Mobile racks and trays

On Tue, 29 Apr 2008 15:41:52 -0700 (PDT)
ken k <kdkrone@gmail.com> wrote:

> I have been thinking about using a mobile rack and tray system to swap
> out hard drives which store data, such as my music and video DVD
> collections. One such system is this: http://kingwin.com/mobileracktrays.asp
>
> Does anyone have any experience with these systems for home use? Do
> the drives cook? Do the rack components (plastic) hold up over time?
> Who makes a good one?
>
> Thanks
> Ken K

I've used those, including the ones you linked to. The drives DO cook. Most of these things have a cooling fan, but it really doesn't help. The rack components hold up fine over time. I had a problem with them that you probably wouldn't have considered, and maybe it doesn't apply to you. I was using them to "clone" IDE and SATA hard drives. There's probably a better way to do that, but in my line of work I had access to so many of those drive rack thingies that it seemed silly not to use them. Anyway, the IDE ones, the internal IDE cable where you mount the hard drive wears out quickly if you swap drives often, and (at least the ones I've seen) the cable is soldered to a little circuit board. Not a big deal if you don't plan to swap drives often. Kingwin is a good brand. Another is Icy Dock. Don't let the name fool you though, your hard drive will get hot as Hell in an Icy Dock (ha ha) though that brand is no worse than any other, as far as heat dissipation goes. And don't buy the hype. Some are said to dissipate heat through contact with a large heatsink surface or something. The problem is lack of airflow, even in the ones with the fan. There is no room for airflow. So the metal ones that are supposed to be cooler really aren't, as they don't allow more airflow than the plastic ones. I'd suggest you try a plastic one with a fan, if you must go that route. Note that your hard drive will still get hot. But the fan has got to be better than nothing, even though it doesn't seem to move enough air. -Dave

I have been thinking about using a mobile rack and tray system to swap
out hard drives which store data, such as my music and video DVD
collections. One such system is this: http://kingwin.com/mobileracktrays.asp

Does anyone have any experience with these systems for home use? Do
the drives cook? Do the rack components (plastic) hold up over time?
Who makes a good one?

Thanks
Ken K

> On Tue, 29 Apr 2008 15:41:52 -0700 (PDT)
> ken k <kdkrone@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I have been thinking about using a mobile rack and tray system to swap
>> out hard drives which store data, such as my music and video DVD
>> collections. One such system is this:
>> http://kingwin.com/mobileracktrays.asp
>>
>> Does anyone have any experience with these systems for home use? Do
>> the drives cook? Do the rack components (plastic) hold up over time?
>> Who makes a good one?
>>
>> Thanks
>> Ken K


"Dave" <noway@nohow.not> wrote in message
news:20080429203159.736c1d7b.noway@nohow.not...
I've used those, including the ones you linked to. The drives DO cook.
Most of these things have a cooling fan, but it really doesn't help. The
rack components hold up fine over time. I had a problem with them that you
probably wouldn't have considered, and maybe it doesn't apply to you. I was
using them to "clone" IDE and SATA hard drives. There's probably a better
way to do that, but in my line of work I had access to so many of those
drive rack thingies that it seemed silly not to use them. Anyway, the
IDE ones, the internal IDE cable where you mount the hard drive wears out
quickly if you swap drives often, and (at least the ones I've seen) the
cable is soldered to a little circuit board. Not a big deal if you don't
plan to swap drives often. Kingwin is a good brand. Another is Icy Dock.
Don't let the name fool you though, your hard drive will get hot as Hell in
an Icy Dock (ha ha) though that brand is no worse than any other, as far as
heat dissipation goes. And don't buy the hype. Some are said to dissipate
heat through contact with a large heatsink surface or something. The
problem is lack of airflow, even in the ones with the fan. There is no room
for airflow. So the metal ones that are supposed to be cooler really
aren't, as they don't allow more airflow than the plastic ones. I'd suggest
you try a plastic one with a fan, if you must go that route. Note that your
hard drive will still get hot. But the fan has got to be better than
nothing, even though it doesn't seem to move enough air. -Dave


Ken:
I see you raised the same query in the ...hardware.storage newsgroup. The
response you received from Tim Daniels pretty much parallels my experience.
I believe Tim was referring to me as the person who recommended a particular
make & model of mobile rack (removable hard drive) device. (See below).

We've been installing removable hard drives for about 10 years now. I've
probably installed or participated in the installation of these devices a
few thousand times over the years. We strongly recommend their use for PC
desktop machines. (As you probably know they are not designed for
laptops/notebooks.)

Our experience with these mobile racks has been quite positive - unlike the
experience Dave cites. By & large we have found these devices quite reliable
and rarely have had heat-related problems with them.

When we were working primarily with PATA HDDs we pretty much used various
Lian Li models (all-aluminum). In the past few years we've been working
primarily with SATA HDDs and now use the Athena Power MR-125 model (comes in
beige & black) nearly exclusively. Newegg carries them and happily they've
very inexpensive. (Tim was referring to that model in his response to you.)

We've installed or have had experience with hundreds of the Athena MR-125
mobile racks and even though they're all-plastic we've rarely run into any
problems (heat-related or otherwise) with them. Interestingly they have a
bottom-mounted 80mm fan that's virtually dead silent.

We particularly like the fact that the Athena does not have a keylock device
as nearly every other mobile rack has, but rather a push-button/lever affair
that simplifies the ON-OFF insertion-removable process. For one reason or
another we're frequently switching the removable trays/caddies and we prefer
the Athena's device. But the keylock if fine for most users.

In any event, there are a slew of different makes & models of mobile racks
out there. Just do a Google search and check the major online vendors such
as newegg. But go that route. You'll never regret it except for the fact
that you didn't sooner equip your desktop PC with one or two of those
devices.
Anna

