We get a lot of things sent to us to check out at Futurelooks and it's up to us to figure out which things deserve a full review and which things deserve to go back to where they came from. Other times, we're just so busy that we just don't get around to it. Neither scenario is what we desire so we've decided to start doing some new "Quick Look" videos that should give you a good idea of what some of these products are all about. Today we have a quick look video of a product series from iStarUSA called the BPN-DE Series. They're 3 and 4 bay drive enclosures that house 3.5 inch hard drives.
While iStarUSA is mainly known for manufacturing products for other companies, recently the company has started to focus on their own brand in retail. We have checked out a 6 bay 2.5 inch enclosure that fits in a 5.25 bay early this year. While the product was quite innovative, it definitely lacked some spit and polish for retail shelves in its brown paper box. With the BPN-DE series and the two models in it (BPN-DE230SS @ $76.99 and BPN-DE340SS @ $98.99) that seems to be changing with much more retail friendly packaging.
The enclosures do appear to be well built and I like the ability to drop a drive in without having to mount it to a tray. Just drop it in bare and go. The externally replaceable fan is also a bonus that makes swapping out a dead fan easy. The only thing that I wondered about was the vibration since there is no vibration dampening material. I'm happy to report that while there still is noise, drives seem much quieter once stuffed into one of these enclosures.
For more information on iStarUSA's other products, check out their website: http://www.istarusa.com
Expect to see more quick looks of cool products in the New Year. Happy Holidays!
Presenting the BPN-DE110SS: Look No Further iStarUSA powered by iStarUSA Group
September 15, 2011
Vol.20110915
Suppose you ran out of space or are looking for ways save space for additional hard drives in your PC tower. It seems that the logical solution would be to toss out the current case and purchase a more roomy case that could accommodate the extra load of hard drives. However this same problem could manifest later down the road with this new, but bulky case. Fortunately, you can look no further with iStarUSA's new hard drive cage, the stylish BPN-DE110. With this smart space saving hard drive cage, you can convert a single standard 5.25" bay to accommodate a 3.5" hard drive. Let us zoom closer to see the benefits of its intuitive design:
Features:
-Supports up to 6.0 Gb/s data transfer rate
-Flexible Connectivity of SAS I/II and SATA I/II/III
-Supports 3TB Hard Drives
-Aluminum Frame for Better Cooling and Minimize Total Case Weight
-Trayless Design for Convenient Hot Swap Data Transfer
-Fits in any Universal 5.25" Optical Bay, an immediate storage expansion for rackmounts and desktops
-Alloy Lock and Key for Data Security
-Multiple Color Options of Blue, Red, Black, and Silver, to match your current case
-7" Cage Depth is similar to standard optical drive
We've been checking out a lot of iStarUSA products lately. That's because they make so much cool stuff! Our latest Quick Look is of something that allows you to throw a hot swap 3.5 inch hard drive bay in any computer enclosure with an empty 5.25 inch bay. And unlike its larger three and four bay versions, the BPN-DE110SS will fit in a lot more cases simply because it's only a single bay. But nothing is stopping you from taking its multiple colors and installing them all into a single case either. Check out the video above for more!
Not a Lock: Theft Deterrent
Like the previous products we've looked at, the BPN-DE110SS has a key mechanism on the front of the bay that is actuated with an included key. While it's a good theft deterrent, it's key is pretty much universal across the whole line. So if someone has one of these already, then their key will fit your bay too.
iStarUSA could improve this product's security a lot by simply providing a properly keyed lock system, similar to what the NZXT. Bunker had with its USB locking door. It at least came in different combinations so that the chances of someone else having the same key was more remote.
Not a Fan of Heat? Add Your Own Fan!
If heat is of concern in your enclosure, then mounting a fan to the back of the BPN-DE110SS is pretty easy. The hardest part is simply finding the fan which is a 40mm unit with a small 2-pin power connection. Most electronics and hobby stores should carry them, but it would be nicer if iStarUSA actually included the fan, even at a small premium. That way, it would at least provide some additional cooling and if you choose not to use it for any reason, you could remove it on your own.
The BPN-DE110SS is available from most major retailers including NewEgg. The $22 US MSRP is very affordable and the four colors (silver, black, blue, red) give you different options for color coding your hot swap bays in your system. It's definitely a little more versatile than their three and four bay block cages and much easier to install overall. If you're looking for a quick hot swap solution for your system, this might just fit the bill. Enjoy the pictures below.
Hey everyone, I am back to review a few more units. It you haven't read the original 5x3 review, I suggest you check it out HERE first.
This time I am looking at two 3x2 cages - excellent options for those cases with only a couple of 5.25" bays left. Plus, one of them is trayless. Know a lot of you have been asking about them. I also have an updated model to one of the previously reviewed 5x3 cages and I also take a quick look at one 4x3 that a lot of us are familiar with.
I will be looking at the iStarUSA BPN-DE230SS (Blue) (3x2), the Icy Dock MB153SP-B (3x2), a CoolerMaster STB-3T4-E3 (4x3) and finally a iStarUSA BPU-350SATA (5x3).
If you would like any additional pics or information on the units, please PM me and I will try and accommodate.
For anyone wanting to go to the main gallery and look at all the pics, please go Here.
THE REVIEW
Let me remind you, I am not a professional reviewer. What I have documented are things I have observed and experienced working with all four units and my own opinions. Hopefully this and the pictures will help you make that critical decision.
iStarUSA BPN-DE230SS (Blue) (3x2)
Initial Thoughts:
- Packaging is fine, should arrive without any damage
- Unit is "shrink" wrapped
- Unit overall has a pretty solid feel
- Grooves in the side, to allow the tabs separating 5.25" cages to fit. Should work on most cases.
- Includes 3 locking SATA cables and screws
- Really light weight, especially compared to the 5x3 cages
- Really nicely designed rear, ample room for SATA and power Cables
- Heavy duty switches for the FAN speed and HDD LED.
- Supports 6Gb/s SATA Connections
- Uses a standard size 70x70x15 rear fan, easy to get at, but custom 3 pin connector
- Basic manual included, shows the orientation between the trays and SATA connectors in the rear, but nothing on the unit itself to show which tray is which numbered slot
- Drive cage handles are a combination of aluminum and plastic. Pretty solid. There are holes drilled in the front, but there is a metal flap behind them. This is to help apply pressure to the drive when inserted, but also will block airflow somewhat
Inside:
- Looks like cooling should be ok - pass through holes in the rear for each drive
Installation:
- Mounting a "standard" drive is pretty straight forward. Note though, not all 3.5" drives are the same thickness. The average is about 25mm, which fits perfectly in. Some drives though are a slightly slimmer, coming in at 20mm. Special attention has to be placed when loading these as the SATA ports in the rear may not line up perfectly. If you force it, it will break inner components. If you mount the drives after the cage is installed, there shouldn't be any issues, as gravity is your friend.
- Once installed, a standard thickness drive in in pretty solid. Getting drive in was pretty smooth as was removing it.
- Once installed, a slimmer drive is not perfectly secured in the cage. The back (front?) of the drive can move within the drive mount. As long as you are not moving your case, shouldn't be much of an issue. Will vibration though affect drive over time?
- Included screws, tested with some standard ones you would use to mount a CD-ROM, worked fine.
