EBAY 5.25" to 5X 3.5" SATA SAS HDD Hard Drive Cage Adapter Tray Caddy Bracket PC DIY

[miogpsrocks]

 

 

Hello. 

 

Has anyone tried these Chinese Ebay hard drive adapters from 5.25 to 3.5 Hard drives? 

 

Item #  262778811224

 

5.25" to 5x 3.5" SATA SAS HDD Cage Rack Hard Driver Tray Caddy with Fan Space

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/5-25-to-5x-3-5-SATA-SAS-HDD-Cage-Rack-Hard-Driver-Tray-Caddy-with-Fan-Space-/182089476908?hash=item2a6560eb2c:g:oIwAAOSwq19XC8Cr

 

Thanks. 

 

 

[Akio]

No but they are practical the same used in server case. It might be the same as the ones i have in a new case i just got last week.

 

https://www.xcase.co.uk/products/x-case-extra-value-x415-e-atx-4u-with-fan-wall-10-drive-internal-storage

[kakmoster]

I have one of those in my Phantek Enthoo Pro. Had to do some modification for it to fit, but I think it's great!

[Fireball3]

5in3's are nice but it's hard to get cooling and noise under control simultaneously.
This is notably worse with the hot swap cages.

The Rosewill tray looks very promising to me.
Price is also not to be scoffed at.

[Fireball3]

5 minutes ago, NAStyBox said:

They're not terrible. It's just that the trays suck. If you get them never pull in the middle. Pinch the sides and slide them out. 

 

Considering how often one has to pull the drives in a productive OS, for my share it's worth the hassle.

Dislike noise...

[kakmoster]

2 minutes ago, Fireball3 said:

 

Dislike noise...

 

I don't think these have a noise problem. Running a noctua fan at 7 V, and its great 

[Fireball3]

8 minutes ago, kakmoster said:

I don't think these have a noise problem. Running a noctua fan at 7 V, and its great 

Not sure, "these" are which ones?

 

Just noticed the OP's trays are 5in3's while the Rosewill are 4in3's.

 

Edit:

Well, availability of the Rosewill cage is negative in Europe...

Edited May 18, 2017 by Fireball3

[kakmoster]

6 minutes ago, Fireball3 said:

Not sure, "these" are which ones?

 

Just noticed the OP's trays are 5in3's while the Rosewill are 4in3's.

Oh! I meant the ones OP's talking about, sorry for not clarifying this! 

[SSD]

2 hours ago, Fireball3 said:

5in3's are nice but it's hard to get cooling and noise under control simultaneously.
This is notably worse with the hot swap cages.

The Rosewill tray looks very promising to me.
Price is also not to be scoffed at.

 

The ability to swap out a drive without disturbing the delicate cabling of other drives is a necessity. Although it might be relatively infrequent that you need to swap drives, often it is happening in the face of something of a crisis (e.g,, a failed or failing disk). You really need the ability to complete the transaction without subjecting yourself to additional risk. The most common problems reported on the forums are the direct result of inserting or swapping a drive and knocking a cable slightly askew. This results in drives being dropped days or weeks later. 

 

A particularly common situation is you pull a failing disk, replace with new, start a rebuild. And the rebuild fails due to another drive dropping from the array. Suddenly the user has two failed disks and under the stress make mistakes that compromise their data.

 

I used to feel these were a luxury, but now think they are mandatory for arrays over 4-5 disks.

 

Having them has allowed me to go several years without opening my server, and swap drives in and out numerous times - including a couple of wholesale upgrades. Doing all of that without a single cabling issue - priceless.

 

I understand some people have issues with the noise. You can replace fans and address that. But don't let your need for a quiet server also sacrifice your array stability every time you add or exchange a disk.

[Fireball3]

Quote

The ability to swap out a drive without disturbing the delicate cabling of other drives is a necessity

I see your point, locking cables are a must - at least.
If you manage to have those combo-plugs (SATA+power in one  plug) even better. You can't shake them off that easy - I love em.

 

In case of a failing disk I would open the case and check the plugs anyway.
So if I have to open the case to check cables, it's OK to unplug the drive from behind. Just pulling it backwards into the case is not very comfortable as things get crowded and the risk of braking something is high.

My last action before closing the case is to check each plug one last time.

 

I came to the conclusion, that those backplanes are too expensive just for the ability to pull the drive. The cooling vs. noise is another disadvantage. But that's me. If I build a server for someone else, I would most likely go with a backplane solution also - depending on the diy skills of the respective person.

 

Quote

"Having them has allowed me to go several years without opening my server"

Well, I open my server at least once a year and treat it with some compressed air.

[SSD]

Locking cables help. Depending on your controller, you may be using SAS to SATA vs SATA t SATA cables. Locking not always supported.

 

Externally accessible drives make it super easy to swap out disks. Power down. Remove tray. Take to convenient, well lit working location. Take out 4 screws, put new disk into tray, screw in 4 screws. Slide back into server. Power on. You hardly need to put down your beer for 2 minutes. And it works first time.

