Is this possible?

[Stephen Arthur]

If I am able to talk to RED SSD reader and hard drive via usb and firewire, and then have 1 esata cable going from RED SSD Reader to External Drive, I don't have to have any esata ports on the computer and I believe I will still get esata speeds for data transfer. Does anyone have any experience doing this? Will the reader recognize the faster path and utilize it without the computer knowing it's there?

Thank you!

[Jaakko Rinne]

No.

[Nick Pasquariello]

Data doesn't go from device to device. It goes through the CPU. So even if that chain was viable, the data still traces to the CPU through the USB/Firewire, then back along the Firewire, then out the eSata. Since data would be going in two directions on one cable (the USB/Firewire), you're only getting half the maximum speed.

But mixing interfaces like that isn't even possible, really, so it's a null point either way. But good to keep in mind when daisy-chaining anything: take your fingers, and trace where the data is going. Any time data leaves or enters a drive, it has to go through the computer. Trace out your entire data chain; the more times your hands touches a cable, the slower your setup is, since that one cable (like a highway with only so many lanes) is sending data to multiple destinations at the same time.

[Stephen Arthur]

Thank you!