- Slides into case nicely. Even a bit loose. Screw holes line up fine. No issues, in my case, with the drive rails in the 5.25" bays
LED (as observed):
- Blue power led, not overly bright
- Blue HDD Power led
Overall Thoughts:
I have been looking forward to trying out one of these trayless units to see just how well and sturdy the drives are inside. Very convenient being able to just pull and push drives in and out without having to mess with drive trays. I really like this. Nice to see the SATA only power connectors. More and more modern PSU units going away with Molex and putting in more and more of the SATA form factor. No need to waste space adding in Molex power connections.
Lots of clearance for all the cable connections in the rear. Great design and layout.
Still wondering about the drive and long term vibration issue, especially on the thinner drives. The standard drives though are in there pretty solid.
Fan was great - at LOW was very quiet and then at high still not overly loud. Would be drowned out by most other components. At low speed though, I couldn't really detect any air being drawn in the front. At high speed I could feel a bit.
Really sharp looking cage. Solid black design, nice satin finish and the blue on the front, really pops.
Icy Dock MB153SP-B (3x2)
Initial Thoughts:
- External packaging is good, lots of info on the box.
- Packaging is good, unit comes wrapped in plastic.
- Individually sealed drive tray and cage screws, labeled also. Tested with standard screws used for CD-ROMs, can be used to secure this cage
- Does not include any SATA cables
- Standard 80mm fan and standard connectors for both two pin and three pin fans, very nice. Some anti vibration material also applied.
- Really light weight, especially compared to the 5x3 cages
- Solid feeling cage
- Supports 6Gb/s SATA Connections
- Drive trays seem pretty flimsy, as previously reviews. I believe the trays though are compatible with various models
- Only two cut outs in the rear PCB, but almost full width, so cooling should be ok.
Installation:
- SATA power, minor issue with the connections. As per the pic, the way the connectors are wired in series on most PSU's can make it a bit tight depending on which plug you are using. The cabling on the SATA power connector is pretty tight.
-Mounting a drive in the drive cage on this unit is tedious. When you pull out the drive tray, you then have to remove this plastic spacer unit that is installed. They have to have that as the rails are a bit flimsy. Put the drive in, they provide 3 holes per rail that all line up. Bit of a balancing act to get the drives screwed in.
- Drive trays slid in and out pretty smoothly.
- Slides into case nicely. Good snug fit. Screw holes line up fine. No issues, in my case, with the drive rails in the 5.25" bays.
LED (as observed):
- Green power on LED for the HDD
Overall Thoughts:
Has a three year warranty, which is a nice plus, they expect the cage to last as long as your hard drive.
Fan cable came tied down with a twist tie to the edge, bit of rudimentary cable management. Can't say enough about the fan solution now, brilliant.
No fan speed controller, but the included 80mm one isn't too noisy at all, and you can feel the air being pulled in front the front. Very easy to swap in a quieter fan if that is your thing or something with more draw.
Another solid case that looks good installed. Minor issue with layout in the rear though.
CoolerMaster STB-3T4-E3 (4x3)
Initial Thoughts:
- Packaging is fine, should arrive without any damage
- Very lightweight
- No backplane nor hot swap support, all drives directly screwed into the cage
- Excellent cooling, from a standard sized, front mounted 120mm fan
Installation:
- Pretty straight forward, just a bit tedious screwing in all the drives into the cage
- Have to disconnect everything and remove cage just to swap a single drive.
LED (as observed):
- As there is no backplane, no LED's per say, but units does include a Blue LED fan
Thoughts:
Just getting started? Here is a great option to get a few more drives into your case without shelling out a $100 plus to get a 5x3. Excellent value for the money and great cooling potential.
A bit tedious removing the whole thing every time you want to work on a drive, but, still excellent option.
Remember to mark down all your connections so everything is hooked up properly when you re-install it.
iStarUSA BPU-350SATA (5x3)]/b]
Initial Thoughts:
- Packaging is fine, should arrive without any damage
- Unit is "shrink" wrapped
- Unit overall has a pretty solid feel
- Drive tray screws and cage screws in individual packaging
- Missed in original review, but tray also support 2.5" drives
- Drive handles now have a more standard locking mechanism. Much easier to use.
- Much more detailed instruction manual
- Offical support for 6Gb/s
Installation:
- Same issues as the orginal - two SATA power connectors and three Molex power connectors and no indicator as to whether you can mix them or not - be safe and don't
- SATA power, minor issue with the connections. As per the pic, the way the connectors are wired in series on most PSU's can make it a bit tight depending on which plug you are using. The cabling on the SATA power connector is pretty tight.
- Slides into case nicely. Even a bit loose. Screw holes line up fine. No issues, in my case, with the drive rails in the 5.25" bays
Overall Thoughts:
Not a lot of changes - upgrade to support 6Gb/s. Better drive handle then the plastic locking ones.
Fan is like the original, seems to have pretty good airflow. Have to pull the entire rear of the cage off to access the fan.
Pictures on a following post...
Special Thanks to iStarUSA and Icy Dock for their assistance with the review.
Update November 26th - Will be doing some temp tests on these this weekend, see how the 80mm and cooling slots work when running preclears.
iStarUSA is a company with almost 20 years of experience in manufacturing their own industrial switching power supplies, rackmount chassis and server cabinets. Expanding their product catalogue, iStarUSA also makes workstation and server accessories including mobile hard drive racks. Used in situations where hard drives need to quickly swapped, mobile racks help to make the task easier. The drive cage we'll be inspecting today is iStarUSA's BPN-DE340SS. It takes up 3 adjacent 5.25" drive bays and gives you 4 3.5" SAS/SATA drive bays. It's a new model from iStarUSA that supports current SATA 3.0 technology with its 6.0Gb/s transfer rate. It also supports drives up to with 3GB capacity.
Specifications
Aluminum Frame, designed for heavy-duty purpose
Standard Drive Bays: (5.25" Drives: 3) to (Hotswap 3.5": 4)
Hotswap HDD Type: 3.5" SAS I/II & SATA I/II/II (up to 6Gb/s)
Support Hot-Swap & RAID Configuration (need an additional RAID controller)
3TB Hard Drives Compatible
The BPN-DE340SS Hotswap Drive Cage
The front of the cage is comprised of LED indicator lights and the drive bay doors. There are five LED lights, one for power to the unit, and one activity indicator light per drive. The doors are made of aluminum. The black aluminum part of the door is a latch used to open the door. Each door is individually lockable.The magenta aluminum part is perforated for ventilation. Interestingly, the colour scheme for this cage was marketed as red, but to my eye it looks more like magenta. For those who fans of other colours, the cage is also available in black, blue and silver. To check out photos of the cage in other colours, check out iStarUSA's product page below. The frame trim around the doors is black plastic.
The doors offer ventilation through perforations in the coloured aluminum piece. Behind that piece is a curved piece of metal that is used to put pressure on the installed hard drive. It ensures that the installed hard drive is tight and won't shift or vibrate during operation and transport. There is no provision of a dust filter. As with most other hot swap cages I've used, I expect that dust will build up on the front of the installed hard drives in this cage.
The sides and the top of the cage are made of black aluminum. It looks very sleek, and it's too bad that you don't see the cage as a whole when it's installed in a case. The sides have various screw holes for mounting inside of a case, and the sides are slotted to allow for cases that have rails between drives. I tried test fitting the cage in various Antec, Coolermaster and Lian-Li cases without issue.