Anna said the following on 4/29/2008 8:54 PM:
>> On Tue, 29 Apr 2008 15:41:52 -0700 (PDT)
>> ken k <kdkrone@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> I have been thinking about using a mobile rack and tray system to swap
>>> out hard drives which store data, such as my music and video DVD
>>> collections. One such system is this:
>>> http://kingwin.com/mobileracktrays.asp
>>>
>>> Does anyone have any experience with these systems for home use? Do
>>> the drives cook? Do the rack components (plastic) hold up over time?
>>> Who makes a good one?
>>>
>>> Thanks
>>> Ken K
>
>
> "Dave" <noway@nohow.not> wrote in message
> news:20080429203159.736c1d7b.noway@nohow.not...
> I've used those, including the ones you linked to. The drives DO cook.
> Most of these things have a cooling fan, but it really doesn't help. The
> rack components hold up fine over time. I had a problem with them that you
> probably wouldn't have considered, and maybe it doesn't apply to you. I was
> using them to "clone" IDE and SATA hard drives. There's probably a better
> way to do that, but in my line of work I had access to so many of those
> drive rack thingies that it seemed silly not to use them. Anyway, the
> IDE ones, the internal IDE cable where you mount the hard drive wears out
> quickly if you swap drives often, and (at least the ones I've seen) the
> cable is soldered to a little circuit board. Not a big deal if you don't
> plan to swap drives often. Kingwin is a good brand. Another is Icy Dock.
> Don't let the name fool you though, your hard drive will get hot as Hell in
> an Icy Dock (ha ha) though that brand is no worse than any other, as far as
> heat dissipation goes. And don't buy the hype. Some are said to dissipate
> heat through contact with a large heatsink surface or something. The
> problem is lack of airflow, even in the ones with the fan. There is no room
> for airflow. So the metal ones that are supposed to be cooler really
> aren't, as they don't allow more airflow than the plastic ones. I'd suggest
> you try a plastic one with a fan, if you must go that route. Note that your
> hard drive will still get hot. But the fan has got to be better than
> nothing, even though it doesn't seem to move enough air. -Dave
>
>
> Ken:
> I see you raised the same query in the ...hardware.storage newsgroup. The
> response you received from Tim Daniels pretty much parallels my experience.
> I believe Tim was referring to me as the person who recommended a particular
> make & model of mobile rack (removable hard drive) device. (See below).
>
> We've been installing removable hard drives for about 10 years now. I've
> probably installed or participated in the installation of these devices a
> few thousand times over the years. We strongly recommend their use for PC
> desktop machines. (As you probably know they are not designed for
> laptops/notebooks.)
>
> Our experience with these mobile racks has been quite positive - unlike the
> experience Dave cites. By & large we have found these devices quite reliable
> and rarely have had heat-related problems with them.
>
> When we were working primarily with PATA HDDs we pretty much used various
> Lian Li models (all-aluminum). In the past few years we've been working
> primarily with SATA HDDs and now use the Athena Power MR-125 model (comes in
> beige & black) nearly exclusively. Newegg carries them and happily they've
> very inexpensive. (Tim was referring to that model in his response to you.)
>
> We've installed or have had experience with hundreds of the Athena MR-125
> mobile racks and even though they're all-plastic we've rarely run into any
> problems (heat-related or otherwise) with them. Interestingly they have a
> bottom-mounted 80mm fan that's virtually dead silent.
>
> We particularly like the fact that the Athena does not have a keylock device
> as nearly every other mobile rack has, but rather a push-button/lever affair
> that simplifies the ON-OFF insertion-removable process. For one reason or
> another we're frequently switching the removable trays/caddies and we prefer
> the Athena's device. But the keylock if fine for most users.
>
> In any event, there are a slew of different makes & models of mobile racks
> out there. Just do a Google search and check the major online vendors such
> as newegg. But go that route. You'll never regret it except for the fact
> that you didn't sooner equip your desktop PC with one or two of those
> devices.
> Anna
>
>
Anna,

Thanks for your input. I had hoped to find someone with positive
experience with a brand/model, and you seem to be that person. I am not
one to re-invent the wheel, so, as your experience with the Athena
MR-125 is so positive, I see no reason to look elsewhere.

Thanks
Ken K

Anna said the following on 4/29/2008 8:54 PM:
>> On Tue, 29 Apr 2008 15:41:52 -0700 (PDT)
>> ken k <kdkrone@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> I have been thinking about using a mobile rack and tray system to swap
>>> out hard drives which store data, such as my music and video DVD
>>> collections. One such system is this:
>>> http://kingwin.com/mobileracktrays.asp
>>>
>>> Does anyone have any experience with these systems for home use? Do
>>> the drives cook? Do the rack components (plastic) hold up over time?
>>> Who makes a good one?
>>>
>>> Thanks
>>> Ken K
>
>
> "Dave" <noway@nohow.not> wrote in message
> news:20080429203159.736c1d7b.noway@nohow.not...
> I've used those, including the ones you linked to. The drives DO cook.
> Most of these things have a cooling fan, but it really doesn't help. The
> rack components hold up fine over time. I had a problem with them that you
> probably wouldn't have considered, and maybe it doesn't apply to you. I was
> using them to "clone" IDE and SATA hard drives. There's probably a better
> way to do that, but in my line of work I had access to so many of those
> drive rack thingies that it seemed silly not to use them. Anyway, the
> IDE ones, the internal IDE cable where you mount the hard drive wears out
> quickly if you swap drives often, and (at least the ones I've seen) the
> cable is soldered to a little circuit board. Not a big deal if you don't
> plan to swap drives often. Kingwin is a good brand. Another is Icy Dock.
> Don't let the name fool you though, your hard drive will get hot as Hell in
> an Icy Dock (ha ha) though that brand is no worse than any other, as far as
> heat dissipation goes. And don't buy the hype. Some are said to dissipate
> heat through contact with a large heatsink surface or something. The
> problem is lack of airflow, even in the ones with the fan. There is no room
> for airflow. So the metal ones that are supposed to be cooler really
> aren't, as they don't allow more airflow than the plastic ones. I'd suggest
> you try a plastic one with a fan, if you must go that route. Note that your
> hard drive will still get hot. But the fan has got to be better than
> nothing, even though it doesn't seem to move enough air. -Dave
>
>
> Ken:
> I see you raised the same query in the ...hardware.storage newsgroup. The
> response you received from Tim Daniels pretty much parallels my experience.
> I believe Tim was referring to me as the person who recommended a particular
> make & model of mobile rack (removable hard drive) device. (See below).
>
> We've been installing removable hard drives for about 10 years now. I've
> probably installed or participated in the installation of these devices a
> few thousand times over the years. We strongly recommend their use for PC
> desktop machines. (As you probably know they are not designed for
> laptops/notebooks.)
>
> Our experience with these mobile racks has been quite positive - unlike the
> experience Dave cites. By & large we have found these devices quite reliable
> and rarely have had heat-related problems with them.
>
> When we were working primarily with PATA HDDs we pretty much used various
> Lian Li models (all-aluminum). In the past few years we've been working
> primarily with SATA HDDs and now use the Athena Power MR-125 model (comes in
> beige & black) nearly exclusively. Newegg carries them and happily they've
> very inexpensive. (Tim was referring to that model in his response to you.)
>
> We've installed or have had experience with hundreds of the Athena MR-125
> mobile racks and even though they're all-plastic we've rarely run into any
> problems (heat-related or otherwise) with them. Interestingly they have a
> bottom-mounted 80mm fan that's virtually dead silent.
>
> We particularly like the fact that the Athena does not have a keylock device
> as nearly every other mobile rack has, but rather a push-button/lever affair
> that simplifies the ON-OFF insertion-removable process. For one reason or
> another we're frequently switching the removable trays/caddies and we prefer
> the Athena's device. But the keylock if fine for most users.
>
> In any event, there are a slew of different makes & models of mobile racks
> out there. Just do a Google search and check the major online vendors such
> as newegg. But go that route. You'll never regret it except for the fact
> that you didn't sooner equip your desktop PC with one or two of those
> devices.
> Anna
>
>
Anna,

OK, I am a smidge confused now that I have gone to the Athena Power
website. The Kingwin setup has a rack that mounts in a 5 1/2" bay and
there are trays in which one mounts the hdd. The tray is then
installed/deinstalled into the "permanently" mounted rack in the computer.

