My experience is that USB storage sometimes breaks-connection for no discernable reason.
That if one REALLY wants to do USB storage, then put it inside the housing, and don’t use one of the external-connectors, use something you can permanently-fix, so nothing can even sneeze in its direction.
This mayn’t help you with your puzzle, but it’s bedrock and unchangeable, in my experience.
USB-storage is an unreliable joke.
ANY revision of it, that I’ve tried.
hth…
Power-consumption.
Also, the vibration produced by the 2.5" drives is less, but they’re more-sensitive to it, to begin with.
I’d not even consider spinning-platter drives, nowadays, though:
SATA SSD’s for a NAS strike me as being the sanest choice.
Samsung what are those called, Evo drives?
excellently-high MTBF, ultra-short ( compared with rotating-platters ) seek-time ( literally orders-of-magnitude quicker ), etc.
I don’t know of ANY reason to go with spinning-platters, nowadays.
( & I’m saying that as a guy stupid-enough to have not realized this in time, & who spent money on such a thing, when SSD’s really were the answer )