Removable harddrive racks, bad idea?

[Kb]

Hi,

I'm about to buy a 80gb 7200rpm harddrive, either a Maxtor, seagate or WD, 2mb or 8mb cache, I
was thinking of getting
a removable harddrive rack for it, but then I got to thinking that these drives tend to run alittle hot,
and maybe it might be
a bad idea for my drives lifespan.

I was looking at a plastic one with one fan, like so:

http://www.dabs.com/products/prod-info3-info.asp?&m=y&quicklinx=2BB3

unfortunately there isnt any real info on it though. But I notice theres also metal ones with two fans
available, at rather
more expensive prices, which I think are rather too expensive - and possibly too noisy.
Any idea if a plastic one will be good enough? Or is even the metal one a bad idea for my drives
lifespan?

Thanks in adance

 

[Stephen B]

Hi,

I'm about to buy a 80gb 7200rpm harddrive, either a Maxtor, seagate or WD, 2mb or 8mb cache, I
was thinking of getting
a removable harddrive rack for it, but then I got to thinking that these drives tend to run alittle hot,
and maybe it might be
a bad idea for my drives lifespan.

I would think that it will have little to no effect on the drive's lifespan
unless you plan on removing the drive regularly and tossing it to the floor!
Seriously, the trays are quite good and the fan does help pass a little air over
the drive. I've got the more expensive Lian Li metal ones for one bay of my
system. It has 2 fans and you really can't hear them over the sound of the CPU
fan and case fans.
-steve

 

[erik]

Hi,

I'm about to buy a 80gb 7200rpm harddrive, either a Maxtor, seagate or WD, 2mb or 8mb cache, I
was thinking of getting
a removable harddrive rack for it, but then I got to thinking that these

drives tend to run alittle hot,

and maybe it might be
a bad idea for my drives lifespan.

I was looking at a plastic one with one fan, like so:

http://www.dabs.com/products/prod-info3-info.asp?&m=y&quicklinx=2BB3

unfortunately there isnt any real info on it though. But I notice theres also metal ones with two fans
available, at rather
more expensive prices, which I think are rather too expensive - and possibly too noisy.
Any idea if a plastic one will be good enough? Or is even the metal one a bad idea for my drives
lifespan?

Thanks in adance

I use plastic ones and added a quality fan myself.
No problem at all.

 

[S.B.]

I'm about to buy a 80gb 7200rpm harddrive, either a Maxtor, seagate or WD,
2mb or 8mb cache, I was thinking of getting a removable harddrive rack for it,
but then I got to thinking that these drives tend to run alittle hot, and maybe it
might be a bad idea for my drives lifespan.

I was looking at a plastic one with one fan, like so:
http://www.dabs.com/products/prod-info3-info.asp?&m=y&quicklinx=2BB3

unfortunately there isnt any real info on it though. But I notice theres also metal
ones with two fans available, at rather more expensive prices, which I think are
rather too expensive - and possibly too noisy. Any idea if a plastic one will be

good enough? Or is even the metal one a bad idea for my drives lifespan?

I used a cheap plastic fanless one (the removable tray was metal) without fan
with a WD 5400 RPM drive and a Hitachi 2.5" 4200 RPM drive for a couple of
years without problem. Now I have an expensive Lian Li model with a fan and
a 7200 RPM Seagate Barracuda IV drive in it. It's no more noisy than my case/
CPU/PSU fans, but it does get rather warm. No observable degredation in
six months.

I would say, for safety's sake, you're best with a good quality model with a fan
for a fast drive. I think these removable racks are only worth it if you need to
physically remove your drive for security or if you want to swap drives. Then,
of course, you need two of them (for two trays) and they're not 'hot-swapable'.

 

[philo]

Hi,

I'm about to buy a 80gb 7200rpm harddrive, either a Maxtor, seagate or WD, 2mb or 8mb cache, I
was thinking of getting
a removable harddrive rack for it, but then I got to thinking that these

drives tend to run alittle hot,

and maybe it might be
a bad idea for my drives lifespan.

I was looking at a plastic one with one fan, like so:

http://www.dabs.com/products/prod-info3-info.asp?&m=y&quicklinx=2BB3

unfortunately there isnt any real info on it though. But I notice theres also metal ones with two fans
available, at rather
more expensive prices, which I think are rather too expensive - and possibly too noisy.
Any idea if a plastic one will be good enough? Or is even the metal one a bad idea for my drives
lifespan?

i've been using removable drive kits for several years
and they are great!

i use the cheap plastic ones and they work fine
except occcasionally the fans get a little noisy
but it only takes a few minutes to replace them

or do what the other poster did and just put in good ones
to begin with