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Desktop Backplane? Three 2.5" HDD Solutions Reviewed
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Table of contents
- 1 – Optimized for 2.5” Drives: Backplanes Reviewed
- 2 – Why 2.5” Drives Are Getting More Important
- 3 – Chieftec 5.25” SATA/SATA Backplane For 2.5” Drives (SNT-1042-SS)
- 4 – Sunnytek 5.25” SAS/SATA Backplane For 2.5” Drives (SAS1842C)
- 5 – Sunnytek Mobile Mini Backplane, SNT-BP-ESATA1822UESR
- 6 – Sunnytek Software
- 7 – Test Setup And Test Drives
- 8 – Test Results
- 9 – Conclusion
- 10 – More on this topic
It's generally pretty easy to get information on the latest hardware solutions from vendor Web sites, reviews, data sheets, and so on. But it can be substantially more difficult to find information on how to use individual pieces of hardware together. This is particularly applicable to storage applications for enthusiasts or small businesses, where handling individual hard drives doesn’t cut it without proper accessories. We’ve kept a lookout for solutions to assist in sharing, accessing, securing, handling, or simply managing data in general, and hard drives, in particular. This time, we decided to look at internal and external backplane solutions for 2.5” disks, as these units squeeze efficient and redundant storage into very compact form factors.
In the past, we've looked at various storage accessories that cater to enthusiasts and IT administrators:
Storage Accessories for Geeks and Pros
Storage Accessories: Move, Cool, Multiply
Comparing External RAID Housings
2.5” vs. 3.5”
2.5” drives aren't the perfect solution for high-capacity requirements, as 3.5” disks offer up to triple the capacity. But 2.5” drive are a real option if you care about mobility, data density, and increased data safety. RAID solutions based on 2.5” drives require roughly the same space as single-drive 3.5” products, and two or more 2.5” drives easily outperform one or two 3.5” drives in RAID setups when it comes to I/O performance (and even in throughput as long as at least one more 2.5” drive is used in comparable arrays). Backplanes are also important to make sure that drives can be hot-swapped, as not all storage controllers support this (especially pre-AHCI models).
The products we’re looking at today are aimed at fast or secure storage utilizing 2.5” hard drives, either externally or within a system environment. One of the offerings allows users to operate two 2.5” SATA hard drives in a compact external solution, combining RAID 0 and RAID 1 within a single product. The other backplanes allow administrators to install four 2.5” drives utilizing only the space of a single 5.25” drive bay.
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I'd like to see a review of some backkplanes that support a couple more drives that's still mountable in an ATX case. I'm looking to run RAID 5 or 6, ideally with a hot spare.
How about 2x5.25" bays hosting vertical 3.5" disks, maybe five or six? I prefer this setup to the standard desktop internal cages which are a pain.
gp-Just use more then one of the above-the raid is controller dependent.
How about 2x5.25" bays hosting vertical 3.5" disks, maybe five or six? I prefer this setup to the standard desktop internal cages which are a pain.
And here it is: http://www.addonics.com/products/r [...] s35nsa.asp
Almost, its a 3x5.25" but you need that with 3.5" drives. 2x5.25" can only get you 3 horizontal 3.5" drives.
I saw this article and I though, Awesome this is going to be a great article that will apply to me (and enthusiast and a Small Business).
But then I noticed it's all about 2.5" hard drives instead of 3.5"...
FAIL
I saw this article and I though, Awesome this is going to be a great article that will apply to me (and enthusiast and a Small Business).But then I noticed it's all about 2.5" hard drives instead of 3.5"...FAIL
Sorry to be debbie downer, I just feel that the vast majority of people looking to add storage space would prefer the larger, cheaper, faster 3.5" form factor of the 2.5" drives.
I understand that SSD is changing things, but it still costs 10-100X more than 3.5"HDD, and 2.5"HDD still costs 2-5x as much as 3.5"...
I guess it would be more productive to ask for 3.5" backplanes than just being a dick.
Please can I see some 3.5" storage solutions? I'd especially like to see some of the drive bays supporting more than 4 drives.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] ne&x=0&y=0
for a list of backplanes out there
Having 40mm fans very close to rotating media is a very bad idea. Hard drives do not like the intense vibration from high speed fans.
Performance and reliability suffer badly. I would like to see the issue
addressed in a serious way, not just the obvious user oriented features.
Having 40mm fans very close to rotating media is a very bad idea. Hard drives do not like the intense vibration from high speed fans.Performance and reliability suffer badly. I would like to see the issue addressed in a serious way, not just the obvious user oriented features.
Except when using, oh I don't know, laptop drives that are already built to withstand this kind of abuse, kind of a non-issue.
Also considering how hot many laptop drives get when on your lap, I don't think heat will be as big of an issue as you'd think if your case is cooled properly. My Stacker 830 would be a perfect fit if I threw one of these in my top bay, just fashon a air guide for the top fan to pull air from the first bay, turn the 40mm fans off and be happy!
Bought This - Returned it the next week: No stress relief on the connections and several came disconnected due to the fact that the SAS/SATA connections were only held on to the circuit board via the soldier holding the pins in place - Hey! I paid $40 for this backplane that was little more than 4 places to mount hard drives, what do you expect?
I'd like to see a similar roundup but with 3.5" HDD backplanes. There are quite a few that fit into three 5-1/4" slots and is a better compromise if you run a mid-tower...
Excellent review, however it seems like the backplanes that you choose to review all are approximately the same unit with a different brand pasted on... would like to see some more diversity in the choices.
Any word yet on the patriot, OCZ, or A-DATA versions of the mobile backplane ? I think any of those would work alot nicer in the desktop enviornment, as they fit neatly into a single 3.5" bay. There are also a number of chinese 2-bay RAID enclosures out there, but who knows the quality? I would really like to see a true round-up on those.
For those who don't see the point in 2.5" vs. 3.5", consider a ultra-fast OS/Program array, and a nice fast RAID 10 array for storage, and pretty soon you're running out of physical space in the average desktop case, not to mention competing for power with your high-end video card. While 2.5" drives are still a bit pricey for storage drives, a pair of 73GB 15K SAS and a dual RAID 0 enclosure for about $300 is certainly worth it ( or even 4x 36GB 15K for the same price ), as space requirements are simply not needed for an OS/program drive.
SuperMicro Backplane CSE-M28E2B for 8x 2.5"HD, 2x 5.25"Bay; Redundant 2x4xSAS port
http://www.span.com/catalog/produc [...] anguage=en
is there any internal enclosure fit two of 2.5" hdd into one of 3.5" bay?
is there any internal enclosure fit two of 2.5" hdd into one of 3.5" bay?
Here's the RAID version from A-DATA....they also have non-raid versions I believe.
http://oc.adata.com.tw/1_product_d [...] SX1SUMAL-2
I have not found any reliable review on these type of things yet. There are a number of chinese versions off of E-bay which look to be identical and both Patriot and OCZ are promising their vervisions as well. I doubt these would get rid of the stuttering problems of low-end SSD's, but it would make for some nasty RAID-on-RAID action, spawning all sorts of bizarre set-ups.
Thanks for the info.
I found one for internal for two of 2.5inch to one bay of 3.5 inch.
http://www.acmemicro.com/estore/me [...] 390&step=4
I'll test this later today for our product test.