SYBA Mobile Rack Sata enclosure
Friday, March 27th, 2009 at
4:57 pm
sata-enclosure
Do you use an external hard drive enclosure to back up your data? If it's a USB external drive enclosure, chances are, you're not too happy with how long it takes to backup the data files on your computer. If you're like me, and you have 60-70GB of pictures and music on your PC, backing it up can take a good 2-3 hours using a USB external drive enclosure. When I was previously backing up my data on a slow USB SATA drive enclosure, I kept saying to myself, there's gotta be a faster way. There certainly is. The best and fastest way to backup your data is ...
SATA Mobile Rack
...with something called SATA Mobile Rack or a SATA Removable Drive Carrier. What is a mobile rack, you ask? A mobile rack is basically a removable hard drive enclosure. It fits inside one of the 5 and 1/4" bays on your PC. These removable drive enclosures connect to one of the available IDE or SATA connectors on your computers motherboard. The preferred interface is SATA for it's speed and availability. With today's computers having a number of available SATA drive ports, you can actually have as many removable drives as your PC Chassis will house. Think of the possibilities for using a removable SATA Hard Drive:
Ways to use a Removable SATA Drive Enclosure
- You can use a removable drive to backup your computer files
- You can use a removable drive to store pictures, music and movies then store them safely in a closet or lock-box
- You can boot with different operating systems; XP, Vista, Linux, Ubuntu, etc.
- You can experiment with risky changes to your computer on a duplicate hard drive. If something goes haywire, simply go back to your original internal drive.
SATA Drive Enclosures vs. External Drive Enclosure
External USB drive enclosures were easier and faster than tape, but just don't approach the hard drive transfer speed of your internal drive. That's because your internal drive uses an interface called SATA (Serial ATA), which has much faster transfer speeds than USB. A SATA Drive enclosure lets you take advantage of the speed of your computer's faster hard disk interface and still have the convenience of removing and replacing drives while your computer is still on (Hot Swapping). Also, unlike USB external drive enclosures, no cables are required for removable drives. They can be easily moved replaced or neatly stored way for safe, secure keeping. The other great part of this is that the enclosures are very inexpensive. A good SATA Mobile Rack can be had for $20-$50 on eBay. I went with the SYBA CL-HD-MRUCD Mobile Rack for a few reasons:
Advantages of the SYBA CL-HD-MRUCD Mobile Drive Carrier
- No Trays: No need to screw drives into a removable tray. Just take a bare hard drive and swap easily and effortlessly
- Air Flow Fan: Includes fan to keep drives cool
- Speed. You get a full 300MBs transfer speed as opposed to 150MBs of some others
- Cost. Can be bought for about $28.00 on Ebay
Conclusions on the SYBA CL-HD-MRUCD Mobile Rack
I recommend this product very highly. For $28.00, this removable back-up drive enclosure exceeded my expectations. It was a breeze to install: I powered down, opened the side of my computer and plugged the included HD Cable into one of my ASUS' motherboard's many available SATA ports. The drive enclosure fit quite easily into my only remaining 5.25" drive bay, where I plugged in the other end of the data HD Cable and power cables. I closed up my case and powered back-up. Only one little hitch: I booted without any hard drives installed, and the system did not recognize the drive when I plugged it in while the O.S was running. When I did a reboot, the system recognized it and installed it just fine. It is no longer necessary to boot or reboot the computer. I can remove the drive and replace it as many times as I want and it is recognized perfectly every time. The lever on the bezel of the enclosure makes it very easy to remove and insert drives and the connection feels very solid and secure. There is also a key-lock for securing it in place.
I copied over a fresh backup image from my internal drive in a little less than 45 minutes. This would have been a 2-hour process or more with my old USB external drive enclosure. I love finding great products at bargain prices!
I copied over a fresh backup image from my internal drive in a little less than 45 minutes. This would have been a 2-hour process or more with my old USB external drive enclosure. I love finding great products at bargain prices!
SYBA Mobil Rack Ratings
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 SATA Hotswap Mobile Hard Drive Rack+Tray 80MM TURBO FAN  US $16.98
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 Serial Interface Mobile Rack for SATA HDD or PATA HDD US $46.35
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 Serial SATA 3.5" HD Mobile Rack & Removable Tray BLACK US $12.99
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 USB 2.5/3.5 SATA/IDE HDD Hard Disk Drive Mobile Rack US $23.50
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 3.5 SATA HDD-Rom Serial ATA Hard Drive Disk Mobile Rack US $14.99
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 3.5 SATA HDD-Rom Serial ATA Hard Drive Disk Mobile Rack US $14.99
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 Serial ATA SATA HDD Hard Drive Disk Mobile Rack Black US $17.49
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 5 Drive SAS SATA Mobile Rack Backplane, SBAY5BK US $112.94
|
 Syba 3.5” Mobile Rack for Two 2.5” SATA Hard Drives HDD US $28.00
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Tagged with: mobile drive cart • sata enclosure
Filed under: Technology
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