Is it possible to make an internal HD into external?

From what I can tell the internal HDs are always cheaper than the external. So if I can make an internal one into an external y bother with the added costs of an external? Just curious. I mean there are 1.5 TB internal models for just over $100(caviar green or spinpoint f2 for example) but if I look for a 1.5TB external, the cost are more of the upper $100s.

Use something like one of these:
http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCat [...] Enclosures
Just make sure that what you buy matches the drive size and interface.

There are a few issues you should consider
when building your own external HDD enclosure:

(1) there is a significant speed difference between USB and eSATA

(2) eSATA voltage is different from standard (internal) SATA

(3) the SATA controller -- either integrated or expansion card --
may not support hot-swap

(4) connectors must match at either end of the data cable

(5) cooling should not be neglected, particularly if
multiple HDDs are installed in a single external enclosure

Try searching for "external enclosure" at Newegg,
for lots of examples:

http://www.newegg.com/

Icy Dock also sells a well engineered set of
external enclosure products:

http://www.icydock.com/home.htm

MRFS

yes. but as someone pointed out in a thread earlier. oem drives are not warrentied by the manufacturer.

in the case of WD, you would be losing out on a 5 year warrenty.

"there is a significant speed difference between USB and eSATA"

I didn't think about that... thats a good point. Well is it possible to keep an eSATA connection easily available?

The point I'm trying to get at is this. I want to use a higher end HD for the OS(caviar black probably) and running programs. But then I want to use one of the larger, more "green" drives for storage/backup(thats where the caviar green and spinpoint f2 come in). So I want to use the caviar green/spinpoint to backup everything...say weekly perhaps. Thats where an external drive comes in handy. They are easily accesible and get the job done with little hassel. So is there a way to make a 2nd internal HD accesible? Whether it be to have two in the case...I don't know. I hardly know anything. Can you have two HDs in your case that aren't in raid?

Also, the way you worded your post makes it sound like the SATA cables that attach to the internal HD are the same as eSATA cables used for external devices... an eSATA cable will not physically fit into a internal SATA connector. You'll have to use some kind of enclosure to adapt the cable form factor[/quotemsg]

O...well that sheds some light. I didn't know any of that. I just want my HD to be faster than the USB connection. Whether it uses eSATA or SATA I don't think I really care(or should I?). Just as long as its fast. I don't want to back up all of my stuff on USB, that would suk.

O...well that sheds some light. I didn't know any of that. I just want my HD to be faster than the USB connection. Whether it uses eSATA or SATA I don't think I really care(or should I?). Just as long as its fast. I don't want to back up all of my stuff on USB, that would suk.[/quotemsg]

The actual difference between eSATA and SATA isn't huge, I'm not an electrical engineer so I don't know the details, but I think it's mainly that the eSATA wires are fully shielded for best performance out of the case, while internal ones aren't. the SATA to eSATA wire adapters themselves aren't very complex and only cost a few bucks.

USB 2.0 would indeed suck for backups, I have hopes for USB 3.0 when they actually have devices out that can use it.