Recommend me a drive adapter

[JackSpadesSI]

I use this case for my WHS: www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?...82E16811121001

I’ve already got 3 hard drives in the case for my server and I’d like to add one more. When I bought the case I thought I could use one of the external 3.5” bays, but I just now noticed that those bays lack the appropriate screw holes for mounting a hard drive.

Please recommend me a good adapter to mount a 3.5” hard drive in the 5.25” bays. The adapter must be available from Newegg.com or Amazon.com.

Thanks!

 

[Zap]

I would recommend a multiple drive bay adapter. Several companies make them in various styles. I've seen them range from taking up two 5.25" drive bays to three, and offering three to four 3.5" drive spots. Most include a front fan. Some have air space between the drives, and some even use grommets. They are really basic so you just need to choose one that looks good to you, and is in your price range.

 

[JackSpadesSI]

Well, I don't need anything that adds that many 3.5" drive spots. I only have one more SATA port on my motherboard, anyway. I'm just looking for a 1-to-1 adapter to put one 3.5" hard drive into one 5.25" bay.

I would appreciate a specific recommendation, as the only adapters I've found looked to be flimsy in construction. My budget is $20 for this.

Thanks again!

 

[aigomorla]

What about racks like these?

Takes up 3 5 1/4 bays, to store 5 hard drives:

There called hotswap bays.

 

[zagood]

These are relatively cheap and painless:
http://www.google.com/products/cata...og_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDMQ8wIwAg#

 

[Zap]

I'm just looking for a 1-to-1 adapter to put one 3.5" hard drive into one 5.25" bay.

I would appreciate a specific recommendation, as the only adapters I've found looked to be flimsy in construction.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811993004

That should meet your requirements. It is from Newegg, is a specific recommendation, is within your $20 budget (even including shipping/tax) and is all steel construction so is anything but flimsy. In fact, it is probably thicker steel than your case.

 

[zagood]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811993004

That should meet your requirements. It is from Newegg, is a specific recommendation, is within your $20 budget (even including shipping/tax) and is all steel construction so is anything but flimsy. In fact, it is probably thicker steel than your case.

I haven't used that exact one, but I used one similar and it seemed like it almost amplified the HDD vibration noise; which is why I recommended the one I did. My 2c.

 

[JackSpadesSI]

I would recommend a multiple drive bay adapter. Several companies make them in various styles. I've seen them range from taking up two 5.25" drive bays to three, and offering three to four 3.5" drive spots. Most include a front fan. Some have air space between the drives, and some even use grommets. They are really basic so you just need to choose one that looks good to you, and is in your price range.

Do you mean something like what aigomorla posted with pictures? How do the hard drives connect with SATA and power?

aigomorla, do you have a picture of the inside of that case showing the SATA and power connections to hard drives?

 

[JackSpadesSI]

These are relatively cheap and painless:
http://www.google.com/products/cata...og_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDMQ8wIwAg#

This is a pretty good suggestion! I had found the one that Zap linked from Newegg - and I suppose I was way off about the flimsiness of it (I couldn't tell how think that was).

Do you believe the model you showed from the Google search is secure enough for a server hard drive that is used to back-up important data? I'm not looking for it to be earthquake-proof... just enough that when my cat jumps on the server case it won't knock the HDD loose!

 

[aigomorla]

Do you mean something like what aigomorla posted with pictures? How do the hard drives connect with SATA and power?

aigomorla, do you have a picture of the inside of that case showing the SATA and power connections to hard drives?

this is the one i have:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817994028

There are cheaper solutions tho:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817998145

 

[zagood]

That Scythe adapter is pretty stable, shouldn't have any problems with it.

If there's even a possibility of adding another hard drive in the future though, I'd look into hotswap bays.

 

[Zap]

Do you mean something like what aigomorla posted with pictures? How do the hard drives connect with SATA and power?

No, I meant something like this. A number of companies make similar drive bays, you just have to shop around. Besides what I linked, I recall Cooler Master, Lian Li, Silverstone, Thermaltake just off the top of my head. I've even seen smaller ones that only take two 5.25" bays using an 80mm fan in front. The drives bolt into the device, which bolts into 5.25" bays. The back of the drive can be accessed so you would plug in cables just like you normally do.

 

[JackSpadesSI]

Should a 3.5" hard drive fit into *any* 3.5" bay in a computer case? I've got 3x 3.5" bays that are meant for hard drives, and 2x other 3.5" bays.

The odd thing is that only one of the other 3.5" bays allows for external access (I guess for a floppy drive?).

So, what the heck is the other 3.5" bay for if it isn't external and it isn't stamped "HDD" like the first 3?

 

[Zap]

IDK what the other bay is for, but as for normal 3.5" external bays, they will all physically fit the HDD, but some won't have screw holes that line up. That's because the external drives use different screw mount patterns than HDDs.

 

[JackSpadesSI]

Thanks for all the help, everyone. I ended up ordering this:
http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=2542

I hope it works well enough!