VPN: SBAY5BKStarTech SBAY5BK 5 Drive 3.5in Removable SAS SATA Mobile Rack Backplane
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 Rating: Review Date: 05/28/12 |
StarTech SBAY5BK 5 Drive 3.5in Removable SAS SATA Mobile Rack Backplane
Cons:Drive bays sometimes stick.
Pros:Does SAS and Sata.Fits a lot of drives into 3 x 5.25".Fans are reasonably quiet.Cable connectors are well organized. |
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Rating: Review Date: 05/18/12 |
StarTech SBAY5BK 5 Drive 3.5in Removable SAS SATA Mobile Rack Backplane
Cons:the 'locks' are just hex keys. any screwdriver will open them, as will those tools ikea gives you with all their furniture.
Pros:easily fits 5 drives in 3 slots without the need for trays - it's a trayless HOTSWAP backplain. Doors have locks on them. 2 power connectors for 5 drives Comment:
I've wanted one of these for a few years now but could never find them. Specifically I mean a TRAYLESS 5-in-3 backplain. I've been using ones with trays this whole time, but find the various trays are really annoying. You have to buy additional ones for each harddrive you plan on POSSIBLY using, which just makes costs skyrocket. I have 3 sets of drives for each system using these - one in the machine, one offline and onsite, and one offline and off-site. So that means having to buy 10 extra trays, and at $30 a pop, the cost adds up quickly.Enter this little beauty, and you just buy the device itself. No extra trays will ever be needed, which is fantastic.Speed wise, even though it says Sata II, it's just a passthrough connector essentially, so if your controller supports Sata III, then this will work at the faster speed.My one big complaint is it uses two 60mm fans, which can be loud at times. And finally a small complaint - the 'locks' on the drive bay doors are simple hexagone. They can easily be opened with a simple hexagon screwdriver, or the tool ikea gives you to put together furniture.One final note: I got this on sale for $59.99, which is a STEAL. That used to be the cost of 2 extra drive trays on my old backplain! |
I bought two of these for my home server, and at first I thought they were both broken. Should've read the instructions first, because there's two sets of connectors for each drive at the back, one for SATA, one for SAS. The SATA ones are black, SAS are yellow, so of course I didn't even see the SATA ones, and just plugged into the SAS connectors.When connected properly, the units work great, definitely make dealing with drive failures and replacements a lot easier.However, the drive doors stick a little, and the first bay in one of the units I bought doesn't open properly, all other drives have to be removed and the first drive need to be pushed out from the back. So watch out for build quality issues like this.