The back of the cage has four SATA data connectors, one for each drive. There are two SATA power connectors, one per two drives. Two switches control fan speed (2 settings) and activity lights (turning them on or off). An 80mm cooling fan sucks air through the front of the cage and exhausts it via the rear. The whole back panel is made of black plastic.
Inside the cage you can see where the installed hard drives will operate. There are standard SATA data and power connectors for each of the 4 drive slots. Keep in mind that while most standard 3.5" hard drives will match up with the connectors in this hot swap cage, there are outliers like the Western Digital Velociraptor GLFS line that don't use the standard connector location. Separating each drive slot are plastic guides. The drives are packed tightly in this cage, and the size of the plastic spacers is basically the size of the space between the drives.
Installing a Drive
Installing a hard drive into the cage is a simple task. You merely open the door for the desired slot, then slide the drive in between the guides.
When the drive is in far enough, you close the door. The door puts a bit of pressure on the drive which ensures that the drive is snug and the connectors are plugged in tightly.
Voila. The drive is installed firmly in the cage.
Dissecting the Cage
Inside the BPN-DE340SS, there is one PCB that handles the electronic functionality of the drive cage. One side of the PCB has four SATA power and data connector pairs for the hard drives to connect to. There are nine screws holding down the PCB to the cage, which is important for a device like this since you'd want the part hard drives are being connected to and removed from to be able to handle many usage cycles solidly.
The other side of the PCB faces the back of the cage and the interior of the case the cage is installed in. Each drive has its own SATA data connector. Looking at the traces, we can see that the SATA power connectors provides power for two drives each (with one connector also powering the cooling fan).
The cooling fan is an 80x80x20mm fan from the Young Lin Tech Company. It's a sleeve bearing fan rated with an airflow of 32CFM with 37dB(A) of noise while running at full speed. While the physical aspects of the fan itself are universal with most other 80x80x20mm fans, the connector isn't. It still should be an easy task to switch fans.
Subjective Analysis and Conclusion
Starting off the with aesthetics of the iStarUSA cage, all you see when it's installed and in use is the front. I personally think it looks good. The aluminum look sets it apart from the deluge of plastic that I am accustomed to seeing with products in this class. Magenta isn't my choice of colour, nor will it be easy to match with components from other manufacturers, but other popular colours are available for this cage: black, blue & silver. The blue LED indicator lights on the front of the cage look great. As I mentioned earlier, installing a drive in this cage is a simple task. For compatibility sake, I successfully installed various consumer drives from Hitachi, Seagate and Western Digital. As long as the drives you want to install have standard SATA data and power connector locations and are of the 3.5" size format, you should have no problems. In terms of cooling performance, it's very similar to the performance you would get with drives installed in a standard desktop case with active cooling. There is an 80mm fan sucking air through the narrow spaces between the drives. Should the fan fail, drive temperatures will get very hot in this densely packed cage. Because of their respective characteristics, I would have preferred a ball bearing fan used in this situation where failure could be disastrous. Related to cooling performance, the noise produced by the cage is all from the cooling fan. There is a switch that allows you to adjust the fan speed, but for this type of product I'd recommend the full fan speed during operation. Inherent to the type of product a hot swap cage is, most users will have this for server operations anyway, where reliability is of a higher concern than noise. Subjectively, the noise coming from the cage is a medium hum. You can definitely notice it, but it's not too loud so that you can't zone it out. The build quality is superb. The fit and finish are solidly good. No rattles or vibrations will emanate from this cage. As a result, when drives are installed, they are held firmly and aren't allowed any movement. As a result of these factors, the iStarUSA BPN-DE350SS comes recommended from circuitREMIX.
Notebook drives are becoming more and
more usable in that the speeds and capacities have picked up. People
are realizing that they can be just as good as a standard hard drive,
but have less power consumption. There was a time when you really
would never think to use a 2.5” drive in any computer besides a
portable one like a laptops, now though technology has got the point
where they can be equal tho their 3.5” counterparts, which of
course is a good thing for all concerned.
Today for review iStar has sent me over
the BPU-124V2-SS which allows you to put four 2.5” drives into the
space of one 5.25” PC bay. The setup can be used for raid, or you
can just use it as a hot swap rack to quickly and easily switch
drives and transfer data to and from places. The cage itself is very
nicely made, each bay locks individually and there’s even two 40mm
cooling fans built right in to keep things nice and cool.
1 x 5.25″ to 4 x 2.5″
SATA/SAS Hot-Swap Backplane RAID Cage
Features:
*
All Aluminum Material Solid Construction for Best Heat Dissipation
*
LED for Power & HDD Activity
*
Built-in 2 x 40mm Cooling Fans
*
Plug & Play, Hot Swappable
*
High Performance Transfer Rate Up to 3 Gb/s
*
Support HDD Thickness from 9.5 to 15mm
*
Support 4 x 2.5” SAS (Dual Channel) & SATA HDDs
High level Raid and high
availability storage in compact design, BPU-124V2-SS adds extra
storage and hot-swap capability to satisfy any application needs. The
BPU-124V2-SS is constructed of light weight and durable aluminum
material with 2 cooling fans to ensure best heat dissipation required
for high performance 2.5” laptop SAS/ SATA drives. It is designed
with excellent front to back vent airflow. Hard drives can also be
removed or added to the system without turning off your system power
or restarting your computer. BPU-124V2-SS is an ideal solution for
RAID and JBOD applications.
Specs:
Model Number: BPU-124V2-SS
Standard Drive Bays: 5.25″
Drive: 1
HDD Interface: 2.5” HDD SATA/
SAS
Connectors: Standard 15-pin
Power and 7-pin Data
Material: Aluminum Body
Indicators: Power On: solid
blue
HDD Access: blue blinking
Weight: 1.8 lbs
Dimension (W x H x D): 146 x 42
x 173 mm
Cooling Fan: 2x40mm
Price: $79.99 ( price from NewEgg at time of review)
A
Better Look at Things:
iStar stuff comes in plain boxes,
and I like that, no frills, nothing fancy, it’s what inside that
counts right?
Inside you’ll find the dock
packaged well with four SATA cables, a pack of screws for
installation and a set of keys. Included also is a brief instruction
sheet, but you don’t need much really.
The dock fits into a 5.25” bay,
the outer enclosure is made of aluminum to help dissipate the heat.
There’s also several openings in it to help dissipate the heat as
well.
On the front you’ll find four
removable racks that are all keyed, they have a small switch on them
to unlock the trays.
All the trays just slide right
out:
On the back you’ll see the two
cooling fans, along with eight SATA ports and one SATA power
connection. There’s a very small switch just below the power
connection that you can use to turn the front LEDs on or off.
The black connections are just
your standard SATA ports. The yellow ports are SAS connections.
You can use the dock for a raid
setup or just your standard hot swap dock to easily pop drives in and
out for quick access.
Installation,
Testing and Comparison:
So I installed it in my case with
no issues, just a few screws and connections. I like the fact that
it uses only one SATA power connection, but of course you’ll need the
four SATA data cables and you’ll have to have four open ports.
The hard drives are easy to
install, you can install them just by sliding them through the side
of the removable rack or the top just pops off and you can put the
drive in that way. Then you’ll just need to secure it with the
included screws.
