Do eSATA HDD docking stations have a capacity limit?

Question

I'm looking at perhaps buying an eSATA docking station to be able to easily plug in and unplug hard disk drives, particularly but not necessarily only for backup purposes.

Note: This is not a hardware shopping recommendation question. Please don't vote to close it as such.

Looking at different models, I find for example this page detailing the Deltaco SI-7908SUS which specifically states "storage capacity: 1.5 TB" as well as "pictured hard disk not included, only for illustration". A customer review specifically mentions that it does not work with 3 TB drives, although does not go into any detail such as OS, drive model, etc. From a brief glance, the vendor's web site does not appear to say either way.

Then there is the quite similar Deltaco SI-7908B3 which boasts on the box "all 2.5" and 3.5" HDD/SSD compatible".

My question is: Why would what basically amounts to a SATA/eSATA adapter have any say in what storage capacity devices are supported? Does it? Assuming the OS supports the full capacity of the drive, why should introducing another (not even a different, really) connector change anything?

Bonus question: Might it make a difference if the docking station exposes multiple interfaces (such as in the case of for example the SI-7908SUS exposing USB 2.0 and eSATA)? (I still think it shouldn't, but it'd be nice to have it confirmed.)

Answer 1

The magic number right now is 2.1TB. The dock shouldn't care about this limit (it just passes instructions and data back and forth between the drive and the computer), but your operating system needs special support to handle individual drives over 2.1TB:

The problem is that not every OS supports Long LBA, and Seagate says this includes any 32-bit operating system, including Windows XP. In fact, Seagate says that its own tests have shown that a 3TB drive is only detected as a 990GB drive when using Windows XP. On the plus side, the 64-bit versions of Windows Vista and Windows 7 support Long LBA, as do some versions of Linux and Mac OS X.

^Source

This means things won't work right if you try to stick a 3TB drive in any dock if your OS doesn't support it.

Answer 2

It doesn't: A SATA/eSATA adapter does not have any say in what storage capacities are supported. It is in fact the operating system and the file system used that determines what capacities are supported.

Answer 3

When I put my 6TB in both my (older) SATA docks, checkdisk is recommended and doing so completely offset the FAT. Everything is visible to be there, but doesnt work, available size is wrong.

I fixed it by putting them on internal SATA again and forcing the same checkdisk on reboot. Pweh, that was too close for comfort.

Answer 4

I have run across compatibility issues when the hard drive model is new to the market. Like the customer review states, a 3TB is a newer storage size. Depending on the controller (chipset) the eSATA dock is connecting to inside the pc/laptop, it may or may not be compatible with that drive.

Many retailers will just copy and paste the text from the manufacturer or distributor web site. Most do not test the claims of the marketing text.

"storage capacity: 1.5 TB"

This means the marketing text was written when 1.5 TB was the biggest hard drive size available on the consumer market

"all 2.5" and 3.5" HDD/SSD compatible".

This is just a lie. Never :) believe in absolutes such as ALL when you see it in marketing text.