Which scenario do you think will be faster?

[TheGuy]

Server - USB 2 external

or

Server 1GB Nic - 1GB nic laptop - Esata external

The USB 2 run at 480Mbps and the slowest link on the 2nd connection is 1GBps but it has a lot more connections.

 

[Budza]

GB NIC, eSATA.

 

[TheGuy]

GB NIC, eSATA.

Do you think so even with all the hops that needs to happen?

Do you think it will make a big difference or not too much.

Reason is I have to always image old servers before installing new ones so I'm trying to save time

 

[Grep]

I always rather go for USB than network, at least you can be 100% sure that your copy process speed remains constant.

 

[werwortmann]

Id say NIC etc., id bet it will still stabilize faster than USB

 

[Messugga]

Absolutely NIC. USB will do ~30MB/s while NIC will do 60+MB/s, if your external hard drive is up to it, which it really should be.

 

[bubbatentoe]

both solutions will saturate the sustained write speed of the drive that's connected to the laptop.
the copy process will start fast and end slow.

Rather get a e-SATA PCI-E card for the server. (drive will be directly on the server PCIe BUS = fastest).
plus it's less hassle (no laptop needed)