0

So I have a Synology device, with both USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 ports. I wanted to add on additional HDD devices for backing up data. Now my problem is that the USB 3.0 has already been utilized now I am left with only USB 2.0.

My question is how much speed difference would it make? As far as I know the USB 3.0(4800mbps) is ten times faster than USB 2.0(480mbps), but again, the hard disk is a standard one with a write speed of only around 100mbps. So would it make any speed difference if I plug in either ports?

Improve this question
5
  • 1
    Another option is to use a small USB3.0 hub.
    – Gantendo
    Commented Aug 11, 2021 at 13:38
  • 1
    Have you seen superuser.com/questions/664397/… ?
    – Gantendo
    Commented Aug 11, 2021 at 13:41
  • 1
    Note the difference between bit and byte.
    – Gantendo
    Commented Aug 11, 2021 at 13:43
  • 2
    Does this answer your question? USB 3.0 vs USB 2.0 for external Hard disks drives
    – Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007
    Commented Aug 11, 2021 at 13:48
  • 1
    There will be a substantial speed difference. Keep in mind, the speed of USB 3.0 (500 MB/s), does not even get near the typical speed of a SATA III mechanical HDD (600 MB/s). All USB HDDs are actually SATA IIII on the surface. In theory they could be SAS but that would offer little performance gain. The numbers I have provided are maximum speeds. There are overheads that are not even considered. SATA III maximum speeds were not typically reached unless the system had a huge amount of cache (or something like an Optane drive)
    – Ramhound
    Commented Aug 11, 2021 at 13:50

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
3

You’re confusing Megabit and Megabyte. USB 3.0 does 5000 Megabit/s, USB 2.0 does 480 Megabit/s. Regular hard drives (spinning rust) can do 100+ Megabyte/s. That translates to 838+ Megabit/s.

Additionally, USB 2.0 tops out at ~40 Megabyte/s user data because of protocol overhead and whatnot.

Using your hard drive with a USB 2.0 port would severely limit its performance. As Gantendo recommends, you should use a USB 3.0 hub instead.

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .