Can you connect a USB drive to a usb hub... and then connect two pc's to the hub?? will they both be able to see the drive and write to it??
If this does work, Is there a way to prevent a connection to the other machine (ie I dont want a potential hacker to access the second machine via the usb connection)
2006-06-23 04:13:19 · 4 answers · asked by jrv116psu 2 in Computers & Internet ➔ Hardware ➔ Other - Hardware
This is at a data center.. I cant add network cards or connect the machines physically because of security concerns. so I need a hard drive that will connect to two machines simultaneously.
2006-06-23 05:41:44 · update #1
Because this is at a data center, A switch wont work because it requires user intervention to change machines.. It needs to allow both machines access to the drive at the same time.
2006-06-23 08:02:51 · update #2
I doubt this would work, reason being I know of no USB hubs that provide more than one connection to uplink to another hub. USB hubs normally provide 2, 4, or more downlink connections, but I've only ever seen a single uplink connection on a USB hub, allowing it to be connected to only one computer at a time.
What you may want to do is get an external hard drive that provides an ethernet connection and setup, then share that across an ethernet/wireless network through a hub, switch, or router with a builtin hub/switch.
2006-06-23 04:29:04 · answer #1 · answered by Spartacus! 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
After my answering you that networking was the only & best way to go, I read some other answers and I believe that John H has the best & most informative answer about two PC's sharing a USB device!! Infact, I plan to use his advice myself.
....Below is My answer...but I must admit that I like JohnH's answer better!...
You will need to network your two PC's to share devices. You will use a Router or Network Hub to connect your two PC's. Each PC will need a Network card and then you will need to coonect each PC's network cable to the Network Hub/Router and then you need to set up the Network (most likely under Windows XP but not necessarily). The hard drive would be coonected via the USB port to one of your PC's. Once the two PC's are networked (Peer) then the other PC can be set up to view the USB hard drive that would be connected to the first PC.
It would be easier for you to just move the USB hard drive from one PC to the other.
There are probably othe configurations but all will require some networking of PC's.
2006-06-23 04:23:47 · answer #2 · answered by JosyMaude 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You cannot connect more than one PC to a USB hub. The hub is not designed for use with 2 PCs. It's designed to use multiple USB devicies on one USB port on one PC.
So to answer your question, it would be no.
2006-06-23 04:52:11 · answer #3 · answered by The 3rd Nipple 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can, however, use a USB switch, which allows you to hook up several computers to a device. I have one from Belkin that allows you to hook a single device up to 4 computers. It cost about $35 at Compusa, and is easier than setting up a network..
2006-06-23 06:08:00 · answer #4 · answered by John H 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