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Power Switch on Internal Drives---Crazy?

GeezerMan

GeezerMan

Platinum Member
OK, I'm thinking of mounting some internal drives into my Antec P150 case since it has the room. I just like the idea of having internal storage. I'm also thinking of putting power switches on them since I might not need to access the data very often, and why keep them running if I don't need access. I might even use them for image backups as well. Yes, I know I could also use external drives, or set up a raid. Any pros or cons to putting a power switch on a drive and keeping the data cable connected? The P150 case has plenty of holes on the back, and a small little toggle switch could easily be installed. If windows is running, is it possible to turn on a drive? I know external drives are recognized when turned on, but they are connected via USB and not directly like these would be. I know the drive letters would have to be different. Thanks
 
Would you unplug power to a hard drive while your computer is on? No? Then I wouldn't install a switch.

Use windows power management to spin them down if you want to.
 
Thanks. I forgot about the power management. I also kinda like the idea of having a duplicate drive just waiting there in case I have a drive failure, loaded with my core programs. I just flip a switch and I'm ready to go. I guess a raid setup could do the same thing. I'm just toying with some different ideas.
 
Setting HDDs to turn off via power management is more appropriate for when not using the PC at all and indeed additional drives are likely to inadvertently spin up while using the boot drive.

Cycling drives causes more wear than leaving them on and obviously more noise so yeah, it would be best to toggle them off with a switch when not used for longer durations.

They could optionally be installed in trays for use in a switched front-bay rack, or perhaps an internal or external "hot-swap" rack where the drive is removeable (no tray involved).

If the storage controller and drives are not hot-swappable (SATA 3G spec) then they will need to be disabled/enabled in Device Manager before switching off/on. Here's a guide on how to do that easily.
 
Thanks. I see you have some of the same ideas as I, but your technical knowledge surpasses mine. I had the idea like you of attaching an extension to the power cable and adding a switch to that. Avoids altering the power supply lines. Of course, I could avoid all of the windows issues by just flipping the switch prior to starting the PC. Maybe I just want the excuse to solder up something. Hmmm.
 
Standard drives and controllers on desktop motherboards ARE NOT hot swappable for Data or power..... You could have a switch, but you'd have to power off the machine, turn the drive on, and turn the machine back on again. Same for wanting to turn said drive(s) off.

 
Originally posted by: GeezerMan
OK, I'm thinking of mounting some internal drives into my Antec P150 case since it has the room. I just like the idea of having internal storage. I'm also thinking of putting power switches on them since I might not need to access the data very often, and why keep them running if I don't need access. I might even use them for image backups as well. Yes, I know I could also use external drives, or set up a raid. Any pros or cons to putting a power switch on a drive and keeping the data cable connected? The P150 case has plenty of holes on the back, and a small little toggle switch could easily be installed. If windows is running, is it possible to turn on a drive? I know external drives are recognized when turned on, but they are connected via USB and not directly like these would be. I know the drive letters would have to be different. Thanks
Click to expand...

Windows has an option to turn off drives when not in use.

Standard drives and controllers on desktop motherboards ARE NOT hot swappable for Data or power..... You could have a switch, but you'd have to power off the machine, turn the drive on, and turn the machine back on again. Same for wanting to turn said drive(s) off.
Click to expand...

I've done it, they are hot swappable, though it's probably a bad idea.
 
With a big enough tower, you can install drives in mobile racks which already have switches. Of course, they are not "hot" switchable, but they can be turned on and off with any power down and reboot. With two racks, you can have the master OS drive supported by several drives mounted in internal trays that can be put in second rack.

As for power management doing the job, I was not aware that internal drives could be so treated individually. I thought that power management applied the same rules to all internal drives.

Ihave three internal PATA drives, but only use one. The other two have their power plugs pulled. They are reserve drives - duplicates of #1. Your switches would work there, and ifthey were internal, then there would be no problem with inadvertant hot switching. You would have to power down, open the case, and hit the switches.

There have been drive selector switches on the market, but they are now out of business (Romtec, Trios I and II.) I have used them and they work safely - the switch only works on a power off reboot. But, it allowed selection of 1, 2, or 3 PATA drives.

Trios

Idex

Ghetto
 
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