type A usb hub for desktop

[alex gary]

hi, any suggestions on type A USB hub for desktop, i have a old motherboard without USB - C ports, i want to use it for high speed data transfers.

something like attached picture .

[TylerD321]

I personally like Sabrent usb hubs.

[Middcore]

"Type A" just means what we usually think of as the "normal" USB form factor as opposed to USB-C or Micro-USB or (shudder) mini-USB when that was a thing for dumbphones and stuff. It would include USB2, and even slow old USB1.x from the 90's. If it's high speed data transfers you're after then you want to make sure you're getting a USB3 hub. 

[Kid.Lazer]

Don't know if there are better deals, but I got this waaaay back in 2019 and it has worked well for me.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DQFGH80/

 

Edit: There are definitely better deals to be had. It was only $16 when I bought it; Now it's $31.

[OddOod]

I personally use the 4way amazon basics USB3 hubs as they are good enough for most things. 
But you need to make sure you're plugging it into a USB3 port. If your mobo is old enough it might not have any in which case you're after an add in card which can be had for cheap

 

What mobo do you have?

[alex gary]

17 minutes ago, Middcore said:

"Type A" just means what we usually think of as the "normal" USB form factor as opposed to USB-C or Micro-USB or (shudder) mini-USB when that was a thing for dumbphones and stuff. It would include USB2, and even slow old USB1.x from the 90's. If it's high speed data transfers you're after then you want to make sure you're getting a USB3 hub. 

i have external ssd and usb pen drives which would me used through this hub is usb3 hub have speed limitations if i use all ports at once to transfer large data. 

[alex gary]

14 minutes ago, OddOod said:

I personally use the 4way amazon basics USB3 hubs as they are good enough for most things. 
But you need to make sure you're plugging it into a USB3 port. If your mobo is old enough it might not have any in which case you're after an add in card which can be had for cheap

 

What mobo do you have?

https://www.asus.com/Motherboards-Components/Motherboards/PRIME/PRIME-Z390M-PLUS/

 

[cmndr]

Most things will work alright as long as you don't need to add in a web camera.

If you do want a web camera in your set up, just add in a single extension cord for that. Or shell out $$$$ for a thunderbolt set up (cheaper just to get an extension cable).

[JogerJ]

Whichever you're getting it's probably a good idea to get one with a DC power input. Sometimes if you plug something that draws power (like with RGB stuff) you might need the extra power otherwise it doesn't function correctly, even though it doesn't use lots of bandwidth. You'll probably be able to find something like this, albeit under different branding/pricing. Honestly any of them will be fine.

 

[alex gary]

5 minutes ago, JogerJ said:

Whichever you're getting it's probably a good idea to get one with a DC power input. Sometimes if you plug something that draws power (like with RGB stuff) you might need the extra power otherwise it doesn't function correctly, even though it doesn't use lots of bandwidth. You'll probably be able to find something like this, albeit under different branding/pricing. Honestly any of them will be fine.

 

so even if i only use external ssd and pen drives i need external power adapter ?

[alex gary]

11 minutes ago, cmndr said:

Most things will work alright as long as you don't need to add in a web camera.

If you do want a web camera in your set up, just add in a single extension cord for that. Or shell out $$$$ for a thunderbolt set up (cheaper just to get an extension cable).

no webcam usage but iam curious what kind extension you saying ?

[cmndr]

1 minute ago, alex gary said:

no webcam usage but iam curious what kind extension you saying ?

Something akin to this - https://www.amazon.com/s?k=usb+extension+cable

Just be aware that stuff off Amazon is increasingly shady (reasons for Newegg, BHPhoto, etc.?). Especially USB. I'm normally NOT a fan of brands but for USB stuff I'm increasingly finding that I NEED branding as a guide.

[alex gary]

1 minute ago, cmndr said:

Something akin to this - https://www.amazon.com/s?k=usb+extension+cable

Just be aware that stuff off Amazon is increasingly shady (reasons for Newegg, BHPhoto, etc.?). Especially USB. I'm normally NOT a fan of brands but for USB stuff I'm increasingly finding that I NEED branding as a guide.

ok ok yea but my issue at first place is i am out of usb ports in the motherboard, lol .so can i use webcam via monitor USB output ? my both monitors have USB ports which are powered by extra USB type B cable from motherboard.

[JogerJ]

DC input is completely optional, just nice to have. It will work fine without external power. Another instance where additional power may be necessary is when plugging in external hard drives, just from experience.

Also I don't think your motherboard supports thunderbolt, but there definitely are thunderbolt pcie cards.

 

Also if the hub doesn't have to sit on your desk, you could always put in a USB expansion PCIE card. It'll have a separate USB controller and doesn't occupy an existing USB port

[alex gary]

2 minutes ago, JogerJ said:

DC input is completely optional, just nice to have. It will work fine without external power. Another instance where additional power may be necessary is when plugging in external hard drives, just from experience.

Also I don't think your motherboard supports thunderbolt, but there definitely are thunderbolt pcie cards.

 

Also if the hub doesn't have to sit on your desk, you could always put in a USB expansion PCIE card. It'll have a separate USB controller and doesn't occupy an existing USB port

i want to have the hub at desk for convenience, i have the pci card but did not use as i have to constantly go back at the case to plug in and out every time i need to work.

[cmndr]

32 minutes ago, alex gary said:

ok ok yea but my issue at first place is i am out of usb ports in the motherboard, lol .so can i use webcam via monitor USB output ? my both monitors have USB ports which are powered by extra USB type B cable from motherboard.

mouse, keyboard, bluetooth adapters, chargers, etc. can all go onto a USB hub if you don't mind a hair of latency.

