The new Mac Minis have a SATA HDD. Can an eSATA HDD be used? If not, I assume another card is needed in order to use an (external) eSATA. Is there room for it in the Mini?
The drive inside an eSATA enclosure will be SATA - the enclosure bridges between the formats. If you want to use the drive from it internally, you would be able to remove the drive and insert it in the Mini.
If you want to use the eSATA drive externally, there is no eSATA port on the Mini and no adaptors I know of that would e.g convert Firewire 800 to eSATA. You can convert SATA into eSATA with a cable so that you can use an eSATA drive but you need a spare SATA port, which the Mini doesn't have and the cable probably wouldn't fit through the fins of the vent.
There's a mod here that shows how ugly the hack can be:
In short, if you have an eSATA enclosure hard drive, you can't use it with a Mini externally. You can remove the drive from it and install it into the Mini though. If you need an external, Firewire 800 is the best you can get ATM. Remember if you want to install a drive in the Mini, it has to be a 2.5" drive, not the larger desktop 3.5" drives, which may be in the eSATA enclosure.
The drive inside an eSATA enclosure will be SATA - the enclosure bridges between the formats. If you want to use the drive from it internally, you would be able to remove the drive and insert it in the Mini.
If you want to use the eSATA drive externally, there is no eSATA port on the Mini and no adaptors I know of that would e.g convert Firewire 800 to eSATA. You can convert SATA into eSATA with a cable so that you can use an eSATA drive but you need a spare SATA port, which the Mini doesn't have and the cable probably wouldn't fit through the fins of the vent.
There's a mod here that shows how ugly the hack can be:
In short, if you have an eSATA enclosure hard drive, you can't use it with a Mini externally. You can remove the drive from it and install it into the Mini though. If you need an external, Firewire 800 is the best you can get ATM. Remember if you want to install a drive in the Mini, it has to be a 2.5" drive, not the larger desktop 3.5" drives, which may be in the eSATA enclosure.
As usual, you have explained a situation in simple terms that even my tech-challenged mind can grasp. You've convinced me that's not the way for me to go. I'll settle for a FW 800 external drive.
Comments
If you want to use the eSATA drive externally, there is no eSATA port on the Mini and no adaptors I know of that would e.g convert Firewire 800 to eSATA. You can convert SATA into eSATA with a cable so that you can use an eSATA drive but you need a spare SATA port, which the Mini doesn't have and the cable probably wouldn't fit through the fins of the vent.
There's a mod here that shows how ugly the hack can be:
http://katastrophos.net/andre/blog/2...nal-sata-hack/
In short, if you have an eSATA enclosure hard drive, you can't use it with a Mini externally. You can remove the drive from it and install it into the Mini though. If you need an external, Firewire 800 is the best you can get ATM. Remember if you want to install a drive in the Mini, it has to be a 2.5" drive, not the larger desktop 3.5" drives, which may be in the eSATA enclosure.
The drive inside an eSATA enclosure will be SATA - the enclosure bridges between the formats. If you want to use the drive from it internally, you would be able to remove the drive and insert it in the Mini.
If you want to use the eSATA drive externally, there is no eSATA port on the Mini and no adaptors I know of that would e.g convert Firewire 800 to eSATA. You can convert SATA into eSATA with a cable so that you can use an eSATA drive but you need a spare SATA port, which the Mini doesn't have and the cable probably wouldn't fit through the fins of the vent.
There's a mod here that shows how ugly the hack can be:
http://katastrophos.net/andre/blog/2...nal-sata-hack/
In short, if you have an eSATA enclosure hard drive, you can't use it with a Mini externally. You can remove the drive from it and install it into the Mini though. If you need an external, Firewire 800 is the best you can get ATM. Remember if you want to install a drive in the Mini, it has to be a 2.5" drive, not the larger desktop 3.5" drives, which may be in the eSATA enclosure.
As usual, you have explained a situation in simple terms that even my tech-challenged mind can grasp. You've convinced me that's not the way for me to go. I'll settle for a FW 800 external drive.
Thanx Marvin.