Can someone recommend a 2 bay hard drive enclosure that I can use with my laptop?

[minimalist]

I have a 4TB and a 3TB drive I want to pull from my PC right now before I sell it so that I can keep everything on it and it use it to access and store data on while using my laptop.  What are some reliable brands?

[Hackentosher]

5 minutes ago, minimalist said:

I have a 4TB and a 3TB drive I want to pull from my PC right now before I sell it so that I can keep everything on it and it use it to access and store data on while using my laptop.  What are some reliable brands?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100008040%20600535779&IsNodeId=1&Description=hard%20drive%20enclosure&name=Hard%20Drive%20Enclosures&Order=BESTMATCH&isdeptsrh=1 

pick one of the most/highest rated ones from one of these.

[minimalist]

7 minutes ago, Hackentosher said:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100008040%20600535779&IsNodeId=1&Description=hard%20drive%20enclosure&name=Hard%20Drive%20Enclosures&Order=BESTMATCH&isdeptsrh=1 

pick one of the most/highest rated ones from one of these.

 

Do you know if the ICY DOCK enclosure will read each drive individually?  I just don't want there to be a problem since one drive is a back up and the other is what I use to pull and store data.

[Hackentosher]

Just now, minimalist said:

 

Do you know if the ICY DOCK enclosure will read each drive individually?  I just don't want there to be a problem since one drive is a back up and the other is what I use to pull and store data.

I think it should, if it doesn't it would have to put the drives in a RAID to read them as one.

[minimalist]

Just now, Hackentosher said:

I think it should, if it doesn't it would have to put the drives in a RAID to read them as one.

And that's all I'm seeing.  I don't want them to be put in RAID

[Hackentosher]

1 minute ago, minimalist said:

And that's all I'm seeing.  I don't want them to be put in RAID

Oh, duh, that's because the icydock enclosure thing is a RAID enclosure. You want a hard drive dock like this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817707360&cm_re=hard_drive_enclosure-_-17-707-360-_-Product Your drives are a bit more exposed, but as long as their plugged into something, they should be fine.

[minimalist]

1 minute ago, Hackentosher said:

Oh, duh, that's because the icydock enclosure thing is a RAID enclosure. You want a hard drive dock like this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817707360&cm_re=hard_drive_enclosure-_-17-707-360-_-Product Your drives are a bit more exposed, but as long as their plugged into something, they should be fine.

 

Yeah that would worry me.  I want something fully enclosed and preferably with a fan.

[Hackentosher]

1 minute ago, minimalist said:

 

Yeah that would worry me.  I want something fully enclosed and preferably with a fan.

Any particular reason why?

 

-edit- this is my 970th post. I have a gtx 970. 970 is a big number. Iluminati confirmed 0.0

[minimalist]

Just now, Hackentosher said:

Any particular reason why?

I have a clumsy girlfriend, and keeping them cooler sounds like a pretty good idea

[Hackentosher]

1 minute ago, minimalist said:

I have a clumsy girlfriend, and keeping them cooler sounds like a pretty good idea

Eureka! http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA24G28M4381&cm_re=hard_drive_enclosure-_-17-707-369-_-Product

[minimalist]

1 minute ago, Hackentosher said:

Eureka! http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA24G28M4381&cm_re=hard_drive_enclosure-_-17-707-369-_-Product

Honestly, at this point, I'm tempted to just go with this, put everything on my 3TB drive, onto here, and set it in RAID1.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Book-Desktop-External-Drive-WDBLWE0080JCH-NESN/dp/B00KU686D2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1459485126&sr=8-1&keywords=external+raid+8tb

 

Edit*** I mean, one of my drives is a backup drive anyway.

[Hackentosher]

1 minute ago, minimalist said:

Honestly, at this point, I'm tempted to just go with this, put everything on my 3TB drive, onto here, and set it in RAID1.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Book-Desktop-External-Drive-WDBLWE0080JCH-NESN/dp/B00KU686D2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1459485126&sr=8-1&keywords=external+raid+8tb

 

Edit*** I mean, one of my drives is a backup drive anyway.

I'm assuming the "normal" mode on a lot of these enclosures just recognizes the drives individually. http://www.amazon.com/ORICO-9528RU3-Aluminum-External-Enclosure/dp/B00FRBF5UM/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1459485289&sr=8-5&keywords=2+bay+external+hot+swap+enclosure

[minimalist]

Just now, Hackentosher said:

I'm assuming the "normal" mode on a lot of these enclosures just recognizes the drives individually. http://www.amazon.com/ORICO-9528RU3-Aluminum-External-Enclosure/dp/B00FRBF5UM/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1459485289&sr=8-5&keywords=2+bay+external+hot+swap+enclosure

I think JBOD mode would allow me to do what I need to now that I'm reading a little more. The ICY DOCK has JBOD mode.

