What is USB?

USB, or Universal Serial Bus, is a peripheral bus connectivity standard that makes connecting devices to your computer faster, easier and virtually limitless. High-speed USB are capable of up to 480 megabits per second (USB 2.0).  USB supports Plug-and-Play - simply plug a USB device to your computer- without shutting down and without having to open your computer. USB allows you to connect up to 127 USB devices simultaneously to your computer. 

USB 2.0 is the newest standard with significantly faster transfer rates that USB 1.1  USB 2.0 devices are backwards compatible & will work on USB 1.1 ports.

USB driver support is built into the latest versions of the Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, Windows 2000, XP and Apple operating systems - MacOS 8.6 or higher.

What is the transfer rate with USB hard drives?

Theortically USB 1.1 periperals can transfer at 12 Mbps, while USB 2.0  are capable of up to 480 megabits per second.   In "real" use,  USB 1.1 Drives typically transfer data at around 1 MB/sec & USB 2.0 Drives transfer at 10-12 MB/sec. The write speed may be slightly slower, depending on the size & number of files (fewer large files will be faster than a large number of small files). 

What are the best applications for USB hard drives?

• MP3 music files (over 60% of our customers are using their USB hard drives for running & storing MP3 files)

• Backup (faster & more reliable than tape & cartridge-type backup systems)

• Extra data storage

• Transferring data from one computer to another (with "hot-swapping" there is no need to shutdown & reboot systems when plugging-in the USB drives)

• USB 2.0 7200RPM Drives are fast enough for digital video editing

What are the hard drive specifications in the USB enclosures?

The 3.5" hard drives used in the XtraDisk USB drives are typically Maxtor, IBM, Western Digital or Fujitsu hard drives.  They typcially have the following specifications:

• Ultra DMA 100

• Rotational Speed: 5400 RPM or 7200RPM

• Seek Time (Avg): < 9.0ms

• 2 MB SDRAM Cache Buffer

• MTBF: More than 500,000 power-on hours

• As of October 2002, the new 3.5" hard drives come with a 1 year or 3 year factory-direct warranty.

The USB enclosures come with a 1 year warranty.

What are the hard drive specifications in the USB enclosures?

The 2.5" hard drives used in the XtraDisk USB Lite drives are IBM, Toshiba, or Fujitsu hard drives with the following specs:

• Ultra DMA 100

• Seek Time (Avg):  12 ms

• 2 MB Cache Buffer

• MTBF: More than 300,000 power-on hours

• New drives with 3 year factory-direct warranty

The USB enclosures come with a 1 year warranty.