 

Internal drives are much harder. Server locations vary, but they are typically not in person-friendliest environment. Moving a heavy server is not easy, so for such a minor operation you work on it where is sits. Maybe you have to flip it on its side. You grab your flashlight and screwdriver. Open the server. Lay on your side or get on your knees depending. Find the disk in question. Unplug/unscrew/etc to get the old one extracted, being very careful not to nudge other cables. Insert new drive and screw into place. Screws often hard to get at. Maybe you drop a screw and have to find it. You better be completely sober, and be ready to spend 30 minutes if all goes well and 90 minutes or more depending if you have problems to solve.

 

The cages also have these advantages:

- It takes only a couple of minutes to find any disk. Just pop them out one at a time and look at the serial number. Inside a server finding a disk can require disassembly.

- If you need to move a heavy server, you can pop out all or most of the drives, and lessen the weight to something that won't give you a hernia. Makes re-location and major surgery (MB replacement, etc.) much easier.

- Popping in and out backup disks on a regular basis become quite doable.

- Diagnosing issues is much easier. You can swap two disks and see if the problem follows the disk or sticks with the slot. Very hard to hold everything constant to do that inside a server.

- Inserting disks to do preclears is much easier. I find preclears work best in motherboard slots, and always preclear my disks there. With the cages, I can them move them to a different slot when the preclear is finished.

 

Given the huge advantages, I find paying ~$15 / drive pretty reasonable. My cages have saved me hours and hours of effort and frustration - and have been a good investment.

 

So even if fat fingering the cabling were not such a big deal, the cages are a good idea. But cabling is just too finicky and I've seen too many problems with fat fingers - both personally and with forum members. Maybe you had steadier hands than most.   Me, I want to be able to shutdown my server, add a drive, and be up and running again in 5 minutes with no chance of having an issue that's gong to have me on my knees for an hour sorting it out.

 

As far as dust bunnies - it's funny, my unRAID server does not get any. Maybe the strong airflow helps! 

[Akio]

just tried the icey dock but that thing was really deep and didnt secure corectly due to the case design.  Looking for any other solution. Must be a 3x 5.25" or 2x 5.25" . The fans that were in that case are horrible! so looking at either noctua or bequiet's

 

[kizer]

I just swapped out my cages that where basically a Brick and you had to pull out 4 drives to get one out with this. 

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817198059&cm_re=ICY_Dock_Black_Vortex_Cages-_-17-198-059-_-Product

 

I like the fact I can plugin/unplug drives from the back without a back plane of any kind and pull the drive out. Sure it means you have to crack open the case to access, but its alot better than I had before and these have swappable 120MM fans too.  

[SSD]

8 hours ago, kizer said:

I just swapped out my cages that where basically a Brick and you had to pull out 4 drives to get one out with this. 

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817198059&cm_re=ICY_Dock_Black_Vortex_Cages-_-17-198-059-_-Product

 

I like the fact I can plugin/unplug drives from the back without a back plane of any kind and pull the drive out. Sure it means you have to crack open the case to access, but its alot better than I had before and these have swappable 120MM fans too.  

 

These don't get super reviews. And still requiring plugging / unplugging cables. And the cost is $37. For $20 more (on a good day) you can find a CSE-M3tT-1B on ebay. I just went to look and found brand new for $55 each - delivered. Couldn't resist! I am replacing my Roeswill 4in3s with these. Then I'll be 100% on the same cage with every drive in both my servers.

 

Rosewills check all the boxes but are not as dense (4in3 vs 5in3), and not to the same quality level. But the Rosewills are hugely better than these IcyDocks IMHO for $20 more new. They also use 120mm fans and are easily replaced. The reviews are quite positive as well.

 

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA0724941150&cm_re=rosewill_drive_cages-_-16-132-037-_-Product

[Akio]

I decided upon using the single hotswap from startech i had lying around, for the top alot as pictured. Also ordered one of these for the lower slot.

Dshot 3.5" + 2.5"

It will do to finish the job. Maybe i should do a review of the case i used.

Edited May 20, 2017 by Akio
url broke

[kizer]

6 hours ago, bjp999 said:

 

These don't get super reviews. And still requiring plugging / unplugging cables. And the cost is $37. For $20 more (on a good day) you can find a CSE-M3tT-1B on ebay. I just went to look and found brand new for $55 each - delivered. Couldn't resist! I am replacing my Roeswill 4in3s with these. Then I'll be 100% on the same cage with every drive in both my servers.

 

Rosewills check all the boxes but are not as dense (4in3 vs 5in3), and not to the same quality level. But the Rosewills are hugely better than these IcyDocks IMHO for $20 more new. They also use 120mm fans and are easily replaced. The reviews are quite positive as well.

 

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA0724941150&cm_re=rosewill_drive_cages-_-16-132-037-_-Product

 

Very True, but they was the only thing I could find that I could by choice physically unplug the cable internally as I wanted vs rely on some built in Backplane. My thought was if it fails the entire Cage is more or less bad. Chances are probably very slim, but at the time it's exactly what I wanted. 

 

I did look at exactly what you posted as the alternative and it would of been exactly what I would of picked. I just went a different way and currently I'm very happy with them.