I've been removing HD from old computers. Luckily all are 7200rpm or more. Just did a 60GB 7200 RPM 2.5 drive will be USB 2.0, that I removed from a six year old Dell. Also did a 3.5 500GB 7200 rpm from old desktop again USB 2.0.


I have two 74gb Raptors 10,000 rpm drives to go. Is there an enclosure that I can put both in? Or just get two more single set-ups?

 

What is the purpose for these small drives? The value of the drives is really small, compared to what you can get new. It costs about $20 for a drive enclosure. You can get multi-drive enclosures for more money, but for the size of the drives, I wouldn't even bother.

If it's just backup or offline storage, I'd invest in a dock, then you can just store the HDs in a box or bag in a drawer.

http://www.compusa.com/applications/...asp?CatId=2785

 

Thanks, wasn't even thinking about docks! Will take up less space!

 

If you get a dual drive esata dock make sure your esata adapter supports multiple drives. Many don't, look for one with a Silicon Image Sil 3132 SATALink Controller in it since it can talk to multiple drives at the same time.

Actually the Dynex (best buy brand) eSata controller has the Sil 3132

 

I have 3 Zalman Dual HDD docking stations with esata that I use. One for my home desktop, home server, and work PC in the office. Being able to access two external drives over esata is pretty handy for me.

 

Apparently the Sil 3132 doesn't support Windows 8 and it's been discontinued so I doubt it will in the future. I noticed I was getting identical BSODs in Windows 8 on two of my PCs and the only thing they had in common was the eSata adapter, once I removed it I never had another BSOD.

I did a little research and came across the StarTech PEXESAT322I. It's got Sata 3 support and supports port multiplier (multiple drives over one sata connection) along with Windows 8. It seems like most eSata chips support port multiplier now, this one has an ASMEDIA ASM1061 eSata chipset.

I ordered two and they should be here next week.

 

is there any advantage to esata vs usb3? is usb3 not a quicker standard? I ask because I have 2 1TB drives I want to put in a 4 bay enclosure so knowing what to shop for is key.

Here are the 2 I'm looking at

http://www.canadacomputers.com/produ...item_id=032450

http://www.canadacomputers.com/produ...item_id=047937

 

I'd take eSATA over USB 3 anyday.

 

reasoning?

 

I use both eSats and USB3. I have a five drive Raid5 enclosure on eSata, and have several external enclosures that I use on both eSata and USB3. The physical connections of the USB3 cable is a better connection IMO, but the throughput of the eSata is nice and consistent, albeit a little slower than the max capability of the USB. I try to avoid taxing the USB bus too much with different devices and I have found in the past that the USB bus can get overloaded... Not sure it's still an issue on USB3 though. With respect to the eSata cable connections, the cords I use are flat rather than round and I don't feel like they seat as deeply as the USB connectors, so if there is going to be lot of jostling of equipment and knocking of cables, I would opt for the USB for this reason alone.

My RAID enclosure : Micronet RAIDBank5

My single drive enclosures: Weibetech RTX-110 3Q

If you are looking for a quick use, small footprint dock for use with 3.5 and 2.5 drives, check out the Thermaltake BlacX docks: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...025&CatId=2785

The last "docks" have no cooling, fans, etc. so be aware they should really only be used for short term use, not long term drive spinning.

 

Another benefit is that eSata offers direct low level access to the drive. I have an HDD scanning programming that requires the drive be connected over sata/eSata or IDE, and wont see a drive connected over USB

 

Esata is harder and harder to find.

 

not sure that matters for me, I'm just using these to dump pics and videos, and a monthly image of my laptop hd.

 

And as I mentioned above esata allows me to connect multiple drives over one cable. I have dual drive esata dock that I can plug two drives into and ghost from one to the other with one cable. IDK if USB 3 does this but not that I know of.

It may require a more expensive piece of hardware to pull that off with USB 3.