I Need 10 USB Ports!

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Re: I Need 10 USB Ports!

Post by KayBur » Tue Mar 30, 2021 7:28 am

But what if you buy external USB adapters and connect them to your computer? It can beat, it will cost less and more efficiently than buying more expensive components with additional outputs.

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Re: I Need 10 USB Ports!

Post by BradGray » Sun Apr 18, 2021 5:38 pm

KayBur wrote:
Tue Mar 30, 2021 7:28 am
But what if you buy external USB adapters and connect them to your computer? It can beat, it will cost less and more efficiently than buying more expensive components with additional outputs.
Where you have to be cautions, though it won't hurt anything other than speed, is the use of a hub to connect multiple drives. If you use a hub, it's going to share the bandwidth with all of the devices connected to it. I.E. USB 3.1 Hub @ 5Gbps - would share the available bandwidth across all devices on the hubs. I'm not clear on "how it shares it" I'm assuming somewhat like hub technology in networking, from the 90s. Plugging in a device to it's own dedicated port would work best.

Also, watch out for the type of "USB 3" version it is; as not all USB3 is the same. In all my years in IT, I think this is the dumbest naming convention I've seen.

USB 3 Speeds
USB 3.1 Gen 1 - 5Gbps
USB 3.1 Gen 2 - 10Gbps *USB C connectors are 10Gbps*
USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 - 20Gbps

Thunderbolt - 40Gbps

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Re: I Need 10 USB Ports!

Post by jdstamper » Mon Apr 19, 2021 8:34 pm

That's a good point regarding the use of hubs. Also totally agree on the confusion in USB conventions.

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Re: I Need 10 USB Ports!

Post by KayBur » Thu Apr 29, 2021 4:24 am

BradGray wrote:
Sun Apr 18, 2021 5:38 pm
KayBur wrote:
Tue Mar 30, 2021 7:28 am
But what if you buy external USB adapters and connect them to your computer? It can beat, it will cost less and more efficiently than buying more expensive components with additional outputs.
Where you have to be cautions, though it won't hurt anything other than speed, is the use of a hub to connect multiple drives. If you use a hub, it's going to share the bandwidth with all of the devices connected to it. I.E. USB 3.1 Hub @ 5Gbps - would share the available bandwidth across all devices on the hubs. I'm not clear on "how it shares it" I'm assuming somewhat like hub technology in networking, from the 90s. Plugging in a device to it's own dedicated port would work best.

Also, watch out for the type of "USB 3" version it is; as not all USB3 is the same. In all my years in IT, I think this is the dumbest naming convention I've seen.

USB 3 Speeds
USB 3.1 Gen 1 - 5Gbps
USB 3.1 Gen 2 - 10Gbps *USB C connectors are 10Gbps*
USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 - 20Gbps

Thunderbolt - 40Gbps

To implement such a project, in order for 10 USB connectors to function at the same time, you still need the computer to be so powerful as to be able to support such a load. And you need to start by choosing a hard drive that will be fast and capacious, so that the write speed to removable drives does not drop significantly and is not limited by the low speed of the hard drive.

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Re: I Need 10 USB Ports!

Post by superblonde » Sun May 02, 2021 1:47 pm

jdstamper wrote:
Mon Mar 29, 2021 9:44 am
I want to use 3 external drives
Use the wired 10G ethernet to a separate headless system as file server instead of using 3 locally-connected USB drives.
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Re: I Need 10 USB Ports!

Post by jdstamper » Mon May 03, 2021 7:35 am

superblonde wrote:
Sun May 02, 2021 1:47 pm
jdstamper wrote:
Mon Mar 29, 2021 9:44 am
I want to use 3 external drives
Use the wired 10G ethernet to a separate headless system as file server instead of using 3 locally-connected USB drives.
Yeah, that's a good option, and we don't normally think of that! Jim
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Re: I Need 10 USB Ports!

Post by BradGray » Mon May 03, 2021 4:06 pm

jdstamper wrote:
Mon May 03, 2021 7:35 am
superblonde wrote:
Sun May 02, 2021 1:47 pm
jdstamper wrote:
Mon Mar 29, 2021 9:44 am
I want to use 3 external drives
Use the wired 10G ethernet to a separate headless system as file server instead of using 3 locally-connected USB drives.
Yeah, that's a good option, and we don't normally think of that! Jim
Fascinating idea, but it may lead to additional costs and complexity.
- If you are connecting that ethernet port for your internet and other networking, you will need to connect it to a 10Gb switch.
- Desktop NIC needs a 10Gb port, and you have to have the proper Cat 6 type cable that supports 10Gb.
- You will need to pay attention to the additional latency of the devices, and the protocols in use. When climbing up and down the OSI stack, you will introduce small amounts of latency that may cause issues. Plus the switch in between, plus the PC's itself.

Storage area networks would work, but if you were recording real-time to these external devices, the latency would likely be an issue - unless you're purchasing dedicated purpose built enterprise class equipment. Consumer grade is not likely to cut it. Also bear in mind that 10Gbps is a "theoretical max" but you will never get that performance over TCP/IP without working with file size, window sizes, and fragmentation options. All in all, I think it borders on ethernet audio that focusrite has purpose built products (and protocols) for.

Cool discussion!
B

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Re: I Need 10 USB Ports!

Post by jdstamper » Mon May 03, 2021 9:18 pm

Yes, good points about using 10G Ethernet. I kind of assumed we were talking about directly connecting to a storage device which would sit close by. But I suppose it might work all right if it were connected through a home or office network. Either way I would want to do some research and maybe even testing to make sure the performance is as good as expected.

As for me I'm still mulling all this over. I may end up with a traditional tower or mini tower this time around, I don't know yet. But I suspect we're not too many years away from total miniaturization of the PC :)
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Re: I Need 10 USB Ports!

Post by superblonde » Tue May 04, 2021 1:10 am

jdstamper wrote:
Mon May 03, 2021 9:18 pm
But I suspect we're not too many years away from total miniaturization of the PC :)
It's called the mac mini and outperforms the Mac Pro owned by the original poster.
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Re: I Need 10 USB Ports!

Post by jdstamper » Tue May 04, 2021 8:13 am

superblonde wrote:
Tue May 04, 2021 1:10 am
jdstamper wrote:
Mon May 03, 2021 9:18 pm
But I suspect we're not too many years away from total miniaturization of the PC :)
It's called the mac mini and outperforms the Mac Pro owned by the original poster.
Well actually I'm the original poster, and I've never owned an Apple

That said, yes the M1 Mini is very impressive, a leap forward I think in miniaturization. It is setting a new bar which the Windows PC manufacturers are not even close at this point. It seems like the PC manufacturers of this mini form factor, wind up with boxes that run hot under a load and often get noisy, and expensive too.

I've seen a mixed reviews on how well the Mini runs Windows 10 and Windows apps, so as a Windows user for many years, that causes me some concern.
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