Will a USB External Drive Suffice for Editing in Vegas?

[Jeff Harper]

Not at all. I had the same question when I thought of the idea. I did learn however I couldn't run through my router which is a 10/100 connection. I needed two ethernet connections on each machine, and they each should be 10/100/1000 or Gigabyte connections (same thing), and they must be, as it was explained to me, "auto-sensing" to avoid the need for twisted cable.

You need at least "Cat 5" cable (Cat is abbreviation for category) which is available at any PC store. If you need further details, e-mail me and I'll tell you what I can. It is relatively simply and cost effective, and so much better (for me) than externals. There is the issue of always running two PCs at once, but other than that I feel tremendous freedom having gotten rid of those pokey old externals, which I'm putting up on ebay soon!

[John Miller]

Originally Posted by Alan Henderson

Does your ethernet connection between the two computers require that you be running server/networking software, as opposed to plain Windows XP?

thanks..alan

If the PCs aren't otherwise on a network, all you need to do is connect the two via their ethernet cards - you need to use a "cross-over" cable, though, which are readily available.

For Gigabyte (i.e., 1000Mbps) ethernet, you need Cat 6 cable which is pretty much the norm these days.

If both PCs are already on a network, you're set. The bandwidth consumed by broadband is peanuts compared to what will be used for network storage. i.e., broadband activity won't interfere.

There's some (easy) configuration to do on each PC so that they can "see" each other.

The downside to network storage is that both PCs will consume CPU time to manage the transfer and there can be significant latency.

[Jeff Harper]

For Gigabyte (i.e., 1000Mbps) ethernet, you need Cat 6 cable which is pretty much the norm these days."

I replaced my CAT 5 cable with CAT 6 and noticed no difference except that they cost me $15 apiece. The difference is negligible, in my recent experience. I didn't recommend CAT 6 cable because I felt it was a waste of money.

"If both PCs are already on a network, you're set. The bandwidth consumed by broadband is peanuts compared to what will be used for network storage. i.e., broadband activity won't interfere."

Re: broadband, I was referring to the fact that initially I networked through a a 10/100 router which slowed my tranfers to a crawl.

There's some (easy) configuration to do on each PC so that they can "see" each other."

Run the network wizard on each PC.

"The downside to network storage is that both PCs will consume CPU time to manage the transfer and there can be significant latency.[/QUOTE].

Since data transfer speed is more than doubled, and the fact that CPU resources are tied up even more when transferring large file to and from an external hard drive, it is well worth it IMO.

If you don't need an internet connection on your server, than it only needs the single ethernet connection to run directly to your workstation. Then your workstation needs two ethernet connections, one to your router or broadband modem, and one to the other PC.

[David Errington]

Just to add a bit to USB drives. I use external ones on my Toshi laptop and they are great for capturing and editing.

One slight drawback is that the external Maxtor 3.5" 500Gb drives need to be powered from AC thru a plugpack, which means I cannot edit on my laptop easily when I am away from home.

I do have an 80Gb 2.5" usb drive in an el cheapo case that is powered from the laptop; I do most of my editing on that with Vegas MSP, but render when I am at home onto one of the powered Maxtors. So the 80Gb travels with the editing laptop, no power required, and render only at homebase.

[Jeff Harper]

For sheer convenience, you really can't beat USB drives, that is for sure. They do work very well.