Connecting computers using a USB 3.0 bridge cable?

[abhi.ko]

Hi All,

As the title suggests that is my basic question, I have 2 PC's (both custom built a NAS and a desktop) which I am wondering how to hook up using a USB 3.0 cable and transfer files, just to take advantage of the much faster connection speeds, even when compared to transfer over a Gigabit Ethernet connection!

Is this possible? Can we get 2 PC's hooked up via their USB 3.0 connectors? I know there are bridge cables which allow us to do this for USB 2.0 but can't find anything for USB 3.0, does anyone here know of anything which would let me do this?

A cable, a hub/converter - any piece of equipment which would allow me to transfer data between 2 computers just like I would between my computer and a USB 3.0 external HDD.

I have the WD My Book Essential 3TB USB 3.0 - which is blazing fast at around 120 MB/s transfer rate on an average. So I would like to connect my NAS to the desktop via the USB 3.0 ports available on both and then share the NAS with the other machines over the Gig Ethernet.

All help and advice appreciated! Thanks in advance!

 

[stevech]

yes, there are PC to PC cables for USB2 and maybe now USB3, if the PCs have USB3.
But the NAS' USB port expect to see a mass storage device, not a PC host.

Why not connect the PC to the gigabit LAN along with the NAS? A decent NAS will move data at 50-80MB/sec.
When moving lots of small folders/files, the speeds are limited by file system/OS overhead, not the wire speeds.

 

[abhi.ko]

yes, there are PC to PC cables for USB2 and maybe now USB3, if the PCs have USB3.
But the NAS' USB port expect to see a mass storage device, not a PC host.

Why not connect the PC to the gigabit LAN along with the NAS? A decent NAS will move data at 50-80MB/sec.
When moving lots of small folders/files, the speeds are limited by file system/OS overhead, not the wire speeds.

Thanks for the reply stevech!

I'm aware of the USB 2.0 bridge cables but even after searching quite a bit I was not able to find any USB 3.0 bridge cables - I was wanting to know whether you or anyone else here was aware of any of those being available in the market! I want the desktop's USB port to see a mass storage device when the NAS is plugged in, and use that to transfer files between those!

Gig LAN also would not match the transfer rates of a directly connected USB 3.0 device as far as I have seen and as I have mentioned in the OP! When I back up my system over the LAN connected drive it takes at least an hour more than when I do it using a USB 3.0 connection, also most of the times the files I move are large in size - ripped DVD's and Blu-Ray's- these are ripped on the desktop and moved to the NAS to store to be streamed on my HTPC.

Again I'm not looking at alternative methods of transferring files and data between PC's (although I appreciate your response) - I am aware of a few I can use - Ethernet being one of them. I'm looking for connecting the 2 using a USB 3.0 (just the way we connect an external HDD, to get the substantially higher transfer speeds) bridge or A-Male to A-Male cable - does anyone know of a method how to do that?

 

[jpunya]

Any Update On this Tread?

I have two systems that can saturate at 1gbe. First research seems like 2 10gbe copper nics ($100 -200 each) with a cat 6 crossover cable would do the trick. However, it would be nice to be able to buy a couple of usb 3.0 cards ( $20 each) and a usb 3.0 crossover cable ( $40) and do it up that way for cheaper.

Anybody out there configured a usb 3.0 peer to peer network with success?

Thanks in advance,

 

[jpunya]

Update

http://www.datapro.net/products/usb-3-0-super-speed-a-a-cable-crossover.html

"The USB 3.0 spec also indicates that this cable can be used to connect two PCs together; however, the unfortunate reality is that no operating system currently supports this feature. To network two PCs directly, we recommend an Ethernet cross-over cable instead. "

 

[howarddavidp@gmail.com]

At last - a USB3 transfer cable, and target disk mode for PC

There is at long last a target disk mode options for PC's, and it is cross platform compatible with MAc's too, and they have a cross platform model for Android and Ipad/iPod/iPhone.

http://www.j5create.com/our-products/wormhole-switches/juc400.html

It also servers as a KVM switch too, minus the V for video.

Enjoy!!!

 

[Scooterit]

Not a reply to the OP but I wanted to share this link about networking Mac's using Thunderbolt cables.

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2013/10/os-x-10-9-brings-fast-but-choppy-thunderbolt-networking/

 

[chadster766]

Not a reply to the OP but I wanted to share this link about networking Mac's using Thunderbolt cables.

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2013/10/os-x-10-9-brings-fast-but-choppy-thunderbolt-networking/

Thanks for the link.

The Thunderbolt iPerf test of +5Gbps is impressive but the cable cost of the cable is outrageous