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Product Application:

External Hard Drive Enclosures

Product Provided by:

Eagle Tech

Available at:

NewEgg

Estimated MSRP:

D Series - $69.99
T Series - $24.99
M Series - $29.99

Availability:

Now

Review by:

Michael

Edited by:

Paul

Review date:

9/16/2007
 

     Last, but certainly not least, we come to the ET-CSDU2F-BK. This enclosure allows us to combine two SATA hard drives in a RAID configuration using simple JBOD or RAID-0. Just in case we have any first time listeners, JBOD is an acronym for Just a Bunch Of Disks which is a spanning type of RAID array. JBOD takes the total capacity of all the drives in the array and lumps them together to form one large drive. While this array offers no data protection or performance enhancement, it is the best array for combining drives of unlike make, model, or size to form one large data pool. Perfect for recycling drives!

     If you do happen to have two drives of like size, you can switch a selector jumper (located in front of the SATA data connectors) to move from JBOD to RAID-0 mode. Again, there is no data protection with RAID-0. So, what if you only have one hard drive?  That's no problem either, because there is also a DISABLE RAID selection also available via jumper.

     To start installation, two screws are removed from the back to gain access to the inside. Once inside, we have to remove the inside chassis where the two hard drives will eventually get mounted. The above picture shows the rear half of the drive chassis and all of the enclosures electrical workings. Eagle Tech has thoughtfully mounted a small fan to promote airflow to help cool the drives. Not a very good angle for visibility, but the SATA power connectors are both there, and they are connected in tandem. The SATA data cables are of course separate.

     Once the hard drives get mounted to the chassis and the wires are all hooked up, this is pretty close to what you should see.  I've left a few screws loose so we can get a good angle for photography. Even still, once all the screws are tightened down, there is plenty of room for ventilation and lots of slack in the wires. The chassis is made of light plastic and aluminum, so if you're going to travel with this enclosure, you'll want to safeguard it very carefully.

     While this unit isn't eSATA capable, it is able to connect via USB 2.0 or FireWire 1394A. The power connector is a more traditional single pin rather than the DIN type we saw with the other enclosures. Also, note the large rocker style power switch. It's big and in an easy to reach location, even from the front.