There are blue LEDs on the front
for each drive that a re solid when powered on and that blink for
activity of course.
If you don’t like the lights you
can just flip the switch on the back.
I
installed a few drives in it as one should and I tested before and
after using ATTO DiskBenchmark. The drive I used for testing is a
2.5” Seagate 7200.4 500gig 7200RPM one.
Here’s the test results:
The results are pretty much the
same, but it seems on the straight SATA interface you gain just a
little bit more write speeds, the read speeds are the same really.
That little bit won’t matter much to most people I would think.
As far as temperatures are
concerned, there was really no difference between having it in the
cage or just having it inside of my case. The fans seem quiet, and
only added just a hint of additional noise to my case.
Summary
and Comments:
The iStar BPU-124V2-SS Hot-Swap
Backplane RAID Cage is extremely well made, and it’s very easy to
use. The cage offers the ability to quickly and easily swap drives,
or create a nice raid array to add a lot of additional storage to
your system.
It’s a quick and easy way to add a
lot of storage to your system in a small space.
Speeds shouldn’t be a concern, at
least not much of one. The read speeds seem fine, but the write
speeds are a tiny bit slower when inside of the cage. Not sure why
though. It’s so little of a difference though I wouldn’t worry about
it really.
Being a reviewer I get a lot of stuff
for review, and I’ll be honest, I don’t keep quite a bit of it, I’ll
give it away, donate it etc, but some I find very useful and keep for
my own use, like what I have today for review.
Today for review I’ve got a drive cage
from iStarUSA called the BPU-2535V2 that holds two 2.5” SATA hard
drives, in the space of a single 3.5” bay. Each bay of the cage
locks individually, and you can use either one or both or just swap
drives as needed. I swap a lot of drives in and out of my computer
for testing and I found this to be a very useful product to have in
my computer. So read on to learn more..
BPU-2535V2 internal drive cage
is a compact and cost effective solution for an internal 3.5” drive
cage with two 2.5” hard drives. It provides an extra storage
within a compact design to
satisfy many application needs. BPU-2535V2 is constructed of aluminum
material that provides best heat dissipation required for high
performance 2.5″ laptop SATA drives. It is easy and quick to install it into any tower or
rackmount chassis.
Features:
* Aluminum Frame
* Hard Drive Interface: SATA
I/II
* Fit one 3.5” Drive Bay for
2 x 2.5” Hard Disk Drives (thickness: up to 9.5mm)
The BPU-2535V2 comes in a stylish
looking box with pictures and specs listed on it. Inside you’ll find
the cage wrapped in bubble wrap and a brief instruction sheet.
The cage itself is metal and
plastic, it’s mostly all black with silver handles on the front.
What’s interesting is that on the back you’ll find only one power
connection and two data connections. On the bottom you’ll find some
ventilation slits. The cage is metal so it acts as a big heatsink to
help keep the drives inside cool.
The handles on the front just pull
to open the bays individually, there’s a lever inside of the cage at
the back attached to the handle so that when you pull the handle it
pushes the drives out for easy access.
Inside of the case I found another
brief instruction sheet, a set of key and screws for installation.
The keys are hexagon to match the holes on the drive bay handles to
lock them.
Installation, Testing and Comparison:
Installation is very easy, you
just need a free 3.5” bay in your case, which of course I had.
Installing the drives is easy as
well, just push them in and lock the bay. I actually used two SSD
drives.
There are LEDs on each of the bays
to indicate power and activity.
I tested the drives before and
after installing them in the iStar BPU-2535V2 and I found that the
speeds were exactly the same.
So that’s about it really, it
works and works well.
The only complaint I could have is
that the keys don’t do anything but lock the bays, I would like if
they were actually a switch to power the drives on or off.
Summary
and Comments:
The iStar BPU-2535V2 is a great
product really, if you need something like this, it works and works
well, there’s no doubt about that.
I think it’s a must have product
for those of us that test a lot of drives, or use a lot of them. The
average consumer could find this useful as well I’m sure for quick
access to drives.
If you run more than one computer,
I’m sure you might need more than one of these if you plan on
swapping drives often, or to transfer large amounts of data to and
from computers.
I’ve got a few hot swap docks in
my various computers, and they’re great for transferring large
amounts of data when a USB drive just won’t do, with the BPU-2535V2
now I’ve got an option besides using 3.5” drives for transferring
my data.
DragonSteelMods gives the
BPU-2535V2 a 4.5 out of 5 score and our Recommended Award as well.
This is our first product from iStarUSA, which allows us to insert two 2.5″ laptop drives or SSD's in a 3.5″ bay. The material is aluminum and plastic with two SATA ports and one power connector on the back. The dimensions are (WxHxD) 101 x 25 x 150 mm.
The package contains: the enclosure, manual, and keys.
The internal enclosure isn't anything fancy or unusual. It can accept two 2.5″ drives. It has a spring loaded entry with lock, preventing you from accidentally opening it. It uses an Allen key, so if you were to lose it, no big deal; a standard Allen key can open it. I enclosed two 5400rpm WD1600BUDT drives in it and they did get a little warm. The enclosure's cooling ability could use some improvement.
Box
Contents of package
Cons
The only concern I see is that it uses four metal springs inside the device. When ejecting, the springs push the drive(s) out of the slot. Personally I don't want anything metal near power and data connections. Hopefully over time, these will not break and cause a short and blow out your gear…
Metal Springs?
Matches the connections of a standard 3.5" drive
Easy insertion
These are the only holes on this enclosure.
Conclusion
The BPU-2535V2 performed well. There were no changes to hard drive throughput when used in RAID mode. Cosmetically, it looks cool, with silver latches and semi gloss black finish. It would be nice to have an open chassis for better cooling with mechanical drives larger than 4200rpm. This internal enclosure would be more suited for solid state drives, where heat is not an issue. Using an Allen key to lock the bays is nice, as any size 15 Allen key would open it.
For around $35, this is not a bad deal for what it does. If they can fix the cooling issue, it would give me better peace of mind that my drives will be safe from heat damage. There are other manufacturers that make something very similar and cost about the same, however, they offer better cooling… something to think about when looking for a device like this.
NOTE: iStarUSA has another version model BPU-2535V2-R, which I did not review yet. This device has the ability to do hardware RAID just with a flick of a switch. It would appear the power and SATA connectors match a 3.5″ drive. I bring this up because now you have the ability to plug this into a back plane on another RAID card or controller giving you even more hard drive speed and space. Imagine having two drives in RAID 0, technically acting as one physical drive. Add six of these enclosures totaling 12 hard drives set to RAID 0. See where I'm going with this? Intel Matrix RAID can only do a maximum of 6 drives in any RAID configuration. With this device, you can now have up to 12 drives in RAID 0, 1, or 5. Of course it would be ridiculously expensive, however, now we have the option to do (12) 2.5″ drives. Any takers?
Some computer enthusiasts have toyed with the idea of using laptop hard drives in their desktop PC. Because of their lower noise and heat, they are perfect for small builds, home theater PCs (HTPCs), or any other computer appliance where silence is golden. I’ve even known people who set up 2.5″ hard drives in a RAID array so they perform faster than a traditional hard drive, yet are practically silent. You may even have just a buttload of laptop hard drives laying around and want to get some use out of them.
