External HD Enclosure Recommendations

[WowbaggerTIP]

I need to find a good external enclosure for a backup drive. I'm going to use it with a WD Caviar Green 1TB drive, so I can probably get away with passive cooling if it's an all aluminum enclosure that makes good contact with the drive. I'll be transferring at least a few pretty large (20 to 40GB) files every day or two and sometimes carrying it to work with me.

Only real requirements I have are that it support both USB 2.0 and eSATA, and be hot-swappable since I don't want to have to reboot whenever I reconnect it. I'd like it to be black too, but I'll take what I can get.

So, can anyone vouch for any of the enclosures out there? Reviews seem pretty sparse for these things.

 

[F1shF4t]

Originally posted by: WowbaggerTIP
I need to find a good external enclosure for a backup drive. I'm going to use it with a WD Caviar Green 1TB drive, so I can probably get away with passive cooling if it's an all aluminum enclosure that makes good contact with the drive. I'll be transferring at least a few pretty large (20 to 40GB) files every day or two and sometimes carrying it to work with me.

Only real requirements I have are that it support both USB 2.0 and eSATA, and be hot-swappable since I don't want to have to reboot whenever I reconnect it. I'd like it to be black too, but I'll take what I can get.

So, can anyone vouch for any of the enclosures out there? Reviews seem pretty sparse for these things.

Do you already have the 1tb drive? Cause If your happy to settle with only usb the WD Elements have a good enclosure which keeps the drives at reasonable temps for being passive. I got a couple of them and after a few hourse of data transfer drives only got up to 44 - 46C.
For me it was a good price only about 20 bucks more than the drive itself.

Otherwise something like this Welland one is good. I have a few enclosures made by them and they have been working well. Just got a dual drive active cooled one also. (Its an Australian link though)

 

[WowbaggerTIP]

I definitely need eSATA for files this big. I'll take a look at that Welland enclosure. At first glance it looks like it has the features I need. Thanks!

 

[SeanFL]

I've really liked the blacx by thermaltake. You drop the drive into it. One of the models has esata & usb2. Very fast. Only downside is that the esata version doesn't spin the drive down after no use. $40 or so.

newegg link blacx St0005u

 

[WowbaggerTIP]

Wow. After shopping around for a while, I've discovered that it's pretty hard to find a decent HD enclosure from a reputable site. I looked for the Icy Dock MB664-US-1SB and the Welland ME740J that Dark Cupcake linked to above. They're either out of stock everywhere, or are listed on sites that I'd be terrified to order from. Most sites seem to have plenty of USB 2.0 enclosures, but none that support hot-swappable eSATA.

I'm now looking at the VANTEC NST-360SU-BK over at Newegg. Anyone got any experience with that one?

 

[RebateMonger]

I use Granite Digital's removable SATA tray systems ($60) for all my clients' servers. These mount in a 5 1/4-inch drive bay.

Granite Digital Removable Hot-Swap tray systems

These have fans and alarms for temperature and fan speed. They've been quite reliable at my clients' offices, typically running 120 GB backups nightly, five days a week.

Granite sells a $10 padded case that's a good fit for the trays ($30). The trays are aluminum with tightly-fitting lids and the fan is on the bottom of the drive.

I'm also starting to use the BlacX system (both USB and eSATA) for my own office backups, since I got tired of spending $40 each on multiple external drive enclosures.

If you want a traditional external drive housing, I've had good luck with Apricorn's products. But I haven't used the new combined USB / eSATA enclosure. I've only used the older external SATA-only enclosures.

 

[sxr7171]

It is absolutely ridiculous that an external enclosure costs nearly $50. You can buy an eSata 1TB external drive for $99: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...torage+Inc.-_-22101135

Maybe not the best, but should get the job done. If you absolutely must have one from company that you know will stand behind their warranty then $126 isn't terrible in relation to a $50 enclosure: http://www.ecost.com/detail.as...588969&ci_sku=41583855

If you have port multiplier eSata, IMHO it would just be better to get something that you now will keep the drive cool and allow you to expand your storage without the risk of having a bunch of external drives lying around one day.

http://www.directron.com/tr4m.html

Pricey? Yes, but it will have you covered for years and you can start to add redundancy into your storage/backups for a low $79 a terabyte currently, and that's only going to get lower.

If i had 5.25" bays, I would consider: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817119403

If finances are an issue: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817364014

Your drive is a low-power low heat producing drive in the first place so any decently rated enclosure should be fine. It normally runs at 5400RPM anyway.

If you must have both interfaces: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817193055

 

[darkenedsoul]

I think I have a thermaltake....but I put the WD Green into my WHS after formatting it and the WHS arriving. Nice box but I need to turn it on before powering up the PC as it seems to hang when I power it up after the system is up. If I do the latter it is seen just fine. Otherwise it may show as foreign which I can't use (even after data was put onto it previously). Actually it's a Kingwin box I got from microcenter.

Mike

 

[jjmIII]

Rosewill RX-358-S BLK (Black) 3.5" SATA to USB & eSATA Ext. Enclosure w/Int.80mm fan - Retail