I love USB 3.0!

[Clintlgm]

What's eSATA btw? I mean are their different hard disks which are eSATA or what

eSata is just another attachment like USB. You have it either directly on your board or you can get a PCI card like for USB3. It attaches directly to the internal Sata channel. Although the specs are lower than the USB3 specs, in real life it is faster.

I run it with an external enclosure like this one and you can put any Sata disk into it. Right now I have a SSD in it from where I run my virtual systems (5x Linux, Windows 8.1 and Android).

Okay, thanks, so let me get this straight, if I get one of that eSATA docking station I will be able to connect my External HD to eSATA of my motherboard?

Yes if your external hard drive enclosure has eSATA port and external power supply.

 

[ithehappy]

Okay, thanks, so let me get this straight, if I get one of that eSATA docking station I will be able to connect my External HD to eSATA of my motherboard?

If you have an eSata port - either on your mobo or via a PCI card, you can attach external disks that are eSata capable or any Sata disk thru an enclosure like I posted earlier (can also be a closed enclosure). The eSata port connects directly to the sata channel, that's why it is so fast.

I have a eSATA port at the front of the cabinet, which is not of motherboard, and I also have two more eSATA connector at the rear of the cabby, which are of motherboard. Now I have no idea if my external hard drive supports eSATA or not, is there any external hard drive which supports eSATA actually? I have used a My Passport Ultra, a standard My Passport, they all were USB 3.0! This is mine, HD-E2 : External Hard Drive : Storage Media and Batteries : Sony India

And my motherboard's rear end looks like this, so I see there's one green port mentioned as eSATA power and three other red ports!! http://i62.tinypic.com/25jfcdh.jpg Can I make use of them?

 

[Wynona]

And my motherboard's rear end looks like this, so I see there's one green port mentioned as eSATA power and three other red ports!! http://i62.tinypic.com/25jfcdh.jpg Can I make use of them?

What you have back there are two red USB ports (don't know why they're red!), two black ones (USB 2.0 I think) and two USB 3.0 ports (the blue ones) one eSATA power port and one eSATA drive port. You need both the power and drive connector for any type of SATA, I think. Hmmm, could it be the red ones are USB 3.1?

Looks like you're set for any contingency!

 

[Clintlgm]

I find USB 3.0 just about as flaky as USB 1.0 was. A lot to the problems I found are related to the connectors The A type connectors have very short connectors for the USB 3 connections. My WD passport 2 GB has the Mini connectors and has been flawless for 6 months or so. My NB has issues with the left side ports there on a daughterboard. I miss not having a eSATA connection but also realize that USB 3 and 3.1 are going to be far better.

Strange . . . My new HP desktop has USB 3.0 and I have no problems whatsoever with it. I've had my Toshiba external 1 TB drive for about a year and have never had a disconnect with it, either while using it with USB 2.0 or 3.0. I've had the WD for several months and haven't experienced any disconnects with it either.

Since it seems USB 3.1 won't be backward compatible, I guess it'll be awhile before I worry about that one.

perhaps its just Asus implication of USB 3.0 but in the ROG forums we had major problems back in early 2012 through the summer. Mostly driver problems
Still my wife's HP Envy all in one with Win 8 Pro has issues connecting usb 3.0 at times requiring me to uninstall the driver and letting them reinstall. Could be the external case we only connect for back ups.
I agree if 3.1 is not backward compatible it will be awhile before we worry about that either. Myself I was hoping 3.1 would be what USB2.0 was to USB 1 Reliable and effortless and fast, Right now USB 3 is as fast as the hard drives in the Cases. Not sure that holds up with an SSD in an external case?

 

[whs]

It looks like you have eSata ports. You may have noticed that the ports are different and that you need different cables than for USB. And you need an eSata disk.

Best is to get an enclosure like this one and bare bone Sata disk(s). Any Sata disk will work - HDD, SSHD or SSD - it does not matter. Best performance you get with the SSDs but best performance and storage space you get with a SSHD like this one or better even this one.