Removable HDD rack questions..

[nortexoid]

I just bought one, aside from the rumors (or perhaps fact?) that they can
corrupt drive integrity/data - is there any factual information regarding these claims?

also, the box that it came in says it's "hot swappable"...this means that i can
take the drive out while the computer is on and put it back in while it's on - doesn' it?
i was under the impression that this CANNOT be done...but what do i know..
i've yet to try it...also, i think when u turn the key to off position it shuts the power
to the drive off - thus making it hot swappable..but will windows properly recognize that
the hdd is no longer powered (not there) and then re-detect it after it's inserted and powered up again?...doesn't sound safe.

and, is there really any big differences between hdd racks?...i.e. good vs. bad ones.

Athlon classic 700@791 113 fsb
Asus K7M
Asus V6600 @ 160core/210mem (det. 6.49)
128MB PC100@113 Cas2
MX300 (ref. vortex 2 drivers)
5X Creative DVD
20GB 7200 fujitsu, 8.4GB maxtor

 

[Viperoni]

dunno about the claims, but everything else is correct.
You do have to worry about proper handling of the drives (bumping them will mess them up obviosuly)

 

[damien6]

This is the first time I ever heard of such "rumors" but personally I haven't had any such problems.

Now I'm guess in you're talking about IDE removable racks. Honestly, I used them but I never did a hot swap while the PC was running so I can't tell you anything for sure. I just had the IDE controllers in the bios set to auto and just used it as a removable HD.

Only problems that I've seen are that the contacts sometimes gets loose or worn down a little and the drives themselves gets little warm for comfort. The mobile racks I was using had a fan in the rear which they charge few dollars more but it really didn't do jack for cooling. The cheeaper ones comes in plastic casings and the expensive ones come in aluminum/metal casings. Don't know about IDE but I know some of the ones for scsi drives comes w/fan/s in the front of the racks drawing air onto the HD.

For data redundancy/extra storage in PC cases w/fewer drive bays these might be a good idea but in most PC systems, I don't recommend them. I thought it was pretty cool idea at first but these days w/huge HDs readily available at cheaper prices, I can see that many uses for them unless you're running multiple raid drives that needs to be swapped out at moments notice.

 

[nortexoid]

the reason i use it for exchanging large amounts of data (i.e. mp3 files) to others' computers.
it's definitely faster than cdrw and obviously holsd more data...did i mention it looks cool?

yes, mine has a fan directly in the front and a spot for another fan, which i added myself from
an older socket 7 heatsink/fan combo i had...i felt it after oeprating, and it's cool....
plus it's not accessed a damn lot since it is my secondary mp3 (and various other infrequently accessed media) drive...mp3 playing isn't exactly disk intensive.

contacts wear down?...damn, that sounds like crap...and this more than often will inevitably happen???
thx.

 

[JackMDS]

I use them for few years never had a problem, but I never Hot Swapped.

I actually keep a small old 3.2GB drive for the sole purpose of trying new Drivers (nVidia daily Betas ?he he?), and other questionable staff. If every think works, I will install it on my main working drive, and clean back the extra small drive. This way I avoid major crashes on my main working computer.

Hot swapping ??? For the Main Drive C: ???
It kind of funny to expect that it will work under Windows. Win XX, constantly save release, and change content on the drive. One can not expect that the new swappable drive will have precognition to include the exact same files (tmp, swp), as the taken out working Drive.

I never tried, but for a secondary Data Drive in a period when nothing is ?written or read?, I don?t see any reason that it will not work. The Hot Swappable are usually $5-$10 more.

Good selection of this staff:
http://www.computergate.com/cgi-bin/search?sn=413682003173144&cd=J5ID01&ty=sf

 

[nortexoid]

my bad, I meant to mention that it was for my secondary drive...if i didn't mention it...
obviously, i'd never try to hot swap the primary disk in any OS whatsoever...especially windows..
although, windows does remain idle once cache/swap files are idle...so theoretically, it could work...

 

[JackMDS]

Yeah it is idle but the cache, and the Swap file are not the same as the ones on the second drive that you will put in.

 

[corkyg]

I usde them regularly . . . two per system on 5 computers so far. Hot swap . . . no! The drives have to be seen during the POST test and then during Windows loading.

As for the connectors wearing . . . not if you get good ones . . . Centronics connectors, male and female. Pin connectors are lame and should be avoided. Plastic bows to aluminum. They now support ATA 100. The best I have found are FF-21 Series, Aluminum Mobile Rack w/ Ball Bearing fans and ATA 100 capable. They are about $30 off the shelf locally at SWS.

I rotate three drives through two racks (you need an extra inner tray, they are about $19.) You can use them for multiple OS's . . . or replacement drives (total backups), or for rotation for other purposes.

For full rotation flexibility you need CSEL cables and the drives set to CS. Then you can rotate them freely without ever worrying about jumpers.

As for corrupting data . . . that's an old wive's tale.. All it is is a linked ribbon to the HDD. Unless you have physical damage for some reason, there's not logical way to corrupt data.

 

[nortexoid]

that's what i'm thinking - the people corrupted their data not from the rack, but from jarring the drive around while moving it around in the rack...

hmm...mine isn't totally aluminum - top and bottom on the rack...

anyway, i meant hot-swapping after it's loaded windows...not before POST or loading windows...
so swapping hte secondary drive while windows has already recognized it...

as for intercompatibility - are racks built one some sort of standard of intercompatibiltiy?...
or can i NOT use one rack with another brand rack?...(i.e. because they don't line up, use diff. connectors, etc.)?

 

[corkyg]

OK . . . the inner tray is hardware specific to the mobile rack for a number of reasons, but connector mating is the main one. As long as they are all the same brand, the inner trays can be swapped.

You can't swap the inner tray from brand X with brand Y.


I never light up more than one drive at a timne when running Windows because each has several partitions, and that would screw everything up.

If you had no partitions, that would not be a problem . . . but!

 

[nortexoid]

damn these bastards...they should be forced to build according to some sort of standard to different brands are intercompatible...oh well...thx for the heads up on my next hdd rack prucahse..