Express Card @ 2.5 Gigabits per second
USB 3.0 @ 5 Gigabits per second
eSATA @ 6 Gigabits per second
Thunderbolt @ 10 Gigabits per second
eSATA is faster than FireWire and firewire is faster than USB.
eSATA is the fastest of the three.
eSATA is up to six times faster than USB or FireWire
eSATA-600 at 6.0 Gbps while FireWire runs at 1.2 Gbps.
External serial ATA known as eSATA is up to six times faster than USB or Firewire.
50-85 Mbps for eSATA vs 25 - 45 Mbps firewire 400 not sure what 800 goes to but eSATA will still be faster it's just like an internal drive. eSATA is up to 6 times faster than external firewire according to the fabulous Guide to managing and maintaining your PC by Jean Andrews
Firewire 800USB 1.1 - 15 MbpsFireWire (1394a) - 400 MbpsUSB 2.0 - 480 MbpsFireWire 800 (1394b) - 800 MpbsSATA 1.5 - 1.5 GbpsSATA 3.0 - 3.0 Gbpsesata is much faster than firewire 800
External serial ATA (eSATA) hard drives is up to six times faster than USB or FireWire.
Esata is up to six times faster pg. 317 a+ guide to managing and maintaining
Firewire 800 (IEEE 1394b) has a maximum speed of 800Mbps (Megabits per second). eSATA has a maximum speed of 3.0 Gbps (gigabit per second). So eSATA is faster. In very few scenarios [like transfering a bunch of small files], FireWire will come close, but in most scenarios eSATA will spank it hard. eSATA runs at the same speed as an internal hard drive connection, because it's the exact same thing. It just doesn't have the little L notch. Also keep in mind, some USB and FireWire speed will be lost while being converted from SATA to a signal that they can work with. The signal has to be processed for FireWire and USB to be able to use it. But FireWire 800 is faster than USB 2.0. And it's better for capturing video from cameras. USB 2.0 does a big burst then it slows down, while FireWire maintains a more constant throughput. I don't know of any video cameras that use eSATA. eSATA has been the best thing for external hard drives, until they came out with USB 3.0. It seems to be making eSATA obsolete. I still use eSATA because it's what I have, and it's about 3 times faster than USB 2.0. Also USB 3.0 is good for everything but, e SATA is still best for external hard drives, while FireWire is considered best for video.
External SATA (eSATA) is up to six times faster than USB or Fire Wire
2x faster