Looking at the Athena website, it appears that there is a rack, but I do
not see a tray on which the hdd is mounted, which would imply that a hdd
is handled without its being mounted in a tray or the Athena MR-125 is
an entire unit that must somehow be slid into a "permanently" mounted
rack in the computer. I must be missing something here..

Can you clear this up for me?

Thanks
Ken K

Anna said the following on 4/29/2008 8:54 PM:
>> On Tue, 29 Apr 2008 15:41:52 -0700 (PDT)
>> ken k <kdkrone@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> I have been thinking about using a mobile rack and tray system to swap
>>> out hard drives which store data, such as my music and video DVD
>>> collections. One such system is this:
>>> http://kingwin.com/mobileracktrays.asp
>>>
>>> Does anyone have any experience with these systems for home use? Do
>>> the drives cook? Do the rack components (plastic) hold up over time?
>>> Who makes a good one?
>>>
>>> Thanks
>>> Ken K
>
>
> "Dave" <noway@nohow.not> wrote in message
> news:20080429203159.736c1d7b.noway@nohow.not...
> I've used those, including the ones you linked to. The drives DO cook.
> Most of these things have a cooling fan, but it really doesn't help. The
> rack components hold up fine over time. I had a problem with them that you
> probably wouldn't have considered, and maybe it doesn't apply to you. I was
> using them to "clone" IDE and SATA hard drives. There's probably a better
> way to do that, but in my line of work I had access to so many of those
> drive rack thingies that it seemed silly not to use them. Anyway, the
> IDE ones, the internal IDE cable where you mount the hard drive wears out
> quickly if you swap drives often, and (at least the ones I've seen) the
> cable is soldered to a little circuit board. Not a big deal if you don't
> plan to swap drives often. Kingwin is a good brand. Another is Icy Dock.
> Don't let the name fool you though, your hard drive will get hot as Hell in
> an Icy Dock (ha ha) though that brand is no worse than any other, as far as
> heat dissipation goes. And don't buy the hype. Some are said to dissipate
> heat through contact with a large heatsink surface or something. The
> problem is lack of airflow, even in the ones with the fan. There is no room
> for airflow. So the metal ones that are supposed to be cooler really
> aren't, as they don't allow more airflow than the plastic ones. I'd suggest
> you try a plastic one with a fan, if you must go that route. Note that your
> hard drive will still get hot. But the fan has got to be better than
> nothing, even though it doesn't seem to move enough air. -Dave
>
>
> Ken:
> I see you raised the same query in the ...hardware.storage newsgroup. The
> response you received from Tim Daniels pretty much parallels my experience.
> I believe Tim was referring to me as the person who recommended a particular
> make & model of mobile rack (removable hard drive) device. (See below).
>
> We've been installing removable hard drives for about 10 years now. I've
> probably installed or participated in the installation of these devices a
> few thousand times over the years. We strongly recommend their use for PC
> desktop machines. (As you probably know they are not designed for
> laptops/notebooks.)
>
> Our experience with these mobile racks has been quite positive - unlike the
> experience Dave cites. By & large we have found these devices quite reliable
> and rarely have had heat-related problems with them.
>
> When we were working primarily with PATA HDDs we pretty much used various
> Lian Li models (all-aluminum). In the past few years we've been working
> primarily with SATA HDDs and now use the Athena Power MR-125 model (comes in
> beige & black) nearly exclusively. Newegg carries them and happily they've
> very inexpensive. (Tim was referring to that model in his response to you.)
>
> We've installed or have had experience with hundreds of the Athena MR-125
> mobile racks and even though they're all-plastic we've rarely run into any
> problems (heat-related or otherwise) with them. Interestingly they have a
> bottom-mounted 80mm fan that's virtually dead silent.
>
> We particularly like the fact that the Athena does not have a keylock device
> as nearly every other mobile rack has, but rather a push-button/lever affair
> that simplifies the ON-OFF insertion-removable process. For one reason or
> another we're frequently switching the removable trays/caddies and we prefer
> the Athena's device. But the keylock if fine for most users.
>
> In any event, there are a slew of different makes & models of mobile racks
> out there. Just do a Google search and check the major online vendors such
> as newegg. But go that route. You'll never regret it except for the fact
> that you didn't sooner equip your desktop PC with one or two of those
> devices.
> Anna
>
>
>
Anna,

OK, I am a smidge confused now that I have gone to the Athena Power
website. The Kingwin setup has a rack that mounts in a 5 1/2" bay and
there are trays in which one mounts the hdd. The tray is then
installed/deinstalled into the "permanently" mounted rack in the computer.

Looking at the Athena website, it appears that there is a rack, but I do
not see a tray on which the hdd is mounted, which would imply that a hdd
is handled without its being mounted in a tray or the Athena MR-125 is
an entire unit that must somehow be slid into a "permanently" mounted
rack in the computer. What I am looking for is a system that has a rack
so that I can exchange a number of different hdd's as I need them, as
they would contain info that would only occasionally need to be
accessed. The thought is that there would a number trays, each
containing its own hdd, and they would share one (or two) racks in the
computer. I must be missing something here..

Can you clear this up for me?

