External drives for the AEBS: with or without its own power supply?

[hafr]

I've got a 640 GB 2.5" USB HDD connected to my AEBS, and my friend told me that you shouldn't do that, but rather connect an external drive with its own power supply. He couldn't tell me why though, and I can't seem to find any arguments for or against it online either.

So, can anyone here tell me what the deal is?

 

[skorpien]

The issue lies with the USB port on the AEBS being able to provide enough power to power the HDD. I'm unsure whether it can or can't, but if you find that it's not able to provide power to the drive and there's no way to provide external power to the drive directly, you can attach a powered USB hub and plug the drive into it which should work.

 

[hafr]

The issue lies with the USB port on the AEBS being able to provide enough power to power the HDD. I'm unsure whether it can or can't, but if you find that it's not able to provide power to the drive and there's no way to provide external power to the drive directly, you can attach a powered USB hub and plug the drive into it which should work.

I mean, the drive works just fine and if there would be a problem with voltage I guess the drive wouldn't be accessible at all. It's just that I've never heard anyone say that an external drive [that's always connected and used regularly] should always have its own power supply before, and was wondering about the arguments.

Maybe it's nothing, maybe there's tons of arguments, but I don't know - that's why I'm asking

 

[bwhinnen]

I've been running an external 1TB 2.5" WD drive on my AEBS for almost a year with no additional power. It is used for TimeMachine backups for about 4 devices and I've had no problems with it at all.

I think if it powers the USB drive initially, chances are it has enough juice to do so. Most of the new 2.5" drives do not require much power at all.

Brett