Connecting external hard drive to PXI controller

[grin]

Hello, i ahve two questions:

1. Is it possible to disconnect the internal hard drive in a PXI controller, and connect another hard drive, using a SATA extension cable ?

2. Is it possible to connect a 3.5" hard drive instead of a 2.5" hard drive - in consideration of power consumption ?

[CKap]

Hi Grin, 

The most straightforward way to do this would be to use an ExpressCard to eSATA adapter connected to the Expresscard slot on the embedded controller. Such as this one:http://www.addonics.com/products/host_controller/adexc34-2e.asp

Keep in mind that this solution will only work in Windows and not LV RT. 

Using a SATA extension cable connected to the SATA port on the embedded controller is not recommended but has been known to work. As for interfacing 3.5" drives, if you provide power to the drive using external adapter then you should be good. The embedded controller will probably not have enough power to drive a 3.5" drive. 

Thanks,

Chetan 

[grin]

The most straightforward way to do this would be to use an ExpressCard to eSATA adapter connected to the Expresscard slot on the embedded controller. Such as this one:http://www.addonics.com/products/host_controller/a​dexc34-2e.asp

Keep in mind that this solution will only work in Windows and not LV RT. 

Thank you for your quick answer, I will check this solution.

Additional question: can i use the external hard drive as my os system instead of the internal hard drive through the ExpressCard slot ?

[CKap]

Additional question: can i use the external hard drive as my os system instead of the internal hard drive through the ExpressCard slot ?

Yes. 

Please read this whitepaper that I wrote: http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/8604

Specifically the section titled: Software Installation Guidelines

Thanks,

Chetan