Regardless of your reasons, placing a 2.5-inch hard drive into a desktop PC requires some special mounting hardware and interface adapters What if there was some hard drive enclosure that allowed you to not only easily use laptop drives in your rig, but allowed for hot-swapping as well? Well iStar USA has you covered with their BPU-2535V2 2.5-inch to 3.5-inch hard drive enclosure.
Below are the specifications and features of this nifty little gadget:
BPU-2535V2 internal drive cage is a compact and cost effective solution for an internal 3.5” drive cage with two 2.5” hard drives. It provides an extra storage within a compact design to satisfy many application needs. BPU-2535V2 is constructed of aluminum material that provides best heat dissipation required for high performance 2.5″ laptop SATA drives. It is easy and quick to install it into any tower or rackmount chassis.
The BPU-2535V2 cage looks like a miniaturized version of iStar’s other drive enclosures (one of which reviewed here). It is practically the same dimensions as a desktop hard drive (but is about a centimeter longer.
The front of the cage has two doors with metal handles and small locks, which are of rather high quality, but we’ll show you more on this when we install the drives. The left corner of the drive is notched slightly, and has small activity LEDs next to their corresponding doors. Inside the enclosure is a small plastic bag with two hex keys (for the front doors), installation screws, and a small paper manual.
Both sides of the cage have holes to fit a standard 3.5″ (floppy) bay, but do not have holes to mount inside a standard hard drive bay. The bottom of the cage has ventillation holes, a few identification stickers, and mounting screws to keep the whole thing together.
On the rear is a standard SATA data and power interface, and a plug for an additional SATA cable. The additional port is to access the second drive in the enclosure, as this case does not provide any sort of RAID or drive translation (JBOD or BIG). The primary port is placed in the same spot as a desktop hard drive, and actually fits in standard HDD docking bays (like the device reviewed here).
So how easy is it get installed? Read on…
Installation and Use
The drive cage does not have screw holes to mount this enclosure internally, but could be easily modified to do so. You would lose the hot-swap features of this enclosure, but you would then be able to fit two laptop hard drives neatly in a small form factor.
This drive is intended to fit inside an externally-accessed 3.5-inch drive bay, and the front panel is notched so you can see the activity LEDs of each drive. Once the device is mounted, all you need to do is plug up a standard SATA power cable from your power supply, and two SATA cables (one for each drive you want to access).
Inserting and removing drive is very simple, even if you’ve never used hot-swappable enclosures before. Just pull on one of the front door handles and pull the door open. A small lever at the back of the unit pulls on the installed drive, undocking it and sliding it forward for easy retrieval. The reverse is just as easy… insert a drive and close the door and the drive is automatically mounted and powered. Usually HDD enclosures only power the drive once the door is locked, but this is not so with this cage… once you plug it in then it is powered. The lock only serves to prevent accidentally opening the door (or theft).
We tested a variety of 2.5″ hard drives and SSDs in the enclosure and achieved the exact same performance both with and without the enclosure. The cage is essentially a “dumb” device so there are no chips to translate or manipulate data in any way and provides a straight-through connection. Some may actually prefer an external RAID card, as “internal” solutions tend to not have professional features like data rebuilding, recovery, and administrative alerts.
On the next page we consider its usefulness…
Conclusion
Many users will want to use this device to mount small drives and SSDs into their small HTPC and gaming appliance builds, but this requires adding more mounting holes. This device was intended for use in a standard desktop or server to add additional storage in a space that would otherwise go unused. There are several practical applications for this device. You could use it to reduce or eliminate noise in a HTPC (using SSDs would make the drives absolutely noiseless). This device could even be an alternative to using backup tapes… just plug in a new drive and let the backup schedule continue as normal. If you’re a fan of several operating systems, you could hot-swap your boot drive to alternate between several versions of Windows, Linux, or a “sterilized” test environment. You can even test the limits of SSDs by RAIDing them together, and don’t forget that IT shops will find cloning drives so much easier with this.
The iStar BPU-2535V2 hard drive enclosure is rather innovative in that it allows you to fit two 2.5″ hard drives into a 3.5″ bay that usually goes unused. The mechanical parts are rather high quality (iStar does have expertise with professional server parts), and has thoughtful installation features. Many enthusiasts would be interested in taking this enclosure a step further, and use RAID features on this device, and those users should consider the “upgraded” version of this enclosure, the BPU-2535V2-R, which has onboard hardware RAID and only requires one SATA cable.
This hard drive enclosure is so cute and nifty that hardware enthusiasts just can’t resist having one in their desktop rig. It is perfect for small SSDs. Now that I have it installed, I’m not sure how I ever lived without a cage like this. The RAIDed version is the next part on my list…
REPORT CARD : iStar BPU-2535V2 2.5″ to 3.5″ Internal Drive Bay Cage
category
rating
comments
Quality
4
Small, compact and sturdy. Steel construction with plastic parts
Innovation
5
Why hasn’t there been a device like this before?
Performance
5
Drive performance is not affected by the enclosure. No heat problems from tested drives
Installation
4
Easy to install, but internal mounting options would have been nice.
It has been some time since our last review of an iStar product, the T5F-SS SATA Hard Drive Rack. That product allowed you to install a 3½" SATA hard drive into an external 5¼" drive bay so that the drive could be accessed and hot-swapped from outside the computer case. The product we have for review today, the BPU-2535v2, provides a similar type function, allowing you to install up to two 2½" SATA hard drives or solid state drives into an external 3½" drive bay. Like the T5F-SS the drive slots are hot-swappable and feature key locks to prevent someone from walking off with your data.
With the growing popularity of SSDs and their frequent use in desktop machines, which are not traditionally setup for 2½" drive mounting, adapters like the BPU-2535 are needed to provide a solid method of installation. The fact that this iStar unit can fit not just one but two 2½" drives into one 3½" bay will be sure to please those enthusiasts who are using dual SSDs in a RAID configuration. In fact the BPU-2535v2-R version of this product provides built-in hardware RAID functionality, although most desktop motherboards these days do have RAID capability onboard.
Continue as we test out the iStar 2½" to 3½" drive adapter.
Usage
The iStar 2½" to 3½" drive adapter features two hot-swap bays with hinged doors that open on the front. These also act as levers to push installed drives out from the rear when opening the door to remove them from the cage. The slots are stacked very close to fit both within the confines of a single 3½" drive bay and there are no provisions for cooling of any kind, either active or passive. Only one SATA power connection is required whether you use one drive or two, although separate data ports are provided for each drive.
The top slot is labeled for SATA1 and the bottom for SATA2. Once the drive is slid into the slot the door can be closed and the latch optionally locked using the provided keys. This helps to prevent unauthorized tampering when using the iStar cage in an external drive bay.
I'm installing the iStar BPU-2535v2 with the following hardware:
The HAF 932 requires a 5¼" adapter for mounting a 3½" drive in one of the external bays, however the iStar BPU-2535v2 can also potentially be used internally as well. The mounting holes on the iStar are cut exactly like a floppy drive, which uses a smaller, fine-threaded hole compared to 3½" hard drives. Thus any case that utilizes snap-on rails or other tool-less, post style brackets may not work. The Cooler Master drive tray has removable posts however, and screws provided with the iStar can be used to secure it to the bracket. A blue LED on the left corner indicates power and activity for each drive slot, although they are not very bright.
