[PLUG] External drive enclosures?

Tyrell Jentink tyrell at jentink.net
Mon Dec 8 21:05:40 UTC 2014


Like many Linux users, I use older desktops as my servers.  The practical
upshot is obvious: I'm not using it anymore, and it's still very powerful,
so I might as well put it to work.

But desktops just aren't built to hold lots of drives... This case, for
example, has 3x 3.5inch drive bays, and 4 SATA slots; I have 1 drive for
the local OS, and 2 drives for shared content (Formatted with BTRFS). I
want to add 2 more drives.

It SEEMS like it should be as easy as adding an additional SATA host, and
run the SATA cables to a shielded drive enclosure... But all the drive
enclosures I have found have their own PCBs, and seem to have all sorts of
USB host "stuff" in them.  Is there such a thing as a "Dumb" enclosure,
that you put a drive in and run cables to the computer and call it done?

On a related note, is there actually a difference between SATA and eSATA?
Why do all eSATA cases insist on having USB too?



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