OT: Question about removable hard drives and trays

p@mast3rs wrote on 10/29/2004, 11:35 AM

How do they work exactly? From doing some research, I get the impression that I pop them without having to open up the case and having to connect IDE cables.

I have also seen where other places sell additional trays.

So my main question is this:

I have three hard drives that I want to swap out from time to time. Does anyone know a place and/or part number and cost of what I would need in order to accomplish this?

Comments

musman wrote on 10/29/2004, 11:50 AM

Can't give you a lot of info, but I have a 'databridge' removable tray that came with my guy graphics computer. When my raid started getting filled, I went to CompUSA and bought a 7200 200gig drive to put in it. They since have stopped using databridge as they're made of plastic and pretty flimsey. You might check their website www.guygraphics.com to see what they're using now.
Another option I would think would be something from granite digital.
Hope that helps.

Former user wrote on 10/29/2004, 11:55 AM

I use the Genica removable trays. You can find them on Compgeeks or Dealsonic. They slide in and out and have a lock. You can also HOTSWAP supposedly because when they are unlocked, the power to the drive is killed.

I like it for beta testing or installing new software before I commit to it.

Also good for moving to another computer.

The Genicas are plastic so extra care may be needed (not real heavy duty) but they worke very well and have a fan to help air circulation. Plus the case has its own LED which shows when that drive is active. Helps to isolate a drive problem sometimes.

The power and data connectors are engaged when you slide in the drive tray.

Dave T2

p@mast3rs wrote on 10/29/2004, 11:58 AM

How cheap are the solutions that you both have suggested? I dont want to spend a fortune but more importantly I need the function.

Former user wrote on 10/29/2004, 12:08 PM

Dealsonic has the whole kit for about $6.00 US plus shipping.

Extra trays are about $4.00 plus shipping.

Other places they sell for between $5.00 to $20.00.

Dave T2

p@mast3rs wrote on 10/29/2004, 12:10 PM

Thats awesome. I was expecting $50-100 for a solution. Thanks guys!

farss wrote on 10/29/2004, 2:10 PM

I also have a not too expensive fwire enclosure that I've fitted a chassis to so we can swap the cady and drive easily between laptop and tower. On the laptop it's connected via f/wire, on the tower the caddy plugs in to IDE for full speed access.
Bob.

mstrg wrote on 10/30/2004, 12:32 AM

I've been eyeing the new Vantec SATA solution
http://www.vantecusa.com/p_mrk200st.html
If I understand it correctly, Newegg carries the initial kit for $47, then $30/cartridge for each HD

MarkG wrote on 10/30/2004, 9:34 PM

One thing to bear in mind is that when you change trys you may loose your media pool info (at least I did).

I bought a bunch of removable trays off Ebay. Think I paid about $5 ea. for the whole kit. I only use one bay and trays from the other kits. I like the arrangement. I have one drive for backup only. Other drives have various projects (captured video) on them.

Mark G

Liam_Vegas wrote on 10/30/2004, 10:43 PM

I use an external drive that expects to see an IDE drive connector. These "caddys" <look> just like an IDE drive (you plug your IDE drive into the drive tray - and then this slides into the enclosure which then connects with this "IDE PASS-THRU" connector. So... as far as the external drive is concerned you simply have an IDE drive plugge in (it does not know it is actually inside the "caddy'). There is no requirement to leave the case of the external drive open BUT it is critical you buy an external drive case that has enough space for the drive caddy. This is about the size of a full-sized CDROM - so many external drives that are built to allow you to install a DVD/CD Drive are big enough to house the caddy.

As long as you use an external drive you will not need to re-boot in order to see the drives. BUT (at least in my case) I always do the following when I want to swap drives.

a) use the "safely remove hadware" feature from the system tray to shut down the drive I want to change

b) power off the external drive.

c) remove the old drive tray - push in the new drive tray

d) power up the external drive.

It sounds like a hassle.. but it is really very quick... and I have never ever had a problem. I have 3 external drives... and windows of course assigns drive letters to each external drive and it will try to remember which drive had which drive letter assigned. But sometimes when I re-insert any particular drive it may end up in a different external drive enclosure. When this happens Windows may assign it a different drive letter. This causes Vegas to lose track of where the media files are for a particular Veg file - but all you do is use the "search" option in vegas so that it locates the new drive letter where all the media is.. and then it gets happy again.

stepfour wrote on 10/30/2004, 11:08 PM

On drive caddies and trays; the ones with 2 or 3 fans may be well worth the extra cost. I previously used the ones with 1 fan and at least one of them became a casket for a brand new hdd. There could have been other causes for that drive dying young, but I couldn't rule out heat inside the inner tray as a cause.

riredale wrote on 10/31/2004, 3:03 PM

I can't remember the brand, but about 6 months ago I was handed a firewire external drive and case from a Mac user. She had vobs on it that I had to pull into Vegas and edit.

II couldn't believe how hot the thing got after a couple of hours of use. No ventilation holes or fans of any kind. Made me wonder what kinds of people used Macs...

farss wrote on 10/31/2004, 5:47 PM

I always feel a bit sorry for the Macolites being so hamstrung by Apples insistance on "function follows form". I see Macs with F/Wire drives perched on top of things, under things and just about everywhere imaginable. When you consider that the Mac OS I believe mostly doesn't copy files, it just keeps links to them, loosing a drive can be a major hassle, FCP goes nuts when it happens.
I guess if you come from a PC background then this stuff is second nature. This is one area where the traditional user friendliness of Apple products works against them, you're not forced to learn how things work so you get into bad habits and when the wheels fall off you're at a total loss.
Bob.

Chanimal wrote on 10/31/2004, 9:16 PM

Each of my four networked computers has a removable tray harddrive. The bays with one tray cost $19.95 (Kingswin brand with 2 fans (1 front, 1 botton). Each additional tray costs $12.00.

I have five internal harddrives and the tray. I have five extra trays with 200 - 250 gig drives in each.

Mine are EIDE. However, I have a SATA cable connected to it (with an adapter). If I had all SATA drives, I could use this cable and hot swap them out (key turns power off, but then I could put another one in without having to reboot).

I put them in all computers (except the laptop) since I can swap projects from machine to machine.

I highly recommend them.