While building my next 'mega-usb-boot-all-isos' thumbdrive, I started wondering why no one has come up with a portable hard drive which allows you to select an ISO file on the drive, and emulate a USB CD/DVD drive, so you can consolidate your entire library onto 1 drive, without having to apply any kung-fu to make things boot. Looks like a company (in South Korea from what I can tell) did come up with such a solution, and I must say, it works really well.
It supports eSATA/USB, you can access the HD like a typical mass storage device, but you can also access the mounted CD/DVD (so you could boot your Acronis disc, and store the image on that same drive). Check out the link below for more info. It looks like you can get this device from the manufacturer only, and it took a few weeks to get here, but was worth the wait. Keep in mind you do need a SATA hard drive.
http://www.amazon.com/iodd-2501-Portable-Virtual-Rom/dp/B0034UFOL8
It supports eSATA/USB, you can access the HD like a typical mass storage device, but you can also access the mounted CD/DVD (so you could boot your Acronis disc, and store the image on that same drive). Check out the link below for more info. It looks like you can get this device from the manufacturer only, and it took a few weeks to get here, but was worth the wait. Keep in mind you do need a SATA hard drive.
http://www.amazon.com/iodd-2501-Portable-Virtual-Rom/dp/B0034UFOL8