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I have seen suggestions of using a powered USB hub almost every time someone mentions connecting an external USB hard drive to Pi. However, there are those "desktop" self-powered USB hard drives that come with an AC adapter.
Does anyone have experience plugging those into Pi directly, without a powered USB hub? Is that reliable?
A setup like you are mentioning should work. The only reason for the powered USB hub recommendation is to power a drive that only gets power through the USB port. If your drive has its own power, it shouldn't draw any from the Pi and should therefore be fine.
