Caddy / Hot Swap Needed

alphaomega16 · 18 Jan 2016 at 00:27

I have 2 drives I use for backing up their running counterparts in my machine, I cannot afford an NAS and I am getting fed up with having to shut down PC to plug a drive in then do the same for the second one.

I am looking for either an external caddy or internal hot swap bay that can support 6TB drives.

Also why are these things so ******* expensive, seriously.

bledd · 18 Jan 2016 at 16:35

They use internal drives, but I do like the Icy Dock drives.

http://www.icydock.com/goods.php?id=29

I have a 4 bay version, they come in a 1 bay version too, so it takes up 1x 5.25" (CD drive bay) slot.

Connects internally to your SATA and power.

I use the 'safely remove hardware' option in Windows to eject my drive(s).

MB876SK-B - 1 bay enclosure (black case)
MB559Tray - Extra attachment for spare drive (white)

Out of interest, what method are you using to back them up? (manually copying / taking images / script etc...)

alphaomega16 · 18 Jan 2016 at 17:49

I just open side of computer and just stand the HDD up and slap a power + sata connector to the HDD then turn on PC > drag and drop everything over > power off system > repeat with second drive.

I do it once a month.

wazza300 · 18 Jan 2016 at 17:52

startech do a 5.25" dock that takes the space of a dvd drive,but it only accepts one 3.5" and a 2.5" drive,have two in both my machines and they work brilliantly

just enable hotswap in the bios then plug the drive in at the front of your pc case and power it on

alphaomega16 · 18 Jan 2016 at 18:02

I would be using the 2xAsmedia (I think thats how its spelt) USB Controller port which is already set up to be hot swapable I just didnt feel comfortable unplugging the drive after ejecting the drive whilst the system was on with the method I was using.

wazza300 · 18 Jan 2016 at 18:22

does your mb support hotswap for the normal sata ports? if not then I understand

bru · 18 Jan 2016 at 18:27

if it does support hot swap as wazza has just asked then something like this.

My basket at Overclockers UK:

1 x Icy Dock MB971SP-B DuoSwap 2.5"/3.5" Hot Swap Drive Caddy= £28.99

Total: £28.99
(includes shipping: £0.00)

alphaomega16 · 19 Jan 2016 at 06:07

wazza300 said:
does your mb support hotswap for the normal sata ports? if not then I understand

They are onboard ports, MSI Z77A-GD65 has 6xIntel Controller (2x6gb/s, 4x3gb/s) and the Asm ones are 2x6gb/s and they are automatically set so if a drive is plugged into them it brings up that safely remove hardware window thing in the tray like when you plug a USB in.

I think I may go with Bledd's one as I like its appearance a LOT better.

bru · 19 Jan 2016 at 15:04

alphaomega16 said:
I think I may go with Bledd's one as I like its appearance a LOT better.

OCUK has a reasonable range of drive caddies, but not the MB876 one they do have the MB877 one though which looks nice as well I think.

My basket at Overclockers UK:

1 x Icy Dock MB877SK-B Tray-less Aluminum Body 3.5" SATA I & II Mobile Rack Removable Hard Drive Kit= £31.99

Total: £31.99
(includes shipping: £0.00)

At the end of the day they will all do a similar job for what seems similar prices, so going with the one you like the look of best is a good idea.