External Sata II boxes needed - one for storage and one for backup

[mwhals]

I want to get a 4 to 8 drive external enclosure that would connect to my PC by SATA infiniband to use as a main storage box that I can add drives to as needed.

I want to get a second 4 to 8 drive external enclosure that would use SATA II drives, but have Firewire 800/400 or USB 2.0 single outputs. This box would be used for backing up the first one and then disconnected from the PC after each backup. USB 2.0 or Firewire connections would allow me to connect it to another PC that doesn't have external Sata Infiniband connections.

Any recommendations? I am having a hard time making a decision and finding stuff. I don't want to spend an arm and a leg for teh enclosures.

I plan to use a Seagate or Western Digital drive (or two) in each box. I use both brands and only buy 5 year warranted drives. No help needed with the drives.

Thanks,

Mark H; owner of the DAM book.

[peterkrogh]

Check out Mac Gurus.
Peter

[mwhals]

Anyone tried the SATA Hotswap kits? Do the drives run cool in them? My only problem is the number of cables running to the PC. I would really like the 4-1 infiniband cables to eliminate drive clutter.

I have built both my PCs, so putting them together is no problem. I just want cool running drives.

I want the second enclosure to use a firewire connection to the PC, but I want it to house SATA drives. I don't want PATA drives at this time to future proof the case.

Mark H

[nurnberg]

My 4 bay eSATA hot swap box from MacGurus runs great. They are on all day every day and no problems so far. (after a few months).

-Paul

[mwhals]

The external SATA II enclosure is only for a permanent connection to the PC as my main storage box. I do plan to get the MacGurus box.

No one has answered my question about SATA II drives in a USB or Firewire enclosure that houses 4 drives. I do plan on the external SATA II box, but I want the other one to be firewire or USB so I can connect it to the front of my PC easily and disconnect it after backing up. I don't want to have to reach around the PC to unhook a bunch of SATA cables. I want to disconnect the backup drives so any PC problems (lightning even though I have protection) don't affect the backup. I also want to take the backup to other PCs and not all of them have external SATA.

[peterkrogh]

Does MacGurus offer any FW configurations that could use the same drive caddies as the SATA boxes?  This would be ideal for the use you describe.  I could be a two-bay configuration, since you seem to want to use this for temporary/backup/travel usage.
You might also look at Wiebetech.
Peter

[willc73]

check out Granite digital for firewire and scsi boxes.

[mwhals]

I figured it out!

I talked to Rick at Macgurus and he told me you can get just the hot swap bay and put it in the front of your PC.

Plan "A" is to get a burly hot swap port multiplier box and a bay for the PC. I can then pop a hard drive tray into the PC bay, do the backup and remove it. I can then pop in another hard drive and do another backup. This seems ideal.

Plan "B" is to get two burley hot swap port multiplier boxes with identical drives in each. Backup from all the drives in one box to all the drives in the second box. Then remove the drives from the backup box and store them offline.

Either way is faster than firewire for backing up since it will be over SATA connections.

Mark H

[eightfish]

I've been doing further homework on enclosures and found these guys:

http://www.pc-pitstop.com/sata_enclosures/

They are a lot cheaper than MacGurus, and use a lot of the same component, also provide great phone support.
Most enclosures are provided by one company - Cremax... and PC-Pitstop, MacGurus, etc... take them and repackage them.

They have the host card for PCIx for $99 (for MAC - but must call - not on their site); Port Multiplier cable (1meter) for $8 bucks, and a 4 port External hot swap bay set up with Port Multiplier for $289 - same enclosure as MacGurus sell for $369...

If anyone has seen a better deal with better service, or had any problems with PC-Pitstop, please post.

Found the 750 Gig drives at FRYs for $299 too as of Oct 4, 2006

[mwhals]

PC-pitstop is where I was going to get a multilane SATA II enclosure. I am getting a full tower case to house all drives in the main PC and allow the external case to be my backup drives. This makes all archive drives very accessable to the PC and in one place with the ability to disconnect and move the backup enclosure.

[WestFreeman]

Well the good news on an update is that if you hunt just a little and do look around you will notice that prices are going down all of the time.  I just bought a two drive SATA removeable case and card from MacGurus and was very pleased with the price. 

[mwhals]

I built my new PC and actually ended up ordering the MacGuru's 2 bay hot swap SATA case with a Caldigit two port card.

Mark H