Hard drive docking stations
 

Good or bad?

limitations?

comparison to external hard drive enclosures?

Would it give an internal hard drive functions like a usb 'thumb drive'?

Would it work as a 'port' to access the occasional internal hard drive without cracking open the case or enclosure?

Could you use a docking port on a DVR with an external USB connector?


a product like this is what i'm talking about:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817198048

http://www.icydock.com/icy_tip/icyti...-tip_title.jpg
http://www.icydock.com/icy_tip/icyti...le_Adapter.jpg

The only reason I can think of for using this is if you have multiple drives and you want to switch back and forth without having to take the enclosure apart.

Otherwise, I imagine they're almost identical to a normal SATA-USB enclosure.

switching back and forth is what i want it for

I don't switch a ton but when i do it would be much easier to just plug and play like a usb thumb drive.


do you think it would work with a DVR hard drive usb port?

My new mid-tower came with a Hard Drive docking station built in. It's kinda nice and i've already used it once to pull the data off a crashed HD. But i can't imagine i'd use it very often. The one time i used it may be the only time i ever use it.

Hotswap drives with a Drobo, if that's in your price range. They're incredible...

http://www.drobo.com/storage-products/drobo/

I have used one for a while to backup my PC's using old laptop drives.

Ive been using a Vantec NexStar in my bedroom and a Thermaltake BlacX in my man cave for a few years now. Both work fine but I had to replace the Vantec after a year (luckily it went out 2 days before the warranty was up) and the Thermaltake is definitely better quality.

I really only use them for playing drives full of HD mkv movies so I cant answer your questions. Ive gone full digital with my movie library and have around 20 1 TB drives that I switch out depending on what I want to watch. The one in my bedroom is hooked directly to my PC and the one in my man cave is hooked to a WDTV Live Plus.

I've deployed single bay eSATA/USB 2 BlacX across my team and have a new 4 bay USB3/eSATA BlacX dock that's just waiting for an asset tag before it becomes a permanent fixture on my desk.

I deal with internal drives as external storage on a daily basis and the BlacX has been great.

If you go with an eSATA connection I have seen some funny things, especially with really raw WD Red drives, but it's not that hard to get them initialized and formatted.