HDD rack mount enclosure for pc

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daniescholtz

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With Hard Drives becoming so cheap, I keep buying them but ran out of space in my PC. I've searched the internet for external hdd enclosures but can't seem to find what I am looking for locally.
I need a external enclosure that can keep up to 4 sata drives and then connects to my PC using 1 cable (USB or e-sata). My hard drives will not be of the same size and I will not be using RAID for now.

I've seen raid enclosures but I am not sure if they can work with out raid configuration and direct connection enclosures but then there are 4 cables going to the pc. :mad:

I will appreciate any help...:erm:
 
You need a SATA port multiplier setup if you don't want to run separate cables. There is multilane SATA, but the cables are expensive as all they do is pack multiple SATA cables into a single thick cable.

You could try and make something yourself.

Get a cheap old chassis that can take maybe 5 drives and has a PSU.
Then buy one of these:

http://www.addonics.com/products/host_controller/ad5sapm-e.asp

Then get something like this:

http://www.addonics.com/products/host_controller/adsa3gpx1.asp

Or any other Sil3132- or Sil3124-based SATA controller card. Sunix should make some, otherwise order a Syba card here:

http://www.techsunny.com/3219454/syba-pci-serial-ata-sata2.html

That's about $100 and shipping will probably be minimal. Case and generic PSU should be R300 maybe.

The multiplier will run 5 SATA drives off a single SATA port. You can then add another multiplier card to the case and mount another 5 drives and only need 1 more eSATA cable to the other controller.

Or, just get an old PC with enough space for drives, add a cheap Sunix 4-port SATA controller (or more if you want) and install FreeNAS and have a networked solution.
 
thank you. Oh, forgot to mention that I thought that it will be a good idea to make this portable. The one from take 2 is expensive. could then rather buy 5 X external enclosures for R1000. Then all the data will be on different drives... :-(

TheRift: the first website that you mentioned looks like what I need. The 5X1 eSATA Port Multiplier will work perfect and then the E-sata to USB integrated in a box with psu.

will see if I can get it locally.

Thank You.
 
You never look for this stuff locally. That's like shooting yourself in the foot and taking time to aim. :)

With regards to the Addonics item just remember that you'll need a SiliconImage controller as indicated. This port multiplier stuff isn't guaranteed to work on all SATA controllers. You might want to check with your motherboard chipset manufacturer whether the SATA controller can handle port multipliers.

Unfortunately, RAID enclosures cost a fortune especially when trying to do it all through a single SATA cable. They usually all have those multipliers and those just seem to remain expensive.

I reckon your best bet is a separate PC and setting it up as a NAS. I have some aged AMD AthlonXP 3200+ CPU+motherboard combos lying here which need to go, but to complete it you'll need to spend on chassis+PSU (maybe R300) and some SATA controllers (maybe R400 each for 4 port). They have 2 onboard SATA ports so you'll need a main drive for the likes of FreeNAS, but I have 160GB and 200GB SATA drives which also need to go. Once you look at adding that up, you might as well buy the expensive external enclosure.

I'll look through Addonics again and see if there something cheaper that can do the job. There are other sites that something similar, but the one I found decided to discontinue their multiplier. Really smart of them. :P

You could ofcourse look into getting an Atom-based or similar motherboard, but when you start looking at that market you find most of the time is for home PCs. They don't really make some miniature board+cpu for just a NAS setup. Well, when I was looking I couldn't find anything. Now if one could find a PC/104 board that can take PCI or PCI-e cards then you're sorted. :) But those can wind up being expensive.

I hope you're noticing the vicious cycle here. :) Can't win.
 
How many drives do you want to fit in the case?

This should take at least 4 drives with 5.25" to 3.25" adapters.
http://www.prophecy.co.za/isonic-aluminum-cube-uatx-chassis-silver-p-22943.html

You can go the port replicator route or add a cheap MB and have a NAS system. It's small and has a carrying handle as well.

If you have 4x slim profile drives you might even be able to fit 6 drives depending on space but best to do your measurements first. A custom job will probably be required.
 
A cheap solution is to buy a USB harddrive dock and just stick in the drive you need. They are like R300 at esquire.
 
daniescholtz said:
can't you use the multiplexer without a motherboard? lets say you buy the 5X1 eSATA Port Multiplier (http://www.addonics.com/products/host_controller/ad5sapm-e.asp)
and connect 5 drives to it, and connect it to the pc. forget about raid and the usb then? will it work.
Click to expand...

TheRift said:
As mentioned, it depends on whether your SATA chipset can communicate with a port multiplier. There is a reason they indicate the required SiliconImage SATA controllers.
Click to expand...

What he ^^ said. Replicator can be used without a MB. The MB option is a totally different scenario/implementation for server functionality.

I mentioned a uATX motherbaord as another option. This way you can set it up as a NAS box via a lan cable. This would act as a server to all pc's on a lan or directly connected via a crossover cable or even via wireless which would be slower. A very good alternative and could also be used as a standalone PC if you ever needed to.

daniescholtz said:
is that just the case from prophecy Ponder?
Click to expand...

Yes, just the case. You would have to add a ATX PSU and whatever else (port replicator/MB) you need.
 
I suppose this technology will become better and cheaper later on when there is a real need. R3000 is a lot of money for hdd rack. what transfer rates will I get when I use these SATA to USB contollers (+- R100) and connect them to a USB hub. Mount it in a small enclosure(something like Ponder mentioned) with a psu.
 
daniescholtz said:
I suppose this technology will become better and cheaper later on when there is a real need. R3000 is a lot of money for hdd rack. what transfer rates will I get when I use these SATA to USB contollers (+- R100) and connect them to a USB hub. Mount it in a small enclosure(something like Ponder mentioned) with a psu.
Click to expand...

The NAS option I mentioned will be much cheaper.

The USB transfer rate is painfully slow imho.
 
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