Thanks
Ken K

>>> ken k <kdkrone@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> I have been thinking about using a mobile rack and tray system to swap
>>>> out hard drives which store data, such as my music and video DVD
>>>> collections. One such system is this:
>>>> http://kingwin.com/mobileracktrays.asp
>>>>
>>>> Does anyone have any experience with these systems for home use? Do
>>>> the drives cook? Do the rack components (plastic) hold up over time?
>>>> Who makes a good one?
>>>>
>>>> Thanks
>>>> Ken K


>> "Dave" <noway@nohow.not> wrote in message
>> news:20080429203159.736c1d7b.noway@nohow.not...
>> I've used those, including the ones you linked to. The drives DO cook.
>> Most of these things have a cooling fan, but it really doesn't help. The
>> rack components hold up fine over time. I had a problem with them that
>> you probably wouldn't have considered, and maybe it doesn't apply to you.
>> I was >> using them to "clone" IDE and SATA hard drives. There's
>> probably a better way to do that, but in my line of work I had access to
>> so many of those drive rack thingies that it seemed silly not to use
>> them. Anyway, the IDE ones, the internal IDE cable where you mount
>> the hard drive wears out quickly if you swap drives often, and (at least
>> the ones I've seen) the cable is soldered to a little circuit board. Not
>> a big deal if you don't plan to swap drives often. Kingwin is a good
>> brand. Another is Icy Dock. Don't let the name fool you though, your
>> hard drive will get hot as Hell in an Icy Dock (ha ha) though that brand
>> is no worse than any other, as far as heat dissipation goes. And don't
>> buy the hype. Some are said to dissipate heat through contact with a
>> large heatsink surface or something. The problem is lack of airflow,
>> even in the ones with the fan. There is no room for airflow. So the
>> metal ones that are supposed to be cooler really aren't, as they don't
>> allow more airflow than the plastic ones. I'd suggest you try a plastic
>> one with a fan, if you must go that route. Note that your hard drive
>> will still get hot. But the fan has got to be better than nothing, even
>> though it doesn't seem to move enough air. -Dave
>>
>>

>> Anna wrote...
>> Ken:
>> I see you raised the same query in the ...hardware.storage newsgroup. The
>> response you received from Tim Daniels pretty much parallels my
>> experience. I believe Tim was referring to me as the person who
>> recommended a particular make & model of mobile rack (removable hard
>> drive) device. (See below).
>>
>> We've been installing removable hard drives for about 10 years now. I've
>> probably installed or participated in the installation of these devices a
>> few thousand times over the years. We strongly recommend their use for PC
>> >> desktop machines. (As you probably know they are not designed for
>> laptops/notebooks.)
>>
>> Our experience with these mobile racks has been quite positive - unlike
>> the experience Dave cites. By & large we have found these devices quite
>> reliable and rarely have had heat-related problems with them.
>>
>> When we were working primarily with PATA HDDs we pretty much used >>
>> various Lian Li models (all-aluminum). In the past few years we've been
>> working primarily with SATA HDDs and now use the Athena Power MR->> 125
>> model (comes in beige & black) nearly exclusively. Newegg carries them
>> and happily they've very inexpensive. (Tim was referring to that model >>
>> in his response to you.)
>>
>> We've installed or have had experience with hundreds of the Athena MR-
>> 125 mobile racks and even though they're all-plastic we've rarely run
>> into >> any problems (heat-related or otherwise) with them. Interestingly
>> they have >> a bottom-mounted 80mm fan that's virtually dead silent.
>>
>> We particularly like the fact that the Athena does not have a keylock
>> device as nearly every other mobile rack has, but rather a
>> push-button/lever affair that simplifies the ON-OFF insertion-removable
>> process. For one reason or another we're frequently switching the
>> removable trays/caddies and we prefer the Athena's device. But the
>> keylock if fine for most users.
>>
>> In any event, there are a slew of different makes & models of mobile
>> racks out there. Just do a Google search and check the major online
>> vendors such as newegg. But go that route. You'll never regret it except
>> for the fact that you didn't sooner equip your desktop PC with one or two
>> of those devices.
>> Anna


> Anna,
> OK, I am a smidge confused now that I have gone to the Athena Power
> website. The Kingwin setup has a rack that mounts in a 5 1/2" bay and
> there are trays in which one mounts the hdd. The tray is then
> installed/deinstalled into the "permanently" mounted rack in the computer.
>
> Looking at the Athena website, it appears that there is a rack, but I do
> not see a tray on which the hdd is mounted, which would imply that a hdd
> is handled without its being mounted in a tray or the Athena MR-125 is an
> entire unit that must somehow be slid into a "permanently" mounted rack in
> the computer. I must be missing something here..
>
> Can you clear this up for me?
>
> Thanks
> Ken K


Ken:
First of all I trust you understand that particular model of the Athena
mobile rack is designed to house a SATA HDD. I just wanted to make that
clear at the outset.

The Athena MR-125 is identical to virtually every other mobile rack designed
to house a HDD in that it's a two-piece affair; the rack itself which is
affixed to the desktop PC's 5 1/4" bay (just like you would affix an optical
drive for example), and the removable tray (or caddy) that slides in & out
of the rack. So while the rack itself is "permanently" mounted in the bay,
the removable tray is just that, i.e., removable. You're right, neither the
photos on the Athena site nor the newegg site...
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx? Item=N82E16817123302
show the removable tray, but trust me - the unit comes with the tray.
Incidentally (AFAIK) the tray is not sold separately but the whole unit is
relatively inexpensive - $20 including shipping from newegg.

BTW, Athena does have an all-aluminum model, the MR-136SATA, see...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811998021
A bit more expensive - $33 incl. shipping. We haven't worked with that
particular model but we're aware of some users who have and they're happy
with it. So if you're particularly interested in an all-aluminum model you
may want to look into that one.

There is, however, one (possibly) major difference between the two models.
While the MR-125 (plastic) is equipped with the 4-pin Molex power connector
in addition to the 15-pin SATA power connector, the MR-136SATA model comes
with only the latter connector. In most cases this shouldn't be an important
consideration for the vast majority of users since their power supply will
provide SATA power connectors (or a Molex-to-SATA power adapter can be
used). And it's always advisable to provide power to a SATA HDD using a
15-pin SATA power connector whenever possible.
Anna

