Network attached storage (NAS), external docking stations, and backup hard-drives are very popular, but their expected transfer speeds are often overlooked or misunderstood. Below is a speed comparison of the different connection types for external storage.
Speeds (theoretical max raw bit rate):
Ethernet - 100 Mbps
Gigabit Ethernet - 1 Gbps
eSATA - 1.5G bps to 6 Gbps (depending on SATA standard)
SATA II - 3 Gbps
SATA III - 6 Gbps
USB 3.0 - 5 Gbps
USB 3.1 gen2 - 10 GBps
USB 3.2 - 16 Gbps
Note: All transfer speeds are listed in Giga
bits per second, see our
Bits/Bytes conversion calculator for the equivalent Megabytes/Gigabytes.
