Yes, eSata surely better on Windows too, from that perspective specifically.

I just *assumed* Thunderbolt v. 3.0 would be reliable because I think it *is* intended for permanently connected external storage devices AND daisy chain to monitors and what not. I'd be surprised if that was as unreliable as USB has often been (for me at least). But, just guessing here. And, I am sure there's a plethora of different flavors and versions of Thunderbolt 3.0 implementations out there.

I may just have to stick to eSATA w/ port multiplier as you suggest.

Question: is there any drawback to use eSATA-port-multiplier compared to standard HDD connected to "internal" SATA ports?