Looking for 3.5" external hdd enclosure

[balloonshark]

My Rosewill bit the dust tonight. I was going to do a data migration to an ssd and heard a little rattle in the case. It ended up being a teeny tiny resistor that I luckily found before powering it up. Lesson learned I'm done with Rosewill and I don't want an exposed board that the drive slides on when installing and removing the drive.

I'm looking for an external powered 3.5" enclosure that I can also use for 2.5" hdd's and ssds. It doesn't need to be super portable and will only be occasionally used for imaging, backups and cloning. The interfaces I have are USB 3.0 and 2.0 and esata. USB 3.0 would probably work fine. Currently my largest drive is 1TB but future proofing would be nice. Having a fan and aluminum would be a bonus since my drive is 7200 rpm.

 

[VirtualLarry]

If you are going to be removing the drive often, why not get a dock instead?

 

[balloonshark]

If you are going to be removing the drive often, why not get a dock instead?

Sorry I was not clear. It won't be removed much. I just have two computers that I'm switching to SSD's soon. Other then that I would only remove the drive to troubleshoot problems. The enclosure will also never leave my home.

 

[ronbo613]

I probably have at least ten external enclosures of different makes. I've had pretty good luck with them, but more recently, I've found it easier to use a dock and just keep all my extra hard drives in a box. Less space taken up, less hassle.

 

[corkyg]

I agree with the dock. Vantec makes a good one - will take a 3.5 and 2.5 or two of each type. Handy to use - drives can be left in them.

 

[balloonshark]

The docks tend to hold the drive vertically. I realize my use of the dock will be limited. Isn't it better for the drive to run horizontally?

 

[dave_the_nerd]

The docks tend to hold the drive vertically. I realize my use of the dock will be limited. Isn't it better for the drive to run horizontally?

As long as it doesn't move, it doesn't really matter. Many case designs hold HDDs at nontraditional angles.

We have a couple of these at work too - holds 84 drives vertically.

Backblaze enclosures hold them tail down.

Etc.

 

[balloonshark]

Thanks Dave. For some reason I though I read that mounting horizontally was better for the drive.

I just ordered this dock. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KBNSVNO/