# Multiple hard disk cabinet



## daemonix (Apr 25, 2013)

so here is the issue , i have 3 , 500 GB internal hard drives that are currently on my desktop , i am switching to a laptop but i need the hard drives. 

i am looking for a hardware solution by which i can connect these hard drives to my laptop. looking for something in the attached picture , either build it or buy it , and need you guys to help me in the process.

*gadgetgrid.gadgetgridllc.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/hdd-storage-tower-5-bay.jpg


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## topgear (Apr 25, 2013)

this is called Multi Bay External Hard Drive Enclosure .. I found two :

CFI Cabinet 4 Bay SATA to USB - USB Storage Enclosure | eBay
CFI 8 Bay Sata to Usb Storage enclosure with 1 Year manufacturer Warranty | eBay


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## nginx (Apr 25, 2013)

Multi-bay HDD enclosures always tend to be very costly. But if you do get one, make sure it has eSATA or USB 3.0 (whichever connection your laptop has). Trust me, you do not want anything to do with USB 2.0 with that many hard drives. I have been banging my head against the wall for a long time because of the super slow speed.

Another thing you can consider is a low power 6 bay NAS. Then you won't be restricted to your laptop, the data will be available to all devices on your own network and you can access them very fast over Gigabit Ethernet. Ready-made ones are expensive but you can make one yourself for cheap. I am doing research on a build myself currently.


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## harshilsharma63 (Apr 25, 2013)

You may consider building a super cheap NAS running Linux for a better experience and more possibilities of usage.


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## topgear (Apr 26, 2013)

building a cheap NAS box is a very good idea but if OP only needs to use 4 HDDs then a Multi Bay External Hard Drive Enclosure is not that much pricey at 5.5k with USB 2.0 ... actually gives around ~35-40 MBs ( 7200 RPM HDDs ) speed and I think is decent enough considering the price.


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## harshilsharma63 (Apr 26, 2013)

^ and if usb3.0 or esata encloses is available for a few extra hundreds, them it will be even better.

^ and if usb3.0 or esata encloses is available for a few extra hundreds, them it will be even better.


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## nginx (Apr 26, 2013)

topgear said:


> building a cheap NAS box is a very good idea but if OP only needs to use 4 HDDs then a Multi Bay External Hard Drive Enclosure is not that much pricey at 5.5k with USB 2.0 ... actually gives around ~35-40 MBs ( 7200 RPM HDDs ) speed and I think is decent enough considering the price.



I think 35-40 MB/s is grossly overstating. 7200rpm doesn't matter as even 5400rpm is capable of atleast 50 MB/s. I have 6 externals now and I am yet to see anything over 20-25 MB/s in Windows, mostly stays at the lower of that scale. On Ubuntu I get 36-40 MB/s. In contrast my USB 3.0 5900rpm 4TB HDD can deliver upto 145 MB/s. 

At the end of the day it all depends on OP and what he deems as acceptable transfer rate. If he is used to Internal SATA speeds, he will find USB 2.0 painfully slow for everyday use.


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## image (Apr 26, 2013)

I bought this to use with my media player. Excellent device.

Amazon.com: Mediasonic HF2-SU3S2 ProBox 4 Bay Hard Drive Enclosure with USB 3.0 & eSATA: Electronics

*ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61w2G44DbTL._SL1000_.jpg


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## nginx (Apr 26, 2013)

^ For 100 bucks its a great choice if you don't want NAS but sadly Amazon won't ship it to India. It's one of the biggest problems of buying from Amazon. 95% of products they don't ship to India and its hard knowing which one they will. Where did you buy it from?


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## image (Apr 26, 2013)

I bought it through ishopinternational.com and it costed me Rs.9,987/-.


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## nginx (Apr 26, 2013)

image said:


> I bought it through ishopinternational.com and it costed me Rs.9,987/-.



I think you paid a bit too much for it. 5-6k is still acceptable but for a 10k budget, its much better to build a NAS as its so much more versatile and you don't sacrifice any speed either. You can just keep it connected to the network and its always available to all your devices. It can also be used as a low power torrent download box or media streaming center or be setup to take regular backups of all computers on the network. The possibilities are endless.


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## daemonix (Apr 26, 2013)

ok , @everyone , i am more confused than before , here lemme outline a few points
1) it will primarily be a dump for my movie huge movie collection , so 20-25 mbps is acceptable speed . 

2) the NAS idea is very very tempting , but i dont have the available spare hardware , so i would have to buy everything 
            a) either brand new ~ 7-8K
            b) old spares from chop shops  ~3k + 2k  
         but with nas 
                     a) i wont be able to carry it around , like switching from hostel to home to frnd's
                     b) i will always need one Ethernet port
         as i dont require the NAS  features , i will shelf the idea for the time being . 

and there is the consideration , for 500GB x 3 , it makes no sense to spend 8k , i can easily get  2x1TB external for that amount and just copy in the data , and bin the 500GBs : \

SO , in summary  any measure than crosses the 4-5k margin is not feasible  , like nginx pointed out discretely .

usb3.0 or esata  or (even usb2.0 )enclosures are what i need , the only one i seem to find is the 5.5k one @topgear pointed out , and that is the only viable option now. 

and failing plan b i will get it , plan b , is to build one myself , lemme google that up , shouldnt be too difficult


*usb.brando.com/prod_detail.php?prod_id=00529

how is this connecting ?  sata-to-usb adapters ?  // i will edit this again


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## topgear (Apr 27, 2013)

I would say get a 2TB usb 3.0 external HDD @ ~6.5k .. bunk all of your data from 500 GB HDDs into it and thne sell all of your 500 GB HDDs .. even if you can get 500 or 1000 bucks per HDD it will nicely cover your budget and what more .. the new HDD has 3 years warranty and a professionally built casing with usb 3.0.


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## nginx (Apr 27, 2013)

daemonix said:


> ok , @everyone , i am more confused than before , here lemme outline a few points
> 1) it will primarily be a dump for my movie huge movie collection , so 20-25 mbps is acceptable speed .
> 
> 2) the NAS idea is very very tempting , but i dont have the available spare hardware , so i would have to buy everything
> ...



That is just a HDD cage. One that you can use for DIY projects or slide into your CPU Cabinet to stack more HDDs. It's not plug and play ready for external use.

I am a DIY guy but even I'll say that building a multi-bay enclosure for yourself is not gonna be easy if you want it to be portable & cheap. Easiest way is to buy a small & cheap generic CPU cabinet and attach a handle on top of it. Custom enclosures are exponentially more expensive. Then you'll have to import those SATA to USB 3.0 adapters from ebay. Then you will need a PSU and short the pins with green and black wires of the 24-pin ATX connector. That's about it. The only problem is you will end up spending more money than you'll save. It only pays to go through this build if you are intending to build a massive 10-12 bay HDD enclosure where ready-made solutions run into thousands of dollars.

Best option is to do what topgear suggests. Get a 2TB or 3TB USB3 external and be done with it.


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## daemonix (Apr 27, 2013)

yes i think i will get the external 2 TB ,  and leave the 500s in my desktop as it is . 
topgear  and nginx  thanks a ton  for  your time and effort .


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