Let's wrap things up with some final thoughts and conclusion.
Conclusion
The iStar BPU-2535v2 2½" to 3½" drive adapter cage is a versatile product that offers flexible uses. It can function in an external 3½" drive bay for easy hot-swap access capability to dual 2½" SATA drives. Or it can be used as a simple internal drive bay adapter for those looking to install an SSD or two into their desktop. Both door latches are lockable using the provided hex-shaped keys for security. And since the SATA1 data and power ports are located in the standard spot, it will even work in those 3½" bays with hot-plug connectors, although you would lose access to the SATA2 port in that situation.
The only problem I ran into was when mounting the iStar adapter in the Cooler Master internal drive tray bracket. The rubber isolation posts did not line up or fit correctly in the holes, because they're made to fit a 3½" hard drive, and the iStar is keyed like a floppy drive. I made it work by removing the posts and utilizing the screws that iStar provides with the product, which have a smaller and finer thread. Those cases that use snap-on rails or other tool-less post mounting may experience similar issues. Cases that have traditional metal-sided bays with slotted mounting holes for screws could easily accommodate the iStar in either external or internal configuration.
I found the iStar BPU-2535v2 available online in the $30 to $40 range. Although this is slightly more expensive than other 2½" to 3½" drive adapters such as the Icy Dock units, the iStar is constructed of aluminum rather than plastic, and features dual, lockable, hot-swap slots for your 2½" drives. The BPU-2535v2-R version is also available if you need hardware RAID capability built-in.
OCIA.net awards the iStar BPU-2535v2 our Gold Seal of Approval.
The floppy disk was once the king of the 3.5" drive bay. It was standard procedure when you were building a new computer to get a 3.5" floppy disk drive. This reign lasted for over a decade until CD-ROM drives started taking over. Now, we are getting to the point were everything is moving into the the realm of USB and eSATA, so 3.5" drive bays are going neglected and unused. Standard procedure has changed, so companies are coming up with innovative ways to use the empty drive bays.
The iStarUSA miniDUAL 2.5" HDD/SSD to 3.5" Internal Drive Bay Cage looks to help make use of that unused drive bay. The iStarUSA miniDUAL Internal Drive Bay Cage allows you to expand your computer further by adding an extra two 2.5" hard drives that can be hot swapped. The miniDUAL has a sturdy aluminum construction and allows use of a hex key in order to lock the drives securely into the bays.
Here is a little information about iStarUSA taken from their website. "iStarUSA, Inc., established in 1989, is a Taiwan-based company with over 20 years of experience specializing in OEM/ODM projects and manufactures industrial Power Supply, DVR/IPC rack mount chassis, and Rack mount cabinet. Having the belief of "Always provide our customers with the best products and superior customer services," iStarUSA has grown to be one of major provider in IPC power supply Industry."
iStarUSA miniDUAL 2.5" HDD/SSD to 3.5" Internal Drive Bay Cage
The iStarUSA miniDUAL 2.5" HDD/SSD to 3.5" Internal Drive Bay Cage comes in a black box. The front side of the box has a picture of the drive cage with text of the model number and series. There is also iStarUSA's logo on the bottom right corner, as well as a picture of their HTL Tech logo on the bottom right. The back of the box has more pictures of the miniDual as well as bullet-points of its features. Inside the box, the miniDUAL drive bay cage is enclosed in pink bubble wrap.
Once removed from the bubble wrap, we can see that it is a solid black drive cage. The miniDUAL is constructed of aluminum metal for the casing and plastic for the front plating. The top is solid metal. The bottom has a plastic grill for venting. The front of the cage has two clips that pull out to insert the 2.5" HDDs. There are also two LED lights on the side that indicate HDD power and access. Each clip has a hex keyhole that is used to lock the bay doors. The back end of the cage has a single SATA power connector and 2 SATA data connectors for each HDD.
In order to open up the miniDUAL, the silver front clips pull and swing open. A HDD is inserted into the bay and the door is pushed closed and locked. There are springs loaded on the rear, inside of the miniDUAL, so when a HDD needs to be removed, it will pop out when you open the bay door.
The iStarUSA miniDUAL is installed in any 3.5" bay. The case I am using has a 5.25" to 3.5" drive bay adaptor.
The included accessories are a warranty card, drive bay screws, and hex keys to lock the bay doors.
Specifications and Features
Specifications:
Model Number
BPU-2535V2
RoHS Compliance Version
Yes
Standard Drive Bays
3.5" Drive: 1
Host Interface
SATA Power Connector x 1
Data Connector x 2
HDD Interface
SATA I/II
Material
Aluminum & Plastic
Weight
1 lb
Packaging Information
Enclosure, Manual, Screws, Keys
Dimensions (W x H x D)
101 x 25 x 150 mm
External Version: BPU-2535V2-SAU
Features:
Aluminum Frame
Hard Drive Interface: SATA I/II
Fir one 3.5" Drive Bay for 2 x 2.5" Hard Disk Drives (thickness: up to 9.5mm)
Point to Point, Free from Master/Slave Setting
With one SATA Power and two DATA Connectors
JBOD Support (two individual hard drives)
Energy Saving on Using 2.5" HDDs or SSD
LED Indicators for Power & HDD access
Security Key Lock
RoHS Compliance
Testing Methods
The iStarUSA miniDUAL 2.5" HDD/SSD to 3.5" Internal Drive Bay Cage was tested utilizing the HD Tune, ATTO, and Everest benchmarking utilities to test the read/write speeds of the drive. The tests were performed in two different sets of conditions. First, the HDD was directly connected to the motherboard SATA port to get the standard benchmarks of the HDD to compare against. Then, the HDD was inserted into the drive cage and benchmarked using the same tests.
Test System(s):
System
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6750
Motherboard: MSI P43 Neo3-F LGA 775
Video Card: PNY Nvidia 275 GTX
Memory: G.Skill 4GB DDR2 800Mhz
Hard Drive: WD Scorpion Black 320GB 7200RPM
Media: LG DVD-RW
Power Supply: Ultra X4 850 Watt Modular
Operating System: Windows 7 Pro 64-Bit
Benchmarks
HD Tune
ATTO
Everest
HD Tune
To test Hard Drives and Hard Drive Enclosures, we use HD Tune, which tests various aspects of hard drives, including transfer rates and access times, which are a couple of the most important factors in HDDs. Both average transfer rate and burst rate are measured in MB/s and the higher the score the better. The access times are measured in milliseconds and the lower the times the better.
ATTO
ATTO is a Hard Disk benchmark that that calculates both read and write times. You can download ATTO here.
Native SATA
iStarUSA miniDUAL 2.5" HDD/SSD to 3.5" Internal Drive Bay Cage
Everest
Everest is a diagnostic and benchmarking tool. Everest will be used for its Disk Benchmark. We will use the read test suite. Lavalys is the producer of this software.
Native SATA
iStarUSA miniDUAL 2.5" HDD/SSD to 3.5" Internal Drive Bay Cage
Conclusion
Provided by: iStarUSA
No compensation was received for review of this product
Price Point
Price: $34.99 USD
Class: Mainstream
At a price of $34.99 USD, the iStarUSA miniDUAL 2.5" HDD/SSD to 3.5" Internal Drive Bay Cage falls in the Mainstream Category for HDD accessories.