Anna said the following on 4/30/2008 11:23 AM:
>>>> ken k <kdkrone@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> I have been thinking about using a mobile rack and tray system to swap
>>>>> out hard drives which store data, such as my music and video DVD
>>>>> collections. One such system is this:
>>>>> http://kingwin.com/mobileracktrays.asp
>>>>>
>>>>> Does anyone have any experience with these systems for home use? Do
>>>>> the drives cook? Do the rack components (plastic) hold up over time?
>>>>> Who makes a good one?
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks
>>>>> Ken K
>
>
>>> "Dave" <noway@nohow.not> wrote in message
>>> news:20080429203159.736c1d7b.noway@nohow.not...
>>> I've used those, including the ones you linked to. The drives DO cook.
>>> Most of these things have a cooling fan, but it really doesn't help. The
>>> rack components hold up fine over time. I had a problem with them that
>>> you probably wouldn't have considered, and maybe it doesn't apply to you.
>>> I was >> using them to "clone" IDE and SATA hard drives. There's
>>> probably a better way to do that, but in my line of work I had access to
>>> so many of those drive rack thingies that it seemed silly not to use
>>> them. Anyway, the IDE ones, the internal IDE cable where you mount
>>> the hard drive wears out quickly if you swap drives often, and (at least
>>> the ones I've seen) the cable is soldered to a little circuit board. Not
>>> a big deal if you don't plan to swap drives often. Kingwin is a good
>>> brand. Another is Icy Dock. Don't let the name fool you though, your
>>> hard drive will get hot as Hell in an Icy Dock (ha ha) though that brand
>>> is no worse than any other, as far as heat dissipation goes. And don't
>>> buy the hype. Some are said to dissipate heat through contact with a
>>> large heatsink surface or something. The problem is lack of airflow,
>>> even in the ones with the fan. There is no room for airflow. So the
>>> metal ones that are supposed to be cooler really aren't, as they don't
>>> allow more airflow than the plastic ones. I'd suggest you try a plastic
>>> one with a fan, if you must go that route. Note that your hard drive
>>> will still get hot. But the fan has got to be better than nothing, even
>>> though it doesn't seem to move enough air. -Dave
>>>
>>>
>
>>> Anna wrote...
>>> Ken:
>>> I see you raised the same query in the ...hardware.storage newsgroup. The
>>> response you received from Tim Daniels pretty much parallels my
>>> experience. I believe Tim was referring to me as the person who
>>> recommended a particular make & model of mobile rack (removable hard
>>> drive) device. (See below).
>>>
>>> We've been installing removable hard drives for about 10 years now. I've
>>> probably installed or participated in the installation of these devices a
>>> few thousand times over the years. We strongly recommend their use for PC
>>> >> desktop machines. (As you probably know they are not designed for
>>> laptops/notebooks.)
>>>
>>> Our experience with these mobile racks has been quite positive - unlike
>>> the experience Dave cites. By & large we have found these devices quite
>>> reliable and rarely have had heat-related problems with them.
>>>
>>> When we were working primarily with PATA HDDs we pretty much used >>
>>> various Lian Li models (all-aluminum). In the past few years we've been
>>> working primarily with SATA HDDs and now use the Athena Power MR->> 125
>>> model (comes in beige & black) nearly exclusively. Newegg carries them
>>> and happily they've very inexpensive. (Tim was referring to that model >>
>>> in his response to you.)
>>>
>>> We've installed or have had experience with hundreds of the Athena MR-
>>> 125 mobile racks and even though they're all-plastic we've rarely run
>>> into >> any problems (heat-related or otherwise) with them. Interestingly
>>> they have >> a bottom-mounted 80mm fan that's virtually dead silent.
>>>
>>> We particularly like the fact that the Athena does not have a keylock
>>> device as nearly every other mobile rack has, but rather a
>>> push-button/lever affair that simplifies the ON-OFF insertion-removable
>>> process. For one reason or another we're frequently switching the
>>> removable trays/caddies and we prefer the Athena's device. But the
>>> keylock if fine for most users.
>>>
>>> In any event, there are a slew of different makes & models of mobile
>>> racks out there. Just do a Google search and check the major online
>>> vendors such as newegg. But go that route. You'll never regret it except
>>> for the fact that you didn't sooner equip your desktop PC with one or two
>>> of those devices.
>>> Anna
>
>
>> Anna,
>> OK, I am a smidge confused now that I have gone to the Athena Power
>> website. The Kingwin setup has a rack that mounts in a 5 1/2" bay and
>> there are trays in which one mounts the hdd. The tray is then
>> installed/deinstalled into the "permanently" mounted rack in the computer.
>>
>> Looking at the Athena website, it appears that there is a rack, but I do
>> not see a tray on which the hdd is mounted, which would imply that a hdd
>> is handled without its being mounted in a tray or the Athena MR-125 is an
>> entire unit that must somehow be slid into a "permanently" mounted rack in
>> the computer. I must be missing something here..
>>
>> Can you clear this up for me?
>>
>> Thanks
>> Ken K
>
>
> Ken:
> First of all I trust you understand that particular model of the Athena
> mobile rack is designed to house a SATA HDD. I just wanted to make that
> clear at the outset.
>
> The Athena MR-125 is identical to virtually every other mobile rack designed
> to house a HDD in that it's a two-piece affair; the rack itself which is
> affixed to the desktop PC's 5 1/4" bay (just like you would affix an optical
> drive for example), and the removable tray (or caddy) that slides in & out
> of the rack. So while the rack itself is "permanently" mounted in the bay,
> the removable tray is just that, i.e., removable. You're right, neither the
> photos on the Athena site nor the newegg site...
> http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx? Item=N82E16817123302
> show the removable tray, but trust me - the unit comes with the tray.
> Incidentally (AFAIK) the tray is not sold separately but the whole unit is
> relatively inexpensive - $20 including shipping from newegg.
>
> BTW, Athena does have an all-aluminum model, the MR-136SATA, see...
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811998021
> A bit more expensive - $33 incl. shipping. We haven't worked with that
> particular model but we're aware of some users who have and they're happy
> with it. So if you're particularly interested in an all-aluminum model you
> may want to look into that one.
>
> There is, however, one (possibly) major difference between the two models.
> While the MR-125 (plastic) is equipped with the 4-pin Molex power connector
> in addition to the 15-pin SATA power connector, the MR-136SATA model comes
> with only the latter connector. In most cases this shouldn't be an important
> consideration for the vast majority of users since their power supply will
> provide SATA power connectors (or a Molex-to-SATA power adapter can be
> used). And it's always advisable to provide power to a SATA HDD using a
> 15-pin SATA power connector whenever possible.
> Anna
>
Thanks, Anna, for your response. What threw me is that the caddies are
not offered separately. My thought is to keep all of my DVD and music
data on hdd's that I can swap at will, using the caddies to protect the
drives (as you say, the MR-125 units are not very expensive and I could
toss the racks of all but one or two, just keeping the caddies for the
hdd's. It sounds like this is what you must do.

WRT to the aluminum models, is it your feeling that the aluminum does
not help much with cooling? Also, you mention somewhere that you have
used the plastic models in a boatload of installations. Are the drives
running all of the time or are they only loaded for a short time and
then removed. I am trying to get a take on whether the drives will cook
in their little plastic coffins....

WRT to SATA, I am almost 100% SATA I and II, so that is not an issue.

Question: out of curiousity what is the issue with connecting a drive
using a Molex 4 wire connector versus the SATA standard connector? (My
power supply has both Molex and SATA modular power connectors and I have
only used the SATA connectors, even for two drives that were hybrid with
both Molex and SATA power connectors [older drives]

Second question: with all of the insertion and removal of caddies, have
you had many failures of the internal SATA connectors (power and data
cable) on the inside of the racks?

