I have 2 Ethernet ports. 1 will be used directly for my internet connection and the the other I want to plug a hard drive into it. Will it work in this way and will I need to have any special settings (in the network card or HDD) to make this work? Or will I also need to use a Router? (I want to avoid routers)
It would work. you will need a network attached storage "NAS" hard drive enclosure. but, just wondering... if you want to avoid routers i have to assume you have no other computers in the house that you want to share the NAS with? if so? Why are you going to use NAS? its one of the slowest ways to connect a drive to your system. the thing that makes it good is the ability to connect it to a router and share with every computer in the house.
huh!? I read a list somewhere that lists the transfer speeds in order and it went like this: Ethernet eSATA Firewire USB I don't have eSATA and it looks as though my Firewire port is not actually supported by my motherboard so I am left with USB2 which will probably be too slow for my intentions.
in order of fastest to slowest its: thunderbolt (only available in new apple computers for now) esata III usb 3.0 esata gigabit ethernet firewire usb 2.0 10/100 ethernet usb 1.0