Performance
The iStarUSA miniDUAL 2.5" HDD/SSD to 3.5" Internal Drive Bay Cage performed exactly as if the hard drive was plugged directly into the motherboard itself. There was no real significant loss in performance going through the controller card other than a random read test in Everest.
Reviewer's Opinion
The iStarUSA miniDUAL 2.5" HDD/SSD to 3.5" Internal Drive Bay Cage is a very nice accessory to have in your computer case. The tests that I ran were with a normal spindle SATA hard drive, so I wasn't able to saturate the SATA's full speeds. Installation was super easy. The procedure was similar to installing a DVD or CD drive. Screw into the drive bay and connect the power and data cables. The hard drive is recognized by the BIOS like any other hard drive connected to the system, so no drivers or program installation is necessary.
One thing that really would bring this cage to life would be SSD drives. The 2.5" form factor is becoming ever so popular with the SSD line because they are being used in both notebooks as well as desktop computers. Super Talent has also just released a line of smaller, more affordable VSSDs that would complement the miniDUAL perfectly. Their smaller capacity makes them perfect hot swap drives for application storage.
The miniDUAL also expands a single 3.5" bay to accommodate two 2.5" hard drives. Many HTPC and MicroATX cases come with a single 3.5" drive bay and limited internal space. Therefore, utilizing the miniDUAL drive bay cage will allow for greater expansion or cut out the need to keep a hard drive mounted inside the case. This leaves room for better airflow within the case but also an ability to swap hard drives without the need to disassemble the computer entirely.
If you need an internal hard drive enclosure, the iStarUSA miniDUAL 2.5" HDD/SSD to 3.5" Internal Drive Bay Cage is a perfect solution.
My short review series of Backplane Hot Swap Modules would not be complete if I did not take a look at my reference module, the iStarUSABPU-340-SA.
Popularized by HP MediaSmart Servers, these modules have found their into many competitor’s WHS-specific machines and many home-built machines. They really are a very useful addition to WHS computers, especially as one begins to swap drives to provide an increased level of backup protection.
This module is a 4 bay device that fits in (3) 5-1/4” case bays.
Specifications
Model Number BPU-340-SA
RoHS Compliance Version Yes
Standard Drive Bays 5.25″ Drive: 3
Interface SATA 2.0 Hot-Swap Capable
Cooling Fan 1x80mm
Materials All Aluminum Design with Conductive Dissipation Grooves
Color Red: BPU-340-SARED
Blue: BPU-340-SABLUE
Silver: BPU-340-SASILVER
Cables SATA Cable Included (4pcs)
Weight 10 lbs
Dimensions (W x H x D) 146 x 126 x 202 mm
Features
Stylish aluminum color handle and heat-sink body
Plug & Play
Support Hot-Swap, RAID 0/1/5
All Aluminum Design with Conductive Dissipation Grooves
Power, fan and high temperature LED indicators
Super Air Ventilation & Heat Sink with 80mm Fan
Exceeds rotational vibration requirements specified for today’s high-RPM drives
Patent Balance Handle – No Skew In/Out
Before I give you a hands-on look at the module, it is appropriate to provide some background information about iStarUSA. From their website:
iStarUSA established in 1989, iStarUSA Computer Inc. has over 19 years of experience in designing and manufacturing Industrial Switching Power Supply, Rackmount Chassis and Server Cabinet. From the standard switching power supply to high-end redundant power supply, iStarUSA has grown to be one of major provider in IPC power supply industry. In recent years, we have also expanded our products to include 1U to 8U rackmount chassis and 6U to 42U server cabinets. Our goal is always to provide our customer with the best products and superior customer services. In the beginning, iStarUSA focused on providing our customers the combinations of cutting-edge technologies, high quality manufacturing, and superior customer services. It has been a proving record that these principles earned a strong partnership for iStarUSA in today’s competitive market.
iStarUSA builds its strength upon its experience, technology, and strong partnership. We have been working closely with major computer components manufactures and system integrators for years to ensure that our products have high compatibility and solid stability. We also adopt new industrial standards to improve our design. Our ability to design according to customer’s requirement also wins us a high reputation in the industry.
Our experienced design and project engineers complete an OEM project within the deadline and meet the product requirements. We believe that being a leader of innovative technology means able to integrate it into our products which is the key to be successful for us as well as for our customers. iStarUSA has a global ISO 9001 certification which means a consistency of delivering products that meets customer requirement and continue improvement for our product and services. We are proudly to provide cost effective solutions, responsive services and the best delivery time for our customers.
What’s In The Box?
This is a toughy. This is a module I purchased some time ago. As such, I no longer have the box and associated packing materials. Short section here!
Sitting the iStarUSA BPU-340-SA on my table reveals a very sharp looking 4-in-3 bay module. The exterior casing is aluminum which should provide a nice heat sink to pull heat away from the hard drives. This unit came in as the heaviest all the modules I looked at. This is a heavy-duty unit with full caddies. The module comes with the prerequisite package of screws and it come with 4 SATA cables. Which is the only module that came with cables.
Just a shot of the HD trays. Unlike the other modules I looked at, the iStarUSA BPU-340-SA comes with a full caddy trays. Thick machined aluminum trays. This unit is designed to withstand a tank rolling over it!
The following picture is a shot of the back side of the module. You can see the fan here, of course, the SATA data connectors, and 2 each SATA and standard 4-pin Molex power connectors. You will notice that this particular module has slots incorporated into the sides to easily allow it’s use in a case with drive bay guides.
As can be seen above, the power connections are on the far side (away from an open side cover). The data connections are on the near side (closest to an open side cover). There is also a switch located on the back to set a high or low fan speed.
You can remove the fan. It is not exactly meant to be removed, but you can do so. I had the great idea of changing out this fan at one point with a quieter fan, however, it is 20mm thick fan. 20mm fans are somewhat difficult to find and none were made by companies that I knew to make quiet fans.
This module has a fan failure warning capability.
Module Comparison
I have reviewed several of these Backplane Hot Swap Module recently. I thought it might be nice to recap the iStar module with the ones I have already finished reviewing. So here goes.
Norco SS-500 and the iStarUSA BPU-340-SA
Icy Dock MB454SPF-B and the iStarUSA BPU-340-SA
Icy Dock MB235SPF-1B and the iStarUSA BPU-340-SA
And all 4 together.
Hopefully, you can find the module style of your choice among those pictured above.
Installing the Hot Swap Module
As in previous Hot Swap module reviews, I mentioned that the most time consuming portion of that whole exercise was to transfer drives from 1 set of caddies to the other set. Once again, that observation has not changed. There are simply a lot screws to deal with!
32 screws later, I was able to gently slide/push the iStar device into my computer bays, hook up the data and power connections, and secure the the module. As you can see below you can actually see the other side of case. This module is by far and away the shortest of the modules I have looked at, which gives it an advantage when trying to fit it in small and large cases.
And one last time (I just have to say it)! My wire management *still* sucks, and I *still* need some compressed air to blow the dust out. I guarantee that wiring situation will not improve. And I still have not made it out to buy some compressed air!
It was nice to be able to use SATA power cables, since I had plenty of length to hook them up outside the case. Since the data connections are on the open side of the computer, I had no trouble hooking up them up.