Many thanks for your extremely valuable input!
Ken K

news:6W3Sj.111$sv2.24@newsfe02.lga...
> Anna said the following on 4/30/2008 11:23 AM:
>>>>> ken k <kdkrone@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> I have been thinking about using a mobile rack and tray system to
>>>>>> >>>>>> swap out hard drives which store data, such as my music and
>>>>>> video DVD collections. One such system is this:
>>>>>> http://kingwin.com/mobileracktrays.asp
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Does anyone have any experience with these systems for home use? Do
>>>>>> the drives cook? Do the rack components (plastic) hold up over time?
>>>>>> Who makes a good one?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Thanks
>>>>>> Ken K
>>
>>
>>>> "Dave" <noway@nohow.not> wrote in message
>>>> news:20080429203159.736c1d7b.noway@nohow.not...
>>>> I've used those, including the ones you linked to. The drives DO
>>>> cook. Most of these things have a cooling fan, but it really doesn't
>>>> help. The rack components hold up fine over time. I had a problem
>>>> with them that you probably wouldn't have considered, and maybe it
>>>> doesn't apply to you. I was using them to "clone" IDE and SATA hard
>>>> drives. There's probably a better way to do that, but in my line of
>>>> work I had access to so many of those drive rack thingies that it
>>>> seemed silly not to use them. Anyway, the IDE ones, the internal
>>>> IDE cable where you mount the hard drive wears out quickly if you swap
>>>> drives often, and (at least the ones I've seen) the cable is soldered
>>>> to a little circuit board. Not a big deal if you don't plan to swap
>>>> drives often. Kingwin is a good brand. Another is Icy Dock. Don't let
>>>> the name fool you though, your hard drive will get hot as Hell in an
>>>> Icy Dock (ha ha) though that brand is no worse than any other, as far
>>>> as heat dissipation goes. And don't buy the hype. Some are said to
>>>> dissipate heat through contact with a large heatsink surface or
>>>> something. The problem is lack of airflow, even in the ones with the
>>>> fan. There is no room for airflow. So the metal ones that are
>>>> supposed to be cooler really aren't, as they don't allow more airflow
>>>> than the plastic ones. I'd suggest you try a plastic one with a fan,
>>>> if you must go that route. Note that your hard drive will still get
>>>> hot. But the fan has got to be better than nothing, even though it
>>>> doesn't seem to move enough air. -Dave
>>>>
>>>>
>>
>>>> Anna wrote...
>>>> Ken:
>>>> I see you raised the same query in the ...hardware.storage newsgroup.
>>>> The response you received from Tim Daniels pretty much parallels my
>>>> experience. I believe Tim was referring to me as the person who
>>>> recommended a particular make & model of mobile rack (removable hard
>>>> drive) device. (See below).
>>>>
>>>> We've been installing removable hard drives for about 10 years now.
>>>> I've probably installed or participated in the installation of these
>>>> devices a few thousand times over the years. We strongly recommend
>>>> their use for PC >> desktop machines. (As you probably know they are
>>>> not designed for laptops/notebooks.)
>>>>
>>>> Our experience with these mobile racks has been quite positive - unlike
>>>> the experience Dave cites. By & large we have found these devices quite
>>>> reliable and rarely have had heat-related problems with them.
>>>>
>>>> When we were working primarily with PATA HDDs we pretty much used >>
>>>> various Lian Li models (all-aluminum). In the past few years we've been
>>>> working primarily with SATA HDDs and now use the Athena Power MR->> 125
>>>> model (comes in beige & black) nearly exclusively. Newegg carries them
>>>> and happily they've very inexpensive. (Tim was referring to that model
>>>> >> in his response to you.)
>>>>
>>>> We've installed or have had experience with hundreds of the Athena MR-
>>>> 125 mobile racks and even though they're all-plastic we've rarely run
>>>> into >> any problems (heat-related or otherwise) with them.
>>>> Interestingly they have >> a bottom-mounted 80mm fan that's virtually
>>>> dead silent.
>>>>
>>>> We particularly like the fact that the Athena does not have a keylock
>>>> device as nearly every other mobile rack has, but rather a
>>>> push-button/lever affair that simplifies the ON-OFF insertion-removable
>>>> process. For one reason or another we're frequently switching the
>>>> removable trays/caddies and we prefer the Athena's device. But the
>>>> keylock if fine for most users.
>>>>
>>>> In any event, there are a slew of different makes & models of mobile
>>>> racks out there. Just do a Google search and check the major online
>>>> vendors such as newegg. But go that route. You'll never regret it
>>>> except for the fact that you didn't sooner equip your desktop PC with
>>>> one or two of those devices.
>>>> Anna
>>
>>
>>> Anna,
>>> OK, I am a smidge confused now that I have gone to the Athena Power
>>> website. The Kingwin setup has a rack that mounts in a 5 1/2" bay and
>>> there are trays in which one mounts the hdd. The tray is then
>>> installed/deinstalled into the "permanently" mounted rack in the
>>> computer.
>>>
>>> Looking at the Athena website, it appears that there is a rack, but I do
>>> not see a tray on which the hdd is mounted, which would imply that a hdd
>>> is handled without its being mounted in a tray or the Athena MR-125 is
>>> an entire unit that must somehow be slid into a "permanently" mounted
>>> rack in the computer. I must be missing something here..
>>>
>>> Can you clear this up for me?
>>>
>>> Thanks
>>> Ken K
>>
>>
>> Ken:
>> First of all I trust you understand that particular model of the Athena
>> mobile rack is designed to house a SATA HDD. I just wanted to make that
>> clear at the outset.
>>
>> The Athena MR-125 is identical to virtually every other mobile rack
>> designed to house a HDD in that it's a two-piece affair; the rack itself
>> which is affixed to the desktop PC's 5 1/4" bay (just like you would
>> affix an optical drive for example), and the removable tray (or caddy)
>> that slides in & out of the rack. So while the rack itself is
>> "permanently" mounted in the bay, the removable tray is just that, i.e.,
>> removable. You're right, neither the photos on the Athena site nor the
>> newegg site...
>> http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx? Item=N82E16817123302
>> show the removable tray, but trust me - the unit comes with the tray.
>> Incidentally (AFAIK) the tray is not sold separately but the whole unit
>> is relatively inexpensive - $20 including shipping from newegg.
>>
>> BTW, Athena does have an all-aluminum model, the MR-136SATA, see...
>> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811998021
>> A bit more expensive - $33 incl. shipping. We haven't worked with that
>> particular model but we're aware of some users who have and they're happy
>> with it. So if you're particularly interested in an all-aluminum model
>> you may want to look into that one.
>>
>> There is, however, one (possibly) major difference between the two
>> models. While the MR-125 (plastic) is equipped with the 4-pin Molex power
>> connector in addition to the 15-pin SATA power connector, the MR-136SATA
>> model comes with only the latter connector. In most cases this shouldn't
>> be an important consideration for the vast majority of users since their
>> power supply will provide SATA power connectors (or a Molex-to-SATA power
>> adapter can be used). And it's always advisable to provide power to a
>> SATA HDD using a 15-pin SATA power connector whenever possible.
>> Anna


