I have a 500gb WD external HDD but i'd rather have it in my array. is it just a normal SATA drive inside the case? and if so could i just take it out and hook it up? and i'm not worried about voiding the warranty because it's over 2 years old so it's almost up anyway.

I pulled 3 of those drives out of their enclosures & they ran just fine. They are normal sata drives. They hook up to your computer just like any other sata drive would. You may have to google on how to get the cases open though. I tried to do it gently but I destroyed the cases..

awesome. thanks...just saved me a few bucks

Glad I could finally help someone out..

I pulled 3 of those drives out of their enclosures & they ran just fine. <snip> I tried to do it gently but I destroyed the cases..

 

I also did this with 2 WD 'MyBooks'...  the cases cracked open like walnuts.

the cases cracked open like walnuts

 

that implies lots of little pieces 

As I recall, I was able to get mine out with everything in tact, but it took a lot of patience.

 

Unfortunately, the drive failed after a few months, my first and only drive failure in my array.  So personally I'd be reluctant to do it again, but it was probably a coincidence and it sounds like others have had success.