Whether You're Using a USB or a Thunderbolt Cable or USB Bus, It's Not a Good Idea.

My personal philosophy is that if I can't connect it through a SaaS or a SATA port directly in the same chassis typically, then long term, I'm not willing to hang storage off of a USB bus or a Thunderbolt cable. You're trying to set it and forget it and never touch it is the ultimate goal really. We're also talking about power. So the power that your drives are consuming are either going to be coming over a USB or Thunderbolt cable,. which is far less robust than being directly connected to the machine's power supply.