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SATA Enclosure FAQ

Here are the most common questions about our SATA Enclosures
Do you have questions that are not on the list? If so, contact us!

QUESTIONS

Q: Do your enclosures come with everything needed?

Q: Do I need to use all of the drive bays?

Q: Can I "daisy chain" these enclosures?

Q: What does "how swappable" mean?  What are the advantages?

Q: Can I use a RAID card with this thing? Why is it called a JBOD?

Q: These drive trays are for standard 3.5" hard drives, right?

Q: Do you make these yourselves or are you a reseller for somebody else?

Q: What is the warranty on the enclosures, and also the return policy?

Q: Are these enclosures tested before shipping? How?

Q: Is it possible to substitute a component in this enclosure?

Q: How can I be sure the product I choose is fast enough for my application?

Q: Will this case ____ work with this card ____? What do you recommend?

ANSWERS

Q: Do your enclosures come with everything needed?

A: The enclosures have all parts needed for the installation of hard drives, but in most cases, you will need an external cable and a controller card to connect with your computer. The external cable you need will depend on the controller you select, while the controller you select will depend on the type of available slots (PCI, PCI-X, PCIe) are in your system. If you're not sure what you need, please contact us and we'll help you figure it out.

Q: Do I need to use all of the drive bays?

A: No, you can start out with as little as a single drive. This means you have the flexibility to buy a larger enclosure than you need now, or go with a small number of high-capacity drives, in order to have easy expansion in the future.

Q: Can I "daisy chain" these enclosures?

A: No, unlike the old parallel interfaces, there is no daisy chaining with Serial ATA. Think of it as a star topology, with all ports connecting to the controller. What you can do is take multiple enclosures and run them off the same controller as a single big RAID array. Just make sure you have enough ports on your controller to support the multi-enclosure expansion.

Q: What does "how swappable" mean?  What are the advantages?

A: Hot Swappable defines the ability to remove a hard drive while it is running, and being able to reinsert the same drive or a different drive without crashing the controller card and OS. With regard to RAID, all drives are hot swappable when in removable trays, because the controller is prepared for it and marks that drive as failed when removed. In single drive mode (JBOD), being hot swappable depends on the controller and OS. You should not remove a drive while data is being written to it.

Q: Can I use a RAID card with this thing? Why is it called a JBOD?

A: Yes absolutely. We call them JBODS (Just a Bunch of Discs) because the enclosure does not have a RAID controller built in. You may use any RAID controller with the proper interface with our enclosures.

Q: These drive trays are for standard 3.5" hard drives, right?

A: Yes, all drive trays in our SATA enclosures are for industry standard 3.5" low profile hard drives only. In other types of enclosures, if the trays accept only 2.5" drives, it is clearly noted.

Q: Do you make these yourselves or are you a reseller for somebody else?

A: We assemble the enclosures ourselves using industry standard parts. Some components are made specifically for us, however they are not proprietary components.

Q: What is the warranty on the enclosures, and also the return policy?

A: The warranty is 1 year from invoice date. In most cases, even after the warranty period, replacement parts should still be readily available. However, you may purchase spare parts to have on hand for immediate replacement if you choose. Our return policy is 30 days from invoice date with a 15% restocking fee. (Please see our Terms and Conditions page for additional information.) In most cases, since we test the enclosures before shipping, you won't run into problems. If you do have issues, you may call us for technical support free of charge, and we will work with you to try and resolve them.

Q: Are these enclosures tested before shipping? How?

A: Yes. With the exception of our "bare" enclosures, all hot swap enclosures are tested prior to shipping. We do power on and data transfer tests using all available bays in the enclosure. Normal burn-in time is approximately 4 hours.

Q: Is it possible to substitute a component in this enclosure?

A: If you have very specific requirements, we can often replace the stock components with an upgraded component for an extra charge. In the past, people have done this for items such as power supplies, case fans and port multipliers. To see if this is an option, contact us by phone or email. We will let you know what we can do, and how much it will cost. Then you can either place the custom order by phone, or you can make a note it in "Special Instructions" field in the shopping cart. This field, displayed below, is located on the bottom of Page 3 of the shopping cart, right above the "Process Order" button. This will trigger an alert when we check your order, and we will make the modifications to your enclosure and the order price, per our previous correspondence.

Q: How can I be sure the product I choose is fast enough for my application?

A: see below

Q: Will this case ____ work with this card ____? What do you recommend?

A: If you are not sure what goes together, or you think you know but want to be 100% sure, feel free to contact our product specialists, either by phone or email. We will ensure not only that your components are compatible, but also that they are appropriate for your application.

Enclosures	"Bare"	Hotswap	Hotswap w/ LCD
4-bay Multilane
8-bay Multilane
12-bay Multilane
4-bay eSATA