Webcameras are sensitive to latency and throughput though.

 

You can also daisy chain to some degree from things like your monitors.

I'm kind of curious about what you're using all those USB ports for though... like how much stuff can you plug in? I feel like I have more than enough (mouse adapter, keyboard, 2 microphones, web camera) and I have plenty of unused ports.

If it's 50x harddrives, you probably want to build a NAS or something like that.

[alex gary]

Just now, cmndr said:

mouse, keyboard, bluetooth adapters, chargers, etc. can all go onto a USB hub if you don't mind a hair of latency.

Webcameras are sensitive to latency and throughput though.

 

You can also daisy chain to some degree from things like your monitors.

I'm kind of curious about what you're using all those USB ports for though... like how much stuff can you plug in? I feel like I have more than enough (mouse adapter, keyboard, 2 microphones, web camera) and I have plenty of unused ports.

If it's 50x harddrives, you probably want to build a NAS or something like that.

i have 2 external hard drives and 4 usb pen drives i update all those pen drives with new songs (FLAC FILES) for my car

and i transfer video files to watch movies (4k res, Dolby audio) on tv via another external hard drive which plays through usb adapter on tv.

[cmndr]

You should probably get a NAS. You WANT some redundancy and RAID improves both performance and reliability.

 

My go-to, if I can get it at a decent price, is the HPE Microserver Gen10 for like $200ish. It holds 4x 3.5" drives. Slap on a copy of TRUENAS Scale (Core is iffy unfortunately) on a USB drive and you're mostly off to the races.

Every device on your home network can then access the data over ethernet or wifi.

[alex gary]

9 minutes ago, cmndr said:

You should probably get a NAS. You WANT some redundancy and RAID improves both performance and reliability.

 

My go-to, if I can get it at a decent price, is the HPE Microserver Gen10 for like $200ish. It holds 4x 3.5" drives. Slap on a copy of TRUENAS on a USB drive and you're mostly off to the races.

Every device on your home network can then access the data over ethernet or wifi.

nice can also do that. any videos on nas setup ?

[cmndr]

9 minutes ago, alex gary said:

nice can also do that. any videos on nas setup ?

I haven't watched this but the comments on this are promising.
You can technically get away with pretty much any semi-modern computer though energy efficiency MATTERS (a low power unit can pay for itself in 1-2 years vs using an old desktop)

My usual go-to for stuff is just buying a bunch of 4TB 5400RPM drives off ebay for cheap ($35ish each and it's probably worth having a cold spare), setting it up in RAID5 (err Z1) and then going off to the races with ~12TB usable space. This is from a "getting costs down" perspective. There's nothing stopping you from going to 4x20TB drives (though a drive failure with a 20TB drive is scary). You also want CMR drives, not SMR. SMR = BAD. As in if one drive dies you'll run into problems repairing the array.

 

 

If you want something more plug/play then you can find things like a TS-431 on ebay or similar.

Also, while RAID improves reliability it's not a backup - one virus, fire, flood, crazy 12 year old with a hammer, etc. can destroy your data, having another copy (at a minimum at the opposite side of your residence, ideally off site) is suggested.
 

[alex gary]

10 minutes ago, cmndr said:

I haven't watched this but the comments on this are promising.
You can technically get away with pretty much any semi-modern computer though energy efficiency MATTERS (a low power unit can pay for itself in 1-2 years vs using an old desktop)

My usual go-to for stuff is just buying a bunch of 4TB 5400RPM drives off ebay for cheap ($35ish each and it's probably worth having a cold spare), setting it up in RAID5 (err Z1) and then going off to the races with ~12TB usable space. This is from a "getting costs down" perspective. There's nothing stopping you from going to 4x20TB drives (though a drive failure with a 20TB drive is scary). You also want CMR drives, not SMR. SMR = BAD. As in if one drive dies you'll run into problems repairing the array.

 

 

If you want something more plug/play then you can find things like a TS-431 on ebay or similar.

Also, while RAID improves reliability it's not a backup - one virus, fire, flood, crazy 12 year old with a hammer, etc. can destroy your data, having another copy (at a minimum at the opposite side of your residence, ideally off site) is suggested.
 

lol okey thanks for such information.i like to see 12 year old running with a hammer, seems like a personal experience.

[cmndr]

9 minutes ago, alex gary said:

lol okey thanks for such information.i like to see 12 year old running with a hammer, seems like a personal experience.

No experience with that specific scenario.

I've just had to explain what could go wrong to a few people with 2 digit IQs "wait, why are we doing RAID if it's not a backup?" (because 2 drives dying at the same time is relatively rare so you can keep on going without interruptions, performance is usually higher and you can get away with a cheaper backup)

[alex gary]

1 minute ago, cmndr said:

No experience with that specific scenario.

I've just had to explain what could go wrong to a few people with 2 digit IQs "wait, why are we doing RAID if it's not a backup?" (because 2 drives dying at the same time is relatively rare so you can keep on going without interruptions, performance is usually higher and you can get away with a cheaper backup)

RAID is just an idea to have i am going to have a hub on desk will do some research online as well for future proofing like thunderbolt hub

[cmndr]

3 minutes ago, alex gary said:

RAID is just an idea to have i am going to have a hub on desk will do some research online as well for future proofing like thunderbolt hub

If your main source of "I need more IO ports" is a tangled mess of disorganized drives, storage consolidation should probably take priority over thunderbolt unless you have a strong use case for it (e.g. you want to move your desktop 50' away or you regularly plug in or unplug a laptop).

[Brian McKee]

2 hours ago, Middcore said:

or (shudder) mini-USB

Mini B is a superior connector to micro usb. Still used today and I've never had one fail.