower data flow.

Tests have shown that Firewire is much faster than USB 2.0 in both file read and write tests.

But for convenience and compatibility between multiple computers a USB 2.0 external hard drive would probably be a better choice (since practically every computer has a USB port).

[ranjan2001]

Originally Posted by shashank4u

go for usb 2.0 ...if u got ample money then go for firewire..simple
AFAIK usb 2.0 provides gud speeds inlarge transfers.

I dont know how much is ample money, but from experience I have learnt that "mehanga roe ek bar , sasta roe bar bar"

So lets say I transfer 2000Gb in 1 year & save 30% of time using firewire then u can see Rs.1200 should not matter any one bcoz the time saving is huge.
__________

Originally Posted by goobimama

The difference is in the architecture so a FW drive will have a better sustained write/read speed, sometimes even 70% faster than USB2.0.

Any idea when is that "sometimes 70% faster" that will be a huge time saving.
__________

Originally Posted by sam9s

FireWire, uses a "Peer-to-Peer" architecture

Where as USB 2.0 uses a "Master-Slave" architecture

Tests have shown that Firewire is much faster than USB 2.0 in both file read and write tests.

Sam reading ur post now I am convinced that I surly would see speed difference if I use firewire.

Any other things to consider before I go the firewire/usb 2.0 combo route?

[sam9s]

Originally Posted by ranjan2001

Any idea when is that "sometimes 70% faster" that will be a huge time saving.

Sam reading ur post now I am convinced that I surly would see speed difference if I use firewire.

Any other things to consider before I go the firewire/usb 2.0 combo route?

@ranjan It would depend upon your usage as well, if an external HDD would be used more for data portibility then you might consider going USB way coz as I said not evey computer you would share data with would be having an IEEE conn. So you can sacrifice speed for better portability, but if is like to keep a backup or using it with any laptop while you are on the move, go firewire way. coz in that case slow speed would probably pinch.

[aryayush]

Please answer three questions:
1. Does you computer have FireWire ports?
2. What is the price of the hard drive?
3. Does it have FireWire 400, 800 or both?

If it has FireWire 800 or both, it is definitely worth it to invest the extra twelve hundred bucks. I have done real world tests. Transferring seventy gigabytes using FireWire 800 took twenty-five minutes and it took one hour and twenty minutes on USB 2.0. FireWire 800 is REALLY fast.

And if you want good a good FireWire drives, the best company is LaCie. They make awesome drives. I have a 250 GB external drive from LaCie which has all the interfaces - one USB 2.0 port, one FireWire 400 and two FireWire 800 ports. Guess which one I use.

[ranjan2001]

Originally Posted by sam9s

if an external HDD would be used more for data portibility then you might consider going USB way coz as I said not evey computer you would share data with would be having an IEEE conn. So you can sacrifice speed for better portability, but if is like to keep a backup or using it with any laptop while you are on the move, go firewire way. coz in that case slow speed would probably pinch.

Mosty Its used for transfering data from 1 location to another or 1 desktop on the move......................yes desktop not laptop.............using mojopac.

I am reviewing Mojopac trial version, which allows u to install ur softwares on a portable hdd & then it can be connected either to desktop or a laptop or any internet cafe having usb /firewire connection.
XP on C/all software on different HDD, no need to reinstall if xp crashes.
__________

1. Does you computer have FireWire ports?

Yes 2 ports on my new comp & 50% of comps I connect have firewire too, rest have usb 1.1 or 2.0

2. What is the price of the hard drive?

I am not buying a hard drive I already have this one is just a casing to fit any portable hdd.

3. Does it have FireWire 400, 800 or both?

I was not aware of 400/800 so now I need to check this feature too.

[goobimama]

Sad...my iMac has only FW400 ports.... Will be getting a Western Digital My Book Premium 250GB for the purpose...

[rakeshishere]

Chk these links out!

http://www.usb-ware.com/firewire-vs-usb.htm

http://www.digit-life.com/articles/usb20vsfirewire/

http://www.cwol.com/firewire/firewire-vs-usb.htm

[ranjan2001]

Thanks those link helped....................Sam9s already posted though the same info.

[sam9s]

Originally Posted by ranjan2001

Mosty Its used for transfering data from 1 location to another or 1 desktop on the move......................yes desktop not laptop.............using mojopac.
I am reviewing Mojopac trial version, which allows u to install ur softwares on a portable hdd & then it can be connected either to desktop or a laptop or any internet cafe having usb /firewire connection.
XP on C/all software on different HDD, no need to reinstall if xp crashes.
.

This mojopac thing looks interesting, In this case I presume when you use the external HDD as an independent PC you are in constant communication with it. Well in that case Firewire would come in handy as then the speed would not be a bottleneck to access applications.

Good thing, neat and new info for me I am gonna try this one with my 30 GB video iPod....thanks Reps for you

[ranjan2001]

Yes one can carry their desktop pc in a usb drive/mobile phone/ ipod/and many other things to come where size will increase & so will the interface speed.

Last few days using mojopac has changed my way of working, now atleast I dont waste time copying data to & fro from my main pc. You should try it & post ur comments in that review I posted.

[aryayush]

I am slightly confused here. How can a casing make your existing hard drive's transfer rate faster? Is that possible?

Sorry if that sounds like a stupid question!

[sam9s]

Originally Posted by ranjan2001

Yes one can carry their desktop pc in a usb drive/mobile phone/ ipod/and many other things to come where size will increase & so will the interface speed.

Last few days using mojopac has changed my way of working, now atleast I dont waste time copying data to & fro from my main pc. You should try it & post ur comments in that review I posted.

I will definately, right now I am in bangalore, will try with my iPod once I am back in Delhi, would probably need your help then....

[ranjan2001]

Originally Posted by aryayush

I am slightly confused here. How can a casing make your existing hard drive's transfer rate faster? Is that possible?

Sorry if that sounds like a stupid question!

No its not realy a stupid question.

The casing provides an interface usb /firewire, now in both the case I am going to use same 7200 rpm hdd, but the interface will use different archeciture as explained by sam9s in ealier post.
So using firewire interface will speed up the transfer rate.
__________

Originally Posted by sam9s

I will definately, right now I am in bangalore, will try with my iPod once I am back in Delhi, would probably need your help then....

I am eagerly awaiting ur return to delhi I would be more than happy to be of any help, though using mojopac is quite simple.

[goobimama]

An internal HDD over a SATA/PATA interface will be anyday faster than either of the formats (FW or USB), but its the external factor that we're talking about. Unless one has got an eSATA port along with a SATA harddrive, FireWire is the way to go...