3-in-2/4-in-3 **SATA** drive cages

[SUOrangeman]

I'm looking to house my three SATA drives in a somewhat unified removeable drive cage. Of the handful of models currently available, the Proware MS223A has really caught my attention. Why? It uses a key-locking mechanism similar to the single-drive IDE caddies I've used for years. Like my IDE caddies, I am hoping that this unit does not power the drive unless the key lock is fully engaged. (I ultimately envision powering up one of the drives on ocassion, but not every bootup. However, I'd like to not remove the drive from the cage just to achieve that desire. I'm not interesting in hot swap, so I'd be fully powering down my system before dis/engaging individual drives.)

Proware MS223A and MS324A

Some other units out there include:

BowSystem BPQ-230SATA | BPA-220SATA | BPA-340SATA | BPW-340 SATA
Cremax ICY Dock MB235SPF
Super Micro CSE-M34T and CSE-M35T-1
Yeoung-Yang SI-(I can't find the model numbers)

Anyone been exposed to these guys (or their IDE counterparts). Can I leave a single drive in the cage *unlocked* and it won't power up at boot? What about overall noise/heat?

-SUO

 

[Zepper]

There are at least two and three-way drive switches out there - a cheap two-way is called the Nik-lock. I think newegg has it. Much less expensive than those drive cages.
.bh.

 

[SUOrangeman]

No, I'm not really looking for a drive switch. I have three SATA drives that I would like to house in one of these drive cages. However, I'm particularly interested in a drive cage where I can leave the third drive in, but not have it powered up (say, the drive is in the cage, but it's not in the locked position). I fully expect to use the other two drives at all times.

Sure, I could just get three removable caddies and place one drive in each. However, if I can reduce the "footprint" in my case to just two external drive bays, with a self-contained cooling solution (with thermal alarm), and retain the option of not powering up a particular drive without physically removing it, the additional cost may be something I'm willing to handle.

-SUO