I have 2 x 1.5TB Western Digital HDD which I am copying all of my DVDs to. I want to put them in a hot swappable drive enclosure that can also be networked. One will also have my entire music collection on. I'd like it to be robust and secure, but I don't know the various makes and someone here may have more information. There don't seem to be that many dual units in the UK on eBay.
I have one, but it is IDE and SCSI so I guess it probably wouldn't be suitable? Edit: Its only got 1 out of 3 caddies as well..definetly not suitable then!
No, it needs to be a nice new modern SATA one - darn! Thanks though! What make is it? Anyone recommend a particular manufacturer? Some of the ones I've found look a bit cheap and rubbish tbh.
Its from these guys - http://www.promise.com/product/pd_l2.asp?Product_Layer_ID=PRLA20060905007 They do home solutions apparently, not sure if anything they do will meet your needs though. The enclosure I have is very well built, weighs a ton!
I would suggest a CoolerMaster, Vantec or Thermaltake. There's a "dock" option, that i think can be hot swapped. After you find one that you like, check for reviews online. Avoid the cheap ones, unknown brands, as they have terribe chip controllers that corrupt copied files. Example: JM20337 of JMicron http://bigacid.wordpress.com/2008/12/08/jm20337-read-data-corruption-solution/ A good way to test if the HDD enclosure is good and has no problems like corrupting files / HDD, is to use a software called HashCalc. http://www.slavasoft.com/hashcalc/index.htm Then use a file with over 1GB in size (An .iso file or zipped file with lots of stuff) to check it's MD5, SHA1 and CRC32 checksum (just do a printscreen and save it). Then copy it to the HDD (using the enclosure) and when it finishes run HashCalc on the copied file. See if the checksums are the same. If yes, the enclosure has a good controller chip and is making 1:1 copies. If it has any differences, the copy is corrupted and while it may still work, it may no longer work in the future. Anyway, if using a USB enclosure NEVER connect it to the front USB ports of your PC
Good advice! I seriously want to be able to reliably trust the hardware not to go screwing around with my files and leaving me having to spend long hours fixing issues. Thanks! I'll let you know. Oh, one last thing, what sort of price would you consider reasonable?
Looks promising : http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Promise-Smart...ltDomain_0?hash=item3a551e27ea#ht_5237wt_1167
I never spotted this comment until I had already replied. Can I ask a daft question (I am sure every PC expert will be snorting the Mocca through their noses for me even having to ask), but why's that then? It doesn't affect me per se as I am going to be using this in an iMac and the USB ports are to the rear lol (or have I missed something here?)
Well, on most PCs, the front USB ports can be wired incorrectly. This means that if you connect any USB device on it, it will fry it instantly. Read more: http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies-archive.cfm/1025381.html There's some guides online, to help making a homemade USB tester that checks if the wires are correctly installed. I only found in portuguese though: http://ribafs.org/portal/colaboracoes/1-ribamar-fs/60-teste-de-usb http://www.casemodbr.com/FORUM/post563287.html Also, if the wires used to connect the hdd enclosure to the USB port are not shielded, there can be loss of USB Bus power (can cause hdd issues). My Seagate FreeAgentGo (ready to go solution), even shielded, has a very short cable because of this loss of power. I'm not an expert on this, but i searched for info for a long time. I even posted some USB BUS power doubts here on the boards. Unfortunately, i can't help you on that. For months i tried to find decent quality HDD enclosures, but in the end i decided for a ready to go solution (Seagate FreeAgentGo). Anyway, i'm sure you won't have trouble finding reviews and price comparisons on the internet. PS: If you want faster transfers i suggest you to look for firewire or some other connection. Still, USB 2.0 is good enough for me.
I've never heard of that USB wiring issue ever before. I luckily don't have to worry about it. As for the Firewire thing. I have Firewire on the Mac, but as it stands I have only one external drive with Firewire and the rest are USB. You are right though, I should really have thought about THAT aspect more thoroughly as the transfer of data is important. However, I am wanting a NAS bay so that I can link it to a router and not physically connect to anything other than the router via Ethernet. Again, thanks for responding and taking time on this.
LOL @ U, yes, I thought if I wanted to store my beloved film collection what better solution than to strap the HDD into the interior of a microwave oven and transfer the data to my hacked Apple TV than via microwaves lol :thumbsup:
What about something like this: http://www.dabs.com/products/icybox-icy-box-ib-nas4220-b-ethernet-nas-enclosure-534L.html I don't know much about NAS enclosures but that looks pretty good for what your wanting
