How do I connect PC to external hard drive 20 meters away?

[k978645312@yahoo.co.uk]

Hi,

I have recently bought an external hard drive for backups. I've got my
PC in my office and I was hoping to keep the external hard drive in
another room approx. 20 meters away. The hard drive has got
connections for USB and Firewire but the longest USB and Firewire
cables are only 5m. I read that you could connect several cables
together or something, but does this reduce the quality? Does it
increase the chances of errors or faults with my backup? Is there any
other way of connecting the hard drive to my PC?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Paul]

k978645312@yahoo.co.uk wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I have recently bought an external hard drive for backups. I've got my
> PC in my office and I was hoping to keep the external hard drive in
> another room approx. 20 meters away. The hard drive has got
> connections for USB and Firewire but the longest USB and Firewire
> cables are only 5m. I read that you could connect several cables
> together or something, but does this reduce the quality? Does it
> increase the chances of errors or faults with my backup? Is there any
> other way of connecting the hard drive to my PC?
>
> Thanks for your help.
>

There is always an "extender" product of some kind. They
may not always be the cheapest, but if you really want to
do it, somebody will find a way. For this one, you buy the
modules plus the fiber optic cable is a separate purchase.

http://www.gefen.com/kvm/product.jsp?prod_id=2808

This option is a bit cheaper, and incremental in nature.
Unlike the above (fiber optic connected) solution, this
one uses only Firewire cables. The device is a repeater
or booster, placed between segments of cable. The
claim is, that it is bus powered (uses the +12V placed
on the 6 pin Firewire connector, typically at the computer
end). And since there are two speeds of Firewire (400 and 800),
there are even two different products.

http://www.lenexpo-electronics.com/product.php?productid=16552
http://www.lenexpo-electronics.com/product.php?productid=16553

Gefen appears to have a forum.

http://forum.gefen.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=439

I recommend finding an independent review of any product you
are interested in buying, just to be safe. While the manufacturer
may think it works, it is comforting to see that at least one
customer agrees.

Paul

 

[Malke]

k978645312@yahoo.co.uk wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I have recently bought an external hard drive for backups. I've got my
> PC in my office and I was hoping to keep the external hard drive in
> another room approx. 20 meters away. The hard drive has got
> connections for USB and Firewire but the longest USB and Firewire
> cables are only 5m. I read that you could connect several cables
> together or something, but does this reduce the quality? Does it
> increase the chances of errors or faults with my backup? Is there any
> other way of connecting the hard drive to my PC?
>
> Thanks for your help.
>

The longer the cable, the higher the chance of data corruption. Either
1) put the external hard drive next to the computer; 2) buy a second
external hard drive; 3) put the external hard drive on a different
computer and access it over the Local Area Network; 4) buy a NAS device
instead. A NAS is Network Appliance Storage and sits directly on the
LAN, connected via ethernet.


Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

 

[Ghostrider]

k978645312@yahoo.co.uk wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I have recently bought an external hard drive for backups. I've got my
> PC in my office and I was hoping to keep the external hard drive in
> another room approx. 20 meters away. The hard drive has got
> connections for USB and Firewire but the longest USB and Firewire
> cables are only 5m. I read that you could connect several cables
> together or something, but does this reduce the quality? Does it
> increase the chances of errors or faults with my backup? Is there any
> other way of connecting the hard drive to my PC?
>
> Thanks for your help.
>

Why bother? The intent of the USB/Firewire external hard drive is for its
portability. It need not, nor should it really be, anchored permanently.
The most practical approaches to backing up to remote locations are those
suggested by Malke. Think about it.

 

[Paul]

Malke wrote:
> k978645312@yahoo.co.uk wrote:
>> Hi,
>>
>> I have recently bought an external hard drive for backups. I've got my
>> PC in my office and I was hoping to keep the external hard drive in
>> another room approx. 20 meters away. The hard drive has got
>> connections for USB and Firewire but the longest USB and Firewire
>> cables are only 5m. I read that you could connect several cables
>> together or something, but does this reduce the quality? Does it
>> increase the chances of errors or faults with my backup? Is there any
>> other way of connecting the hard drive to my PC?
>>
>> Thanks for your help.
>>
>
> The longer the cable, the higher the chance of data corruption. Either
> 1) put the external hard drive next to the computer; 2) buy a second
> external hard drive; 3) put the external hard drive on a different
> computer and access it over the Local Area Network; 4) buy a NAS device
> instead. A NAS is Network Appliance Storage and sits directly on the
> LAN, connected via ethernet.
>
>
> Malke


Some NAS boxes are pretty slow. Check the numbers before buying.

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/component/option,com_nas/Itemid,190/

Paul

 

[Lil' Dave]

<k978645312@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:1189680303.590978.182850@k79g2000hse.googlegroups.com...
> Hi,
>
> I have recently bought an external hard drive for backups. I've got my
> PC in my office and I was hoping to keep the external hard drive in
> another room approx. 20 meters away. The hard drive has got
> connections for USB and Firewire but the longest USB and Firewire
> cables are only 5m. I read that you could connect several cables
> together or something, but does this reduce the quality? Does it
> increase the chances of errors or faults with my backup? Is there any
> other way of connecting the hard drive to my PC?
>
> Thanks for your help.
>

Spec for firewire says 6 feet/approximately 2 meters maximum. Barring
repeaters, that's as far as you can go.

Commonly, longer distances in a building are traversed by a LAN system. For
that you need another PC or laptop, LAN cable or wireless sytem.
Dave

 

[k978645312@yahoo.co.uk]

Thanks for all your suggestions, everyone.