Three Difference between HDD Duplicator and HDD Docking Station
When we clone a hard drive we might think of a docking station, a duplicator, or use the software. What exactly is the difference between them.
We all want a great deal that is the best for us, cheaper, easier, and faster.
So today we focus on the hardware. We’re going to compare two products, an HDD docking station, and an HDD duplicator. If you have done some hard drive maintenance, then you may know both of these. They are seen as the same products in some cases, but they’re different not only in price but in functions.
Take single targets of HDD docking station and HDD duplicator for example. We divide the difference into three parts, speed, price, and additional functions.
How fast they can transfer
The speed of docking station
The docking station has two different ways of using — operating with or without a computer.
The speed is usually the one to blame for docking station. Let’s talke about connecting to the computer first, in this situation, the speed will be restricted by the USB cable, which means no matter how fast is the docking station itself, the transfer speed all depends on the USB cable.
Generally, if you still use the docking station through USB 2.0, then the speed is around 40 MB/s maximum practically. It means that it takes over 20 minutes to copy a 50 GB drive. It’ll take a million years to copy a bigger source.
The latest docking station claim that they support USB3.0 (5Gbps) high transfer speed theoretically, but the truth is that the current crop of USB 3.0 flash drive doesn’t deliver full USB 3.0 speed, it depends on many elements. I mean they all marked the theoretical speed, but the real copy speeds are different from every brand and usage environment.
Since copying lots of small files would entail random accessing of the disk surface, which makes copy much slower. The real read/write speed of USB 3.0 is around 100~200 MB/s.
I’ve seen a review of a docking station which have 35~40 MB/s transfer speed, or transfer speed around 100~200 MB/s. Even some of the docking station have the outstanding transfer speed above 200MB/s by using their software. Although they all marked that they have USB 3.0 super speed, but the real transfer speeds are different from one another.
As I said, the performance and quality depend on lots of elements, such as USB cable, machine itself, hard drive condition etc. Make sure you do enough search before buying one.
The copy speed of duplicator
On the other hand, the duplicator is a standalone system which means it operates without any computer and software. It roughly devide into three kinds of speed — SATA I, SATAII, and SATA III.
For the SATA I, the venders usually claim that the speed can reach up to 150 MB/s, and the average practical transfer speed is around 125 MB/s. It’s also affected by the hard drive condition and other usage environments, but the gap is not that big as the HDD docking station. Including SATA II and SATA III HDD duplicator, the real transfer speed of the HDD duplicator basically can reach up to 80% of theoretical speed as they claimed.
Take 500 G hard drive, for example, it takes about 35 minutes to complete.
Limited budget
We all care about the most important factor, the price. The price of the docking station is around USD 20 to 100.
As for the duplicator, the duplicator cost over USD199 to 300.
You get what you pay for, the price is affected not only by the speed we talked about earlier but also by many dimensions, and it leads to the third difference, additional functions.
What cause the HDD duplicator more expensive?
In addition to the speed, additional function is the key factor that affects the price.
A hard drive docking station combines the functions of an external hard drive enclosure with the abilities of partition imaging software.
It gives you quick access to the data stored on your drive and allows you to clone information offline. It clones every bit to one another.
The hard drive duplicator features professional duplication without using a computer or software. The advanced duplication is to analyze valid data before cloning to speed up the copy process.
It is also equipped with other advanced functions, such as data sanitization/ erase, compare, or even quality check for drives.
The erase/sanitization is usually used when you want to reuse or dispose of a hard drive and this will prevent the confidential data from leaking out. If you are still confused about different kinds of erase mode, you can learn more about the difference of erase mode in this article.
Conclusion
The docking station is much cheaper. For people who seldom need to clone the hard drive or using it to expand capacity, a docking station is a good choice. Please note that some of the docking stations are not compatible with Linux and Mac before you buy one.
On the other hand, because a hard drive duplicator is a bit pricey, it’s more suitable for a manufacturer or MIS engineer who needs to produce hard drives with a default system or need advanced functions.
When it comes to the transfer speed, no matter HDD docking station or duplicator, they all face a problem that it all claims the theoretical speed, but the real copy speed will depend on every brands’ technology and the hard drive you use.
There are tons of docking station and duplicator on the market. Ensure you do some research and review before you buy.
