11-22-2017, 05:11 PM
Drew wrote:
I forgot that daisy chaining is a lost art with USB. Would I need a powered USB hub? Do I just place the hub between the two external hard drives, or does it need to be connected to my computer?
I leaning more towards some kind of cloud backup. Used to use Backblaze but gave it up a while ago.
Sarah's comment noted discouraging using a USB hub for backup,
- a USB hub needs to be connected directly to the computer
- if the devices connected to the USB hub are themselves powered, or have a very low draw, then you can use an unpowered hub, but a powered hub will work with more devices. You don't want to "overdraw" on the power from the USB connection.
My guess is that someone could build a high-quality USB hub which would not give I/O errors, but that may be harder to find.
Note that if your computer has Thunderbolt, you can pull a bunch of different connections out of one Thunderbolt jack with a dock. Like OWC's Thunderbolt 2 dock ($199):
https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/Thunderb...=affiliate&utm_campaign=cj
- Dual Thunderbolt 2 ports for daisy-chain support
- Ultra-HD 4K and multiple display support
- 5 fully-powered USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports including two high-power ports
- FireWire 800 for connecting external storage and legacy devices
Wirecutter has a nice summary review of Thunderbolt docks:
https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-t...bolt-dock/