> "Ken" <noreply@charter.net> wrote in message
> Thanks, Anna, for your response. What threw me is that the caddies are
> not offered separately. My thought is to keep all of my DVD and music
> data on hdd's that I can swap at will, using the caddies to protect the
> drives (as you say, the MR-125 units are not very expensive and I could
> toss the racks of all but one or two, just keeping the caddies for the
> hdd's. It sounds like this is what you must do.
>
> WRT to the aluminum models, is it your feeling that the aluminum does not
> help much with cooling? Also, you mention somewhere that you have used
> the plastic models in a boatload of installations. Are the drives
> running all of the time or are they only loaded for a short time and then
> removed. I am trying to get a take on whether the drives will cook in
> their little plastic coffins....
>
> WRT to SATA, I am almost 100% SATA I and II, so that is not an issue.
>
> Question: out of curiousity what is the issue with connecting a drive
> using a Molex 4 wire connector versus the SATA standard connector? (My
> power supply has both Molex and SATA modular power connectors and I have
> only used the SATA connectors, even for two drives that were hybrid with
> both Molex and SATA power connectors [older drives]
>
> Second question: with all of the insertion and removal of caddies, have
> you had many failures of the internal SATA connectors (power and data
> cable) on the inside of the racks?
>
> Many thanks for your extremely valuable input!
> Ken K


Ken:
All I can tell you is that we've encountered no heat-related problems with
the Athena plastic mobile racks noted above. Most users generally employ one
of the removable HDDs as their booting day-to-day working HDD, and should
they have installed two mobile racks the other rack is used for backup &
other data storage of one kind or another. So they get reasonably hard use.
I really don't think you'll encounter any heat-related problems with these
racks, or for that matter any other problem with them. Their failure rate
doesn't seem to be much different from any other major PC component and even
when they do fail (again, a rather rare event in our experience), we've
never encountered any problem with the HDD contained therein.

As to the Molex power connector...

SATA-II (or more precisely, SATA-IO) specifications call for using the
15-pin SATA power connector rather than the 4-pin Molex connector in order
for the drive to be "hot-pluggable" ("hot-swappable"). So all in all we feel
it's desirable to use the SATA 15-pin power connector whenever it's
available.

I must say, however, that in our experience, we've never run into any
problems re data loss/corruption when using a Molex power connector. But
with all the power supplies manufactured during the past few years it's
becoming a moot point since they're all equipped nowadays with (hopefully!)
sufficient SATA power connectors.

With respect to your second question - no, we haven't encountered
significant problems with the internal connectors of the mobile rack. As I
indicated above occasionally a rack will become defective but it's a
relatively rare event in our experience.

