I am currently using MEP 2013 and xPro5. I wanted to know the benefits of using an Esata drive vs using an USB 3.0 for storing and rendering projects. How does MEP 2013 /Xpro5 treat an ESATA Drive?
Esata (Bus) is the same as SataII in terms or raw bandwidth - 300MB/sec. The only difference is in the plugs and cables which are more robust.
USB3.0 has a theoretical bandwidth of 400MB/sec but you would not see any difference between the two bus speeds due to the limitations in the Hard drives transfer rates and the relatively low data rate demands of compressed video formats in MEP or ProX.
MEP would just treat an Esata drive the same as an internal Sata drive. USB3.0 should work just as well.