USB 3.1 Gen 2 external enclosures questions

[magellan]

From what I understand USB 3.1 Gen 2 external enclosures should have more bandwidth than SATA3 or USB 3.1 Gen 1 or eSATA or gigabit ethernet external enclosures.

I seem to remember with my old USB 2.0 external enclosure I couldn't access SMART data off any HDD's put into the enclosure. Is this limitation still present in USB 3.1 enclosures?
What about gigabit ethernet external enclosures? Can SMART data be accessed from external enclosures attached to a system via gigabit ethernet?

 

[EarthDog]

I'd think that would be the function of the enclosure/drive attached than the pipe type data travels through...

 

[MisterEd]

CrystalDiskInfo show the SMART data even on my old enclosures

1-2 USB 2.0/eSATA enclosure connected USB 2.0.
3-4 USB 2.0/eSATA enclosure connected eSATA.
5-6 USB 3.0 enclosure connected USB 3.0.
Note eSATA was faster than USB 2.0. However, USB 3.0's higher speed made eSATA unnecessary.

I have several external enclosures that are all USB 3.0. They are probably not USB 3.1 because that speed does not add much. The speed is limited by the SATA interface of the drives instead of the USB interface.

In testing M.2 SATA SSDs in external enclosures I have found that USB 3.1 is not faster than USB 3.0. However, in testing M.2 NVME SSDs in external enclosures I have found that USB 3.1 is significantly faster than USB 3.0. SATA SSDs are limited by SATA not USB. NVME SSD are not as much limted and can take advantage of USB 3.1.

 

[EarthDog]

+1.

The 'latest' official USB names, lol...

USB 2.0 (480 Mbps)
USB 3.2 Gen1 (5 Gbps)
USB 3.2 Gen2 (10 Gbps)
USB 3.2 Gen2x2 (20 Gbps)
USB 4 (40 Gbps)