USB 3.0 thumb drive performance
Here's a pretty awesome article from Tom's hardware comparing eSata, USB 2.0, and a USB 3.0 thumb drive. The thumb drive is a very special (and expensive) one, but the results are astounding.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/usb ... or=RSS-182spoiler: :p
It's kinda slipped in there, but basically this USB thumb drive performed better than any standard hard drive. They tested a 64GB version and weren't able to get the special drivers to work, so their performance was a "paltry" 180MB/sec... way faster than any standard drive. They got the special drivers to work on a different box that managed to reach over 200MB/sec.
The thumb drive is too expensive, but it bodes well for the future.