220-1101 Question 213
Single answerExternal SATA (eSATA)A technician is helping a video editor connect an external hard drive to an older workstation for large file transfers. The workstation has an eSATA port on the rear panel, and the external enclosure also has an eSATA port. After connecting the devices with an eSATA cable, the drive does not power on. Which of the following is the MOST likely reason?
- A
eSATA does not provide power to external devices, so the enclosure needs its own power source
- B
eSATA requires a crossover cable when connecting directly to an external drive enclosure
- C
The workstation must use a Thunderbolt adapter before eSATA storage can function
- D
eSATA can transfer data only after the drive is formatted with FAT32
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation
This question tests practical troubleshooting of eSATA in a real support scenario. A key A+ Core 1 fact is that standard eSATA is designed for external SATA data transfer but does not normally provide bus power. As a result, many eSATA external drives and enclosures require a separate power adapter. This distinguishes eSATA from USB, which commonly supplies both data and power over the same cable. In practice, if an external eSATA device does not power on at all, the technician should first check the enclosure's power brick, switch, and outlet. Documentation from hardware vendors and SATA/eSATA implementation guides consistently note that standard eSATA extends SATA externally for data connectivity, while power is handled separately unless a combined powered variant is specifically used.
- A. Correct.
Correct. Standard eSATA provides a data connection only and does not supply power like USB can. In a real deployment, an external eSATA drive enclosure typically needs its own AC adapter or other dedicated power source. A technician who sees that the drive does not even spin up or light up should first verify external power rather than troubleshoot drivers or formatting.
- B. Incorrect.
Incorrect. eSATA does not use crossover cabling. That misconception comes from older Ethernet networking scenarios in which crossover cables were sometimes needed for direct device-to-device communication. eSATA uses its own connector and signaling standard, and a standard eSATA cable is the correct cable type.
- C. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Thunderbolt is a different interface and is not required for eSATA operation. If both the workstation and the enclosure already have native eSATA ports, they can connect directly with the proper eSATA cable. Adding a Thunderbolt adapter would not address the immediate issue of the drive not powering on.
- D. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Drive formatting affects whether an operating system can properly use the storage volume after it is detected, but it does not determine whether the enclosure powers on. A drive that has no power will not initialize regardless of whether it is formatted as FAT32, NTFS, exFAT, or another file system.