I need an enclosure for many external hard drives

[ThePanda]

I currently have a full tower computer with like 7 hard drives in it, and I'm thinking of getting a new computer because this one is old and crashes all the time. I want a small one so I can transport it, but I also still want to be able to retrieve files off my other hard drives. Is there any way to connect some type of enclosure with a bunch of hard drives in it to a computer, maybe as a firewire or usb device? I will only transfer from one hard drive at a time so it doesn't need to be super fast.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

 

[sep]

If you asking for an external enclosure for 1 hard drive then checkout Hot Deals Forum. I found one for $36bucks shipped that supports USB2.0. If you need more than one hard drive mounted in the enclosure then you might be able to get an enclosure with more than one fireware port and daisy chain them.

Good Luck!
-JC

 

[ThePanda]

Does something like this exist?: a big case that holds like 10 hard drives and can be connected to a computer through one connector. It seems like that should be cheaper than 10 separate enclosures.

 

[ThePanda]

bump.

Is nothing like this exists I will probably just keep my huge case and get a new motherboard + cpu

 

[GlassGhost]

Originally posted by: ThePanda
Does something like this exist?: a big case that holds like 10 hard drives and can be connected to a computer through one connector. It seems like that should be cheaper than 10 separate enclosures.

There is. Forgive me though, I forget the name of the company. They carry a line of IDE RAID systems based on firewire as the method of data transport. They carry a line of external enclosures/cases to hold the drives that also provide the power and firewire connection. Search around on google, I thni you'll find what you are looking for.

 

[Zap]

$15.99 3+1 port PCI Firewire card @ Compgeeks

$47.95 Dual 3.5-inch Firewire Drive Bay Case w/ 80w Power Supply @ Compgeeks

You'll need a few of these drive cases, but each one holds two drives and I think these are daisy-chainable. Firewire should have enough bandwidth plus has very low CPU utilization compared to USB. They are also hot-pluggable so for times you don't need to access them, don't need to turn them on.

Heck, don't know why I didn't think of this for myself earlier. I have an older computer running as my file server with four hard drives in it (Celeron 366@550 on an Abit BX133-RAID). Should just pick up two of these drive bays (got Firewire on my Abit IS7).