• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

External enclosure help and recommendations

N

null

Limp Gawd
Joined
Apr 17, 2006
Messages
474
I'd like to move my backup drives to external enclosures so I can store them in my closet or another room. My goal is just to get them out of my case, but I also don't want them to wind up on my desk.

I'm currently looking at 4 bay enclosures; I'd like to avoid raid. I've never purchased external storage devices before though, so I have some questions that'll hopefully guide me in the right direction:

1. What are reliable brands? I'm currently considering Vantec and Mediasonic.

2. How long can a USB cable be before it becomes flaky? I ask b/c I'll need a USB cable about 15 feet long to put this in my closet. Might that length cause reliability problems? Is there a better way to connect given how far away it'll be? I'm aware of NAS over the network, but prefer an external enclosure if possible b/c it appears simpler.

3. Does connecting via USB allow for the enclosure to power on and off w/the host machine?

Here are the 2 enclosures I'm currently considering:

NewEgg: Vantec NexStar 4 Bay HDD Enclosure

NewEgg: Mediasonic 4 Bay External Enclosure

NewEgg: Mediasonic 8 Bay External Enclosure


Any thoughts or better recommendations?
 
Last edited:
I couldn't buy enclosures with drive size limitations (3TB and 4TB respectively for those). You might be ok with that now, but in the future you might not be happy about that.

Lengthening USB cables is just asking for problems and slow transfers. It looks like ~10 feet is about the maximum recommended length for USB 3.0. You might be able to get away with more but performance will likely suffer.

You could probably buy a used PC for about half as much money, that you can put your drives into, and turn into a NAS.
 
Vantec is rock solid. I've heard good things about the Mediasonic as well. Drive limitations on units within a couple generations of each other are often not really limitations as they just specify the current max drive available at the time. This isn't always the case of course.

My issue with multi-drive external enclosures is the port multiplier often renders the usage of SMART tools inoperable, which is a big deal.
 
timta2 said:
You could probably buy a used PC for about half as much money, that you can put your drives into, and turn into a NAS.
Click to expand...
This is an option too. I have parts to go this route but want to see what external enclosures offer first; they seem simpler to deal with, maybe. Partly due to requiring less space and power, and partly due to (hopefully) being able to power on and off w/the host machine.
 
rive22 said:
Vantec is rock solid. I've heard good things about the Mediasonic as well. Drive limitations on units within a couple generations of each other are often not really limitations as they just specify the current max drive available at the time.

Regarding cable length. You need an "active" extension cable like below. Shop around for some cheaper ones.

http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-...sim_147_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=1JSFMT20E9WEFX8YKH5M
Click to expand...
All good to know, thanks!

Regarding storage size limitations, I'll probably read reviews and see if any one has been able to exceed them reliably before purchasing.
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
Have any of you had any luck attaching an external enclosure to a router via USB, and having the enclosure or drives appear available over the network?

I'll likely move my modem and router to another room more central in my home. I'm curious if attaching one of the enclosures above to the router via usb is an option.
 
FYI you can get a 100 foot usb 3.0 cable for a premium. They sell them on newegg but i bet price shopping can get them cheaper. The distance was 10-15 feet or meters (I forget which metric) before the signal has issues. Passed that range requires a special cable with a signal booster
 
I own both the Vantec and Mediasonic enclosures, the Vantec is a POS, all plastic and awful. I had it connected to my MAC and had nothing but USB 3 connection issues so I replaced it. Vantec has made solid enclosures for years, but for some reason this one is garbage. The mediasonic I have offers RAID which I use and its been solid for years, I use it via eSATA.
 
There is a tiny bit of aluminium around the top, thats it, the rest is plastic, worst of all the drive caddies, if you can call them that, are plastic and shit.
 
ashman said:
I own both the Vantec and Mediasonic enclosures, the Vantec is a POS, all plastic and awful. I had it connected to my MAC and had nothing but USB 3 connection issues so I replaced it. Vantec has made solid enclosures for years, but for some reason this one is garbage. The mediasonic I have offers RAID which I use and its been solid for years, I use it via eSATA.
Click to expand...
Thank you, very good to know. I was leaning towards the Vantec b/c I'm able to find out more on them than Mediasonic, but I'll probably go with Mediasonic now.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top