[Hackentosher]

Just now, minimalist said:

I think JBOD mode would allow me to do what I need to now that I'm reading a little more. The ICY DOCK has JBOD mode.

You want to combine your 7tb of drive for a backup? Then I think a RAID solution might be a good idea.

[minimalist]

Just now, Hackentosher said:

You want to combine your 7tb of drive for a backup? Then I think a RAID solution might be a good idea.

No.  Now I don't think JBOD would work because when my laptop goes to read it via USB 3.0 I don't want it to see a 7TB drive.  I want it to see a 3TB and 4TB drive.  3TB for everything, 4TB for backup.

[Hackentosher]

Just now, minimalist said:

No.  Now I don't think JBOD would work because when my laptop goes to read it via USB 3.0 I don't want it to see a 7TB drive.  I want it to see a 3TB and 4TB drive.  3TB for everything, 4TB for backup.

I think running one of those cheaper enclosures that have a normal mode or aren't advertised as RAID enclosures would work, but it would be worth a Google search to find out more about the drive, or maybe contacting Newegg support for more information. OORRRR, you could be that arrogant bastard we all love being and just buy one then face the shame of an RMA if it doesn't work.

[minimalist]

1 minute ago, Hackentosher said:

I think running one of those cheaper enclosures that have a normal mode or aren't advertised as RAID enclosures would work, but it would be worth a Google search to find out more about the drive, or maybe contacting Newegg support for more information. OORRRR, you could be that arrogant bastard we all love being and just buy one then face the shame of an RMA if it doesn't work.

The WD 4TBx2 link I showed might actually work.  I'm hesitant only because if one dies I don't think I can just take out one and replace it with another.

[Jidonsu]

I have this one. It's amazing.

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003X26VV4/ref=s9_al_bw_g147_i1

 

I know it's for four drives, but hey, you might want to add more someday. I'm getting the same or better transfer speeds through USB 3 as internal SATA. Other reviews have noticed the same. 

 

And yes, all the drives I have in there show up separately. 

[minimalist]

1 minute ago, Jidonsu said:

I have this one. It's amazing.

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003X26VV4/ref=s9_al_bw_g147_i1

 

I know it's for four drives, but hey, you might want to add more someday. I'm getting the same or better transfer speeds through USB 3 as internal SATA. Other reviews have noticed the same. 

If I stick a 4TB back-up drive and a 3tb storage drive in there will that be an issue?  I just want to keep everything as is when I plug it in.

[Jidonsu]

5 minutes ago, minimalist said:

If I stick a 4TB back-up drive and a 3tb storage drive in there will that be an issue?  I just want to keep everything as is when I plug it in.

That's basically what I did. I didn't want to hear my HDDs, so I just stuffed them in the external enclosure, and they showed up as if nothing has changed with the same drive letters and everything. I have it hiding in a desk cabinet.

 

The fans can be manual or auto. It also goes into sleep mode when the PC is off or in sleep mode.Or you can opt to have it turn itself off when your PC is off or is in sleep. Pretty happy with it. 

[Jidonsu]

Better yet, you can save $15 with a coupon at jet.com.

 

https://jet.com/product/Mediasonic-ProBox-HF2-SU3S2-4-Bay-35-SATA-HDD-Enclosure-USB-30-and-eSATA-Support/7575ed1f314d4ddc94ac6fe8ade35ec3

[minimalist]

34 minutes ago, Jidonsu said:

That's basically what I did. I didn't want to hear my HDDs, so I just stuffed them in the external enclosure, and they showed up as if nothing has changed with the same drive letters and everything. I have it hiding in a desk cabinet.

 

The fans can be manual or auto. It also goes into sleep mode when the PC is off or in sleep mode.Or you can opt to have it turn itself off when your PC is off or is in sleep. Pretty happy with it. 

Awesome, thanks so much!

[Captain_WD]

7 hours ago, minimalist said:

~snip~

Hey there

 

Any enclosure that supports either JBOD or Span can be useful here, it really depends on what exactly you'd like to do. Different enclosures have different features (RAID support, on-board cloning abilities, encryption, etc.) so it would first consider what feature you'd like to have. 
You can always check out the empty version of WD My Cloud EX2 Ultra or EX2100 and have the ability to use the drives as NAS devices.
 

Captain_WD.