4 USB ports - 6 USB inputs

[Qwerty11]

So here is what I need to have hooked into my iMac.

1. External HD one
2. External HD two
3. Apogee One
4. Yamaha KX8 midi controller
5. Printer
6. iPhone

Both HD's are backup drives.

I'm running a USB splitter on one of the ports. Therefore I have 3 direct USB ports and another 4 on the splitter.

First question is how does the splitter degrade the throughput of the USB port? If you have two cables plugged into the splitter, does it cut throughput in half between each peripheral?

Second question is which three peripherals should I have plugged into the direct USB's on the iMac? I'm thinking the highest demand ones are the Apogee and the Yamaha. Maybe one of the external HD's?

 

[Ryan.Tanner]

1. External HD one
2. External HD two
3. Apogee One
4. Yamaha KX8 midi controller
5. Printer
6. iPhone

1. Get 1 drive that's larger
2. See above
3. ---
4. ---
5. Get a WiFi enabled printer
6. Sync over WiFi when plugged in

See, only 3 ports needed.

Sorry, I don't have a technical answer.

 

[ngenerator]

I don't think it (the splitter) degrades the throughput, so long as it's powered.

 

[theSeb]

The Yamaha, the printer and the iPhone don't need full bandwidth. Frankly, none of those devices, apart from the Apogee absolutely require full bandwidth. Your backups will just run a bit slower. Yes, when you use a hub the available bandwidth is split between the devices that are connected.

 

[JustMartin]

It depends on how many USB controllers your ports link to - I don't think it's 4 separate controllers, but I could be wrong. In any case, the bandwidth is shared between the devices, but only as it is being used. So, given 40Mbs between two active disks, they would get 20 each, but if one wasn't being used, the other could have all the 40mbs

So, makes sense to distribute your peripherals so that the least active are shared with the most active.