In any event, experiment with one or more. They're cheap enough.
Anna

Anna wrote:
> news:6W3Sj.111$sv2.24@newsfe02.lga...
>> Anna said the following on 4/30/2008 11:23 AM:
>>>>>> ken k <kdkrone@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I have been thinking about using a mobile rack and tray system to
>>>>>>> >>>>>> swap out hard drives which store data, such as my music and
>>>>>>> video DVD collections. One such system is this:
>>>>>>> http://kingwin.com/mobileracktrays.asp
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Does anyone have any experience with these systems for home use? Do
>>>>>>> the drives cook? Do the rack components (plastic) hold up over time?
>>>>>>> Who makes a good one?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Thanks
>>>>>>> Ken K
>>>
>>>>> "Dave" <noway@nohow.not> wrote in message
>>>>> news:20080429203159.736c1d7b.noway@nohow.not...
>>>>> I've used those, including the ones you linked to. The drives DO
>>>>> cook. Most of these things have a cooling fan, but it really doesn't
>>>>> help. The rack components hold up fine over time. I had a problem
>>>>> with them that you probably wouldn't have considered, and maybe it
>>>>> doesn't apply to you. I was using them to "clone" IDE and SATA hard
>>>>> drives. There's probably a better way to do that, but in my line of
>>>>> work I had access to so many of those drive rack thingies that it
>>>>> seemed silly not to use them. Anyway, the IDE ones, the internal
>>>>> IDE cable where you mount the hard drive wears out quickly if you swap
>>>>> drives often, and (at least the ones I've seen) the cable is soldered
>>>>> to a little circuit board. Not a big deal if you don't plan to swap
>>>>> drives often. Kingwin is a good brand. Another is Icy Dock. Don't let
>>>>> the name fool you though, your hard drive will get hot as Hell in an
>>>>> Icy Dock (ha ha) though that brand is no worse than any other, as far
>>>>> as heat dissipation goes. And don't buy the hype. Some are said to
>>>>> dissipate heat through contact with a large heatsink surface or
>>>>> something. The problem is lack of airflow, even in the ones with the
>>>>> fan. There is no room for airflow. So the metal ones that are
>>>>> supposed to be cooler really aren't, as they don't allow more airflow
>>>>> than the plastic ones. I'd suggest you try a plastic one with a fan,
>>>>> if you must go that route. Note that your hard drive will still get
>>>>> hot. But the fan has got to be better than nothing, even though it
>>>>> doesn't seem to move enough air. -Dave
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Anna wrote...
>>>>> Ken:
>>>>> I see you raised the same query in the ...hardware.storage newsgroup.
>>>>> The response you received from Tim Daniels pretty much parallels my
>>>>> experience. I believe Tim was referring to me as the person who
>>>>> recommended a particular make & model of mobile rack (removable hard
>>>>> drive) device. (See below).
>>>>>
>>>>> We've been installing removable hard drives for about 10 years now.
>>>>> I've probably installed or participated in the installation of these
>>>>> devices a few thousand times over the years. We strongly recommend
>>>>> their use for PC >> desktop machines. (As you probably know they are
>>>>> not designed for laptops/notebooks.)
>>>>>
>>>>> Our experience with these mobile racks has been quite positive - unlike
>>>>> the experience Dave cites. By & large we have found these devices quite
>>>>> reliable and rarely have had heat-related problems with them.
>>>>>
>>>>> When we were working primarily with PATA HDDs we pretty much used >>
>>>>> various Lian Li models (all-aluminum). In the past few years we've been
>>>>> working primarily with SATA HDDs and now use the Athena Power MR->> 125
>>>>> model (comes in beige & black) nearly exclusively. Newegg carries them
>>>>> and happily they've very inexpensive. (Tim was referring to that model
>>>>> >> in his response to you.)
>>>>>
>>>>> We've installed or have had experience with hundreds of the Athena MR-
>>>>> 125 mobile racks and even though they're all-plastic we've rarely run
>>>>> into >> any problems (heat-related or otherwise) with them.
>>>>> Interestingly they have >> a bottom-mounted 80mm fan that's virtually
>>>>> dead silent.
>>>>>
>>>>> We particularly like the fact that the Athena does not have a keylock
>>>>> device as nearly every other mobile rack has, but rather a
>>>>> push-button/lever affair that simplifies the ON-OFF insertion-removable
>>>>> process. For one reason or another we're frequently switching the
>>>>> removable trays/caddies and we prefer the Athena's device. But the
>>>>> keylock if fine for most users.
>>>>>
>>>>> In any event, there are a slew of different makes & models of mobile
>>>>> racks out there. Just do a Google search and check the major online
>>>>> vendors such as newegg. But go that route. You'll never regret it
>>>>> except for the fact that you didn't sooner equip your desktop PC with
>>>>> one or two of those devices.
>>>>> Anna
>>>
>>>> Anna,
>>>> OK, I am a smidge confused now that I have gone to the Athena Power
>>>> website. The Kingwin setup has a rack that mounts in a 5 1/2" bay and
>>>> there are trays in which one mounts the hdd. The tray is then
>>>> installed/deinstalled into the "permanently" mounted rack in the
>>>> computer.
>>>>
>>>> Looking at the Athena website, it appears that there is a rack, but I do
>>>> not see a tray on which the hdd is mounted, which would imply that a hdd
>>>> is handled without its being mounted in a tray or the Athena MR-125 is
>>>> an entire unit that must somehow be slid into a "permanently" mounted
>>>> rack in the computer. I must be missing something here..
>>>>
>>>> Can you clear this up for me?
>>>>
>>>> Thanks
>>>> Ken K
>>>
>>> Ken:
>>> First of all I trust you understand that particular model of the Athena
>>> mobile rack is designed to house a SATA HDD. I just wanted to make that
>>> clear at the outset.
>>>
>>> The Athena MR-125 is identical to virtually every other mobile rack
>>> designed to house a HDD in that it's a two-piece affair; the rack itself
>>> which is affixed to the desktop PC's 5 1/4" bay (just like you would
>>> affix an optical drive for example), and the removable tray (or caddy)
>>> that slides in & out of the rack. So while the rack itself is
>>> "permanently" mounted in the bay, the removable tray is just that, i.e.,
>>> removable. You're right, neither the photos on the Athena site nor the
>>> newegg site...
>>> http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx? Item=N82E16817123302
>>> show the removable tray, but trust me - the unit comes with the tray.
>>> Incidentally (AFAIK) the tray is not sold separately but the whole unit
>>> is relatively inexpensive - $20 including shipping from newegg.
>>>
>>> BTW, Athena does have an all-aluminum model, the MR-136SATA, see...
>>> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811998021
>>> A bit more expensive - $33 incl. shipping. We haven't worked with that
>>> particular model but we're aware of some users who have and they're happy
>>> with it. So if you're particularly interested in an all-aluminum model
>>> you may want to look into that one.
>>>
>>> There is, however, one (possibly) major difference between the two
>>> models. While the MR-125 (plastic) is equipped with the 4-pin Molex power
>>> connector in addition to the 15-pin SATA power connector, the MR-136SATA
>>> model comes with only the latter connector. In most cases this shouldn't
>>> be an important consideration for the vast majority of users since their
>>> power supply will provide SATA power connectors (or a Molex-to-SATA power
>>> adapter can be used). And it's always advisable to provide power to a
>>> SATA HDD using a 15-pin SATA power connector whenever possible.
>>> Anna
>
>
>> "Ken" <noreply@charter.net> wrote in message
>> Thanks, Anna, for your response. What threw me is that the caddies are
>> not offered separately. My thought is to keep all of my DVD and music
>> data on hdd's that I can swap at will, using the caddies to protect the
>> drives (as you say, the MR-125 units are not very expensive and I could
>> toss the racks of all but one or two, just keeping the caddies for the
>> hdd's. It sounds like this is what you must do.
>>
>> WRT to the aluminum models, is it your feeling that the aluminum does not
>> help much with cooling? Also, you mention somewhere that you have used
>> the plastic models in a boatload of installations. Are the drives
>> running all of the time or are they only loaded for a short time and then
>> removed. I am trying to get a take on whether the drives will cook in
>> their little plastic coffins....
>>
>> WRT to SATA, I am almost 100% SATA I and II, so that is not an issue.
>>
>> Question: out of curiousity what is the issue with connecting a drive
>> using a Molex 4 wire connector versus the SATA standard connector? (My
>> power supply has both Molex and SATA modular power connectors and I have
>> only used the SATA connectors, even for two drives that were hybrid with
>> both Molex and SATA power connectors [older drives]
>>
>> Second question: with all of the insertion and removal of caddies, have
>> you had many failures of the internal SATA connectors (power and data
>> cable) on the inside of the racks?
>>
>> Many thanks for your extremely valuable input!
>> Ken K
>
>
> Ken:
> All I can tell you is that we've encountered no heat-related problems with
> the Athena plastic mobile racks noted above. Most users generally employ one
> of the removable HDDs as their booting day-to-day working HDD, and should
> they have installed two mobile racks the other rack is used for backup &
> other data storage of one kind or another. So they get reasonably hard use.
> I really don't think you'll encounter any heat-related problems with these
> racks, or for that matter any other problem with them. Their failure rate
> doesn't seem to be much different from any other major PC component and even
> when they do fail (again, a rather rare event in our experience), we've
> never encountered any problem with the HDD contained therein.
>
> As to the Molex power connector...
>
> SATA-II (or more precisely, SATA-IO) specifications call for using the
> 15-pin SATA power connector rather than the 4-pin Molex connector in order
> for the drive to be "hot-pluggable" ("hot-swappable"). So all in all we feel
> it's desirable to use the SATA 15-pin power connector whenever it's
> available.
>
> I must say, however, that in our experience, we've never run into any
> problems re data loss/corruption when using a Molex power connector. But
> with all the power supplies manufactured during the past few years it's
> becoming a moot point since they're all equipped nowadays with (hopefully!)
> sufficient SATA power connectors.
>
> With respect to your second question - no, we haven't encountered
> significant problems with the internal connectors of the mobile rack. As I
> indicated above occasionally a rack will become defective but it's a
> relatively rare event in our experience.
>
> In any event, experiment with one or more. They're cheap enough.
> Anna
>
>
Many, many thanks to you for sharing your experience!

Ken K