 |
||
| Home | Forums | Article Search | Subscribe & Shop | Contact Us | Log Out |
| Get Some (En)closure |
 Email This
 Print ThisView My Personal Library |
|
Heavy Gear July 2006 • Vol.6 Issue 7 Page(s) 24-26 in print issue |
|
|
Get Some (En)closure Drive Accessories For Cooling & Accessibility |
|
Jump to first occurrence of: [ICY] [DOCK] In lieu of installing hard drives into their cases in standard internal drive cages, many enthusiasts and power users prefer to sheath them in drive enclosures first in an effort to keep the drives cool and make them easier to remove. Some hard drive enclosures feature heatsinks and/or cooling fans to keep unusually warm running drives, such as Western Digital's 10,000rpm Raptors, cool. And because they have removable cartridges, they make installing and uninstalling drives from a system a snap, too. I've pulled together a handful of HDD enclosures for this roundup that encompass the entire spectrum of products currently available; from a relatively basic, mostly plastic enclosure to a high-end, actively cooled, aluminum multibay unit. Depending on your particular requirements, one of these HDD enclosures is sure to fit your needs.  Bytecc MR-125B $19 Bytecc www.byteccusa.com CPU Rating: 2.5 Specs: Interface: SATA; Build Materials: plastic; Dimensions: 1.7 x 5.8 x 7.3 inches (HxWxD); Weight: 0.9lbs  Bytecc's MR-125B is the least expensive enclosure in this roundup, but don't let its low price fool you. Believe it or not, this enclosure actually has most of the features many people seek out in a removable HDD enclosure. Bytecc constructs the MR-125B almost entirely of light-weight plastic, save for some brass inserts for mounting the enclosure and the springs its latching mechanism uses. It supports any standard 3.5-inch SATA hard drive, it's hot-swappable, and it features a cooling fan and an easy-to-use lock. Of course, for less than $20 the MR-125B doesn't include a drive. Then again, none of the units in this roundup do. To install and build up the MR-125B, any 3.5-inch hard drive and standard 5.25-inch drive bay will do. The removable cartridge that houses the hard drive comes apart by sliding off a cover on its top. Next you insert a hard drive with its connectors facing the rear and then install four screws on the underside to secure the drive in place. Finally, slide the top cover back on and you're done building up the removable cartridge. The internally mounted portion of the enclosure is relatively sturdy considering it's made almost entirely of plastic. The rear of the unit has standard Molex and SATA power connectors and a standard SATA data connector. The front houses a power switch, activity and power indicator LEDs, and a spring-loaded cover that protects the enclosure's insides when the removable cartridge isn't inserted. Mounting the internal portion of the MR-125B requires nothing more than inserting it into an available drive bay and securing it in place with four screws. You must then connect the SATA data cable to your motherboard's drive controller and supply power via either the Molex or SATA power connector. Inserting the removable cartridge is then a simple matter of sliding it right into the front of the unit and locking it in place by depressing a lever on its front. You can use a dial to the left of the lever to lock or unlock the cartridge. When it's unlocked, depressing the locking mechanism releases the lever on the front of the cartridge and then you can pull it out of the enclosure. However, with it locked the mechanism won't release the lever when you depress it to prevent unwanted removal of the cartridge. Overall the MR-125B worked well. Its internal cooling fan had a bit of a high-pitched whine that I could have done without, but it wasn't loud by any means. If you're looking for an easy way to make your hard drive removable, the MR-125B would serve you well, but there are other models available that have more features and are better constructed if you're willing to make a larger investment. Vantec SATA EZ-Swap Mobile Rack (MRK-200ST-BK) $49 ($29 additional cartridges) Vantec www.vantecusa.com CPU Rating: 3.5 Specs: Interface: SATA; Build Materials: plastic and aluminum alloy; Dimensions: 1.7 x 5.8 x 9.3 inches (HxWxD), (cartridge only) 1.4 x 4.6 x 8.5; Weight: 1.6lbs (full kit), 0.9lbs (cartridge only)  The Vantec MRK-200ST-BK is the Ferrari of single-drive, removable HDD enclosures. Unlike the MR-125B, which is almost entirely made of plastic, the MRK-200ST-BK is constructed mostly of a hard aluminum alloy with just a few plastic parts. The MRK-200ST-BK incorporates about every feature modern removable HDD enclosures offer. It's compatible with all standard 3.5-inch SATA hard drives, and you can swap out said drives without turning off or opening the PC. Furthermore, building up and installing the MRK-200ST-BK is also a simple process. Like the MR-125B, you can slide the MRK-200ST-BK's cartridge off and insert and lock a standard 3.5-inch SATA hard drive in place by using four mounting screws on the underside. However, then you must slide the drive to the back of the cartridge to connect it to a custom PCB. You see, the MRK-200ST-BK uses a proprietary 64-pin connector as an interface between the cartridge and internally mounted receptacle, not the drive's connectors like the MR-125B. The cartridge features an aluminum casing with