Powered Hub vs. Mains HDD

[Ant P]

Hi all,

I am a new Pi user and am looking to set up my Raspberry Pi to perform two key tasks:

- RaspBMC Media Centre
- SVN Server / Backup automator

Both of these things will involve heavy usage of an external hard drive. I've bought a bus-powered USB hard drive (this one) but am now facepalming after having discovered that the RPi cannot output sufficient power from its USB ports to power it.

This leads me to one key question - would a powered USB hub be enough to safely and reliably run my RPi, the HDD and potentially a keyboard/mouse or infra-red sensor all the time? Or is there significant advantage to returning this drive and buying a mains-powered one?

Thanks.

[klricks]

Look at the labels on each device and add up the mA ratings.
(If you are going to 'backfeed' the RPi from the hub then use 400mA for the RPi).

Now find the OUTPUT rating of the hub power supply and compare.

If you do get a drive enclosure with external supply, then you can use the 5V drive power to run the RPi.
In my case I soldered a mirco USB cable directly to the circuit board inside the enclosure... but you could use a drive power 'Y' adapter and splice into that. 5V are the red/black wires.