[CentOS] FireWire in CentOS 5.3

Tue Aug 18 19:04:28 UTC 2009
Les Mikesell <lesmikesell at gmail.com>

Drew wrote:
>> On the subject of hard disk, I'm probably going to buy another disk for
>> ripping the content. I can go SATA II internal but I'm a little worried
>> about heat since my home is not air conditioned, would an external
>> FireWire drive be a good option or am I better really better off going
>> internal SATA II?
> 
> I'd stick with the SATA II.
> 
> Heat wise, either option will have the same issues. My first place had
> no air conditioning, in a town that averaged 35C in the summer, and I
> never has issues with drives. I know that drives don't like the higher
> temps but if you're in a 35C climate like I was, it didn't matter if
> the drive was external or internal as long as they have a fan blowing
> air across them.
> 
> Speed wise the internal SATA will be your best bet. Theoretical
> performances aside (400Mbps vs 3Gbps), the SATA will outperform the
> FireWire. FireWire & USB2 are great for archiving but for any sort of
> transfering, transcoding, etc you should stick with SATA.

The other thing you get with SATA is 'smart' monitoring.  The firewire 
(or USB) interface doesn't support it even when the drives do.

-- 
  Les Mikesell
    lesmikesell at gmail.com