small fins that act as a large heatsink, and the receptacle has a small 40mm cooling fan at the rear. The aluminum casing in conjunction with the cooling fan does a good job of keeping the drive cool, but the fan emits a relatively high-pitched whine, somewhat similar to that of the MR-125B's fan noise, that could annoy some users; although, it didn't bother me at all. The internal receptacle is made of two thick, aluminum rails and plastic front and rear end-caps. The rear of the unit houses the receptacle's 40mm cooling fan, a single SATA connector, and a single Molex power connector. No SATA power connector is present, however. The front fascia features a hinged dust guard (with the EZ SWAP brand silk-screened on its surface) and a lock. Vantec includes a key in this package that lets you set the lock in three different positions: locked with power on, locked with power off, unlocked with power off. This is a nice security feature that lets you disable a drive without having to remove the cartridge from its receptacle. To install the receptacle, all you have to do is insert it into a drive bay, tighten a few screws, and connect the necessary SATA data and Molex power cables. Once inserted, removing the cartridge from the MRK-200ST-BK's receptacle is very easy. With the lock in its unlocked position, you must pull on a small, plastic lever that doubles as a handle. When the lever is perpendicular to the front of the unit, the cartridge is disengaged, and you can pull it right out of the system. I installed and removed the cartridge from the unit a number of times without incident, but the handle is plastic and could wear out over time. Perhaps the most intriguing feature of the MRK-200ST-BK is its blue, back-lit LCD. The LCD and three function buttons that determine what's displaying on-screen are mounted at the left side of the removable cartridge. The screen displays temperatures, drive activity, and hard drive usage time. Vantec dubbed that last bit of data HUTR (HDD Usage Time Record). You can also configure the controller that powers the display to sound an alarm when the drive installed in the enclosure hits a certain temperature threshold. Consumers in the market for a feature-rich, removable HDD enclosure will likely be pleased by the Vantec MRK-200ST-BK. Other than the slight whine its cooling fan produces and its plastic removal lever, there's nothing I didn't like about this unit. Vantec also sells separate cartridges should users want to install different drives into the same receptacle. Icy Dock MB453, MB454, MB455 $99, $139, $149 Icy Dock www.icydockusa.com CPU Rating: 3.5 Specs: Interface: SATA; Build Materials: plastic and aluminum alloy; Dimensions w/o fan: MB453 3.3 x 5.8 x 7.2 inches (HxWxD), MB454 and MB455 5 x 5.8 x 7.2 (w/ fan add 1.3 inches); Weight: 2.4 lbs (MB453), 3.5 lbs (MB454), 3.6 lbs (MB455)  Icy Dock offers a wide assortment of drive enclosures, each targeting a different audience. Some of the more well-rounded products in its lineup are in the MB45X series. The Icy Dock MB453, MB454, and MB455 enclosures are all very similar. They all use the same cartridges and share the same base features. Icy Dock’s HDD enclosures only differ in the number of drives they support and how you install them into a system. You need to mount the MB453, for example, in two 5.25-inch drive bays, and it supports up to three SATA hard drives. The MB454 requires three 5.25-inch drive bays and supports up to four hard drives. Finally, the flagship MB455 also requires three 5.25-inch drive bays, but it can support up to five drives because you can mount them vertically in the enclosure.
It was very easy to install the drives into the Icy Dock cartridge. The cartridge features a pair of aluminum drive rails with a vented plastic front bezel and aluminum handle. Unlike other HDD enclosures I’ve looked at, you don’t have to disassemble anything with these. Slide the drive between the rails and secure it in place with some screws. When you insert the drive’s connectors into a receptacle, they mate with a PCB at the rear. It was also easy to remove cartridges: There’s a plastic button that releases an aluminum lever that runs the length of the cartridge’s face, which you should grab and pull. A cam then eases the drive out of the connectors on the PCB, and the entire cartridge slides right out.
The internally mounted receptacles for all three of the Icy Dock multi-bay enclosures I looked at were constructed almost entirely of aluminum. The only plastic components were the fan and parts of the front bezel. Although the internal receptacles for the MB45X enclosures are larger than those of the MR-125B and MRK-200ST-BK, installing them is just as easy—provided your case has the room to accommodate their larger size and you have the appropriate number of SATA data and power cables to feed the drive and provide power. (These multibay units require Molex and SATA power cables.) The front of the receptacles has power, activity, and failure LEDs for all of the cartridges, as well as overheating and fan status-indicator LEDs. One thing missing from the MB45X family of products, however, are dust covers to protect the unit’s insides when you remove the cartridges. |
|
 |
| Home Copyright & Legal Information Privacy Policy Site Map Contact Us |
| Copyright © 2010 Sandhills Publishing Company U.S.A. All rights reserved. |