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Main => Main Forum => Topic started by: ahofle on June 08, 2007, 03:29:48 pm

Title: 3.5" hard drive enclosure question
Post by: ahofle on June 08, 2007, 03:29:48 pm

I have a 3.5" HD USB enclosure that I am wanting to use with a 500Gig drive (http://www.frys.com/product/5090665) for backups.  I see that most enclosures' documentation say they "support" up to X Gig (usually 300-500).  I'm wondering if this limit is just what was tested/confirmed at the time, or if it's really a hardware limitation of the enclosure (I'm not sure of any computing boundaries that occur around 300-500 Gig)?  Unfortunately, I threw away the box and I can't find any of the documentation on it.  :banghead:  The enclosure is also a few years old so I very much doubt it was tested on 500 gig drives.

Title: Re: 3.5" hard drive enclosure question
Post by: krazy_kenny1 on June 08, 2007, 03:35:43 pm

I've used all kinds of drives with all kinds of usb and firewire enclosures and never had a problem.  My coworker, put a 750GB drive in some random enclosure awhile ago and it worked fine...

Title: Re: 3.5" hard drive enclosure question
Post by: Stobe on June 08, 2007, 03:47:18 pm

I think you'll be ok with USB.  A while back there was a firewire chipset that would go screwy if you used a drive larger than 160 gigs.  (Learned that the hard way).

-Stobe

Title: Re: 3.5" hard drive enclosure question
Post by: ark_ader on June 08, 2007, 05:47:08 pm

Get an enclosure that can manage the heat.  I have an Integral enclosure and the heat from the 250GB is enough to heat a small room.  But it manages the heat very well.

You would still be better off housing that in an external case where you can regulate the airflow and reduce the heat issues.  Not to mention desk space....

Title: Re: 3.5" hard drive enclosure question
Post by: ahofle on June 08, 2007, 06:15:20 pm

Thx for the info, I may just give it a shot.  If it doesn't work, I'll just have another extra internal drive.

I actually intend to use this very infrequently for backing up my stuff and then putting it back on a shelf, so I'm not worried about heat.  I'm done with using optical disks for storage/backup.  I can't count the number of times I've had files on a backup CD/DVD become corrupt after a few years of storage.  It's to the point that I have to create 2 copies of every backup disc for redundancy.  Plus an HD will be much easier since just about everything will be on the same drive.  Who knows how long the drive will last, but I'm betting it will be better (and easier) than using DVDs.