What follows are a couple of pictures of the iStar module installed in the computer and the computer all tucked away into its normal place in my little world. Same ole, same ole except for different hot swap modules.
I turned on the computer and (for the last time!) was relieved to discover that I had reconnected everything correctly (again!).
It is rather difficult to get a good picture of the light show when the computer is starting up, but here it is.
The iStarUSA BPU-340-SA utilizes multi-purpose (colored) LED’s to indicate various HD states. The bottom LED is a fan fault indicator. I am not sure why, but each HD LED also serves as a on/off button for each drive. And the top button is a reset switch. If someone could explain to me why one would want such a feature, please clue me in!
This module has a high/low fan speed switch. I guarantee that you will want to put in on the low-speed side. The low-speed setting is noticeable; the high-speed setting is annoying, to say the least. The result is that the drives seem to be a few degrees warmer than the other modules I have looked at, but they are still well within any temperature limits.
Looks? I liked it when I purchased this item, as I just happened to like the blue accents. After looking at the other two 4-3 modules, I think I prefer the understated black color with or without some small offsetting accents. The iStar looks nice; it just not look as “professional” as some of the others. Obviously, this is a very subjective opinion.
A couple of final observations to note during initial inspection and installation are as follows:
The module is very sturdy and is incredibly well built.
The frame and trays are machined, and could have been deburred a little better. The module had some rather sharp edges.
Insertion of the caddies was very smooth, with or without drives installed.
There was no mistaking when the hard drives were properly inserted and the module latched. There was a very definite feeling a proper insertion.
Costs and Conclusion
Pros:
Very soft, but very legible LED array. Put another way, these LED’s do not light up the whole room.
Fan Alarm.
The best built unit of the ones I have looked at.
Very short unit which allows for ease of installation in most cases.
SATA power connectors.
Comes with SATA data cables.
Cons:
Loud fan in high-speed setting. Acceptable noise level in low-speed setting.
The power connectors are in an inconvenient location, but the use SATA power connectors made this mostly a non-issue.
Power/reset buttons are there for, what?
Would I recommend this hot swap module? Well, I bought it didn’t I? I might make a different decision today based upon direct comparison to other hot swap modules, but it does have some better features than the others. And a few not so nice ones.
Final note: I must apologize on the pricing detail, as I am in the U.S. If a reader elsewhere spots one at their favorite etailer, I (and others) would appreciate it you could note source and cost as a comment.
I love storage. It doesn’t matter what kind. I have stock in those plastic dresser-style drawers, and I keep ‘em chock full of crap I’ll never use or at the most very rarely. Any time I look at a car I check out the trunk first, and try to estimate how many bodies would fit in there. If I’m unsure, I’ll ask the salesman. And yes, I have done it before. Ah, the joys and freedoms of being a sociopath. But my favorite type of storage is always those heavy bricks we call Hard Drives. I have them in all capacities, and when I want to access one, I simply take apart my external storage unit, or power down my computer and take the side off, install the HD, and then put it all back together. It’s a pain in the ass at best.
And then I recieved this little dandy. The T-5F SS by the people at iStarUSA. It’s an HDD reader, like the SD card reader on the front of most of your computers. T5F-SS is a mobile rack for use with 3.5″ SAS and SATA I/II hard drive. The storage capacity of the hard drive is unlimited. The trayless and screwless design is for fast and easy installation. The anti-vibration design gives hard drive an extra protection from damage. Blue LED indicator enables monitor power and hard drive activities. Security key-lock prevents intrusion and theft to the most important data. And, possibly the best of all… it’s Hot Swappable!
Here are some more specs on her:
Features
Screwless and Trayless Design for fast HDD mounting
Anti-vibration Design
Support SAS and SATA I/II Hard Drive
Key Lock Prevents Theft or Removal During Operation
So now you know what it can handle. And you know what comes in the box. I love it when the manufacturer does my work for me. Unlimited capacity, and a small amount of installation. What more could a storage lover want? And it comes equipped with its own 40mm cooling fan. This little baby is awesome. But enough of my swooning, let’s slap a drive in there and see what it can do. I expect that there won’t be much difference in the data transfer speed, but we’re going to test it anyway. Because that’s the type of in-depth journalism we do here at OCModshop. Okay… my editor is forcing me to do it. He’s so anal.
Installation is a breeze, assuming you have all your wires and cables safely out of your way. I removed the plastic panel from the front of my case, slid the T5F-SS in there, and screwed it down. A simple plugging in of the cables and I was good to go. FYI, there are two SATA-style ports on this, a yellow one and a black one. The yellow one is for SAS only, and the black one is for your SATA drive. It took a minute to figure this out when my PC didn’t recognize that there was a drive connected to it. One other thing I noticed is that the T5 didn’t use the SATA power plug for its juice. It instead used a typical 4-prong power plug. My best guess is that this is to provide adequate power to the fan as well as the HDD.
Now that everything is connected, I put the side back on the case and insert my HDD into the T5F-SS. Man, that sounds dirty doesn’t it? That’s geek dirty talk, my friends. So I open the front door of the T5 and insert the HDD. As I slid it to the back it catches on a metal tab that closes the door as it goes. A small push of the fingertip, and the drive is locked into the plugs at the back of the enclosure. And when you open the door again, the same tab pulls the drive toward you, effectively disconnecting it and sliding it out so you can grasp it. How wonderful.
Just for fun, I used the included keys and locked the door of the T5. On a side note, what good do these keys do? Every lock screw, every other lockable computer component has this exact same key. Any other PC user with a set of these keys can walk right up, unlock your drive bay, and pull your HDD out. Then they walk away whistling to themselves. But alas, I am not the designer, and there’s only so many ways you can make a key for something like this. Although I am sure there are more than just this one…
Conclusion
Back on the subject, I have fired up my computer and am proceeding to run Hard Disk Sentinel Pro to make sure that the speeds are sufficent to receive my two thumbs up. The blue light on the front of the T5 tells me that the drive is being accessed with its constant and bright blue LED blinking. So I close the front of my case to get that annoying light out of my eyes, and sit back and wait for the results of the benchmark test.
As I suspected, the benchmarks on the hard drive’s speed wasn’t affected by the enclosure. I was getting an average speed of 45.89MBs, just under the Western Digital WD2500KS and the Hitachi Deskstar. The enclosure’s fan also seemed to do its job as well. The drive was staying as cool as my OS’s HDD, which is equipped with a single fan cooling system. So all in all, I am happy with the performance of the T5F-SS. The speed is consistent and there is no lag. The cooling system seems to do the job adequately. It’s a breeze to install, just as easy as hooking up a new optical drive. And, did I mention that it’s hot swappable? I’m sure I did, but it’s still a beautiful thing. And swapping is easy too, just open the door and take the drive out, then slide the new drive in. My only suggestion to iStarUSA… check into a new lock and security system. Biometrics is the new black, you know.
The IStarUSA T5F-SS is an internal 3 1/2″ Sata drive docking bay. It securely docks a Sata drive in a 5 1/4″ bay. Docking is as easy as sliding the drive in and closing the door.
INTRODUCTION
Storage needs have changed over the years and it seems like we’ve seen a never ending parade of drive enclosures and docking stations. But the problem lies within the limited choices in regards to interface and capacity. USB is limited in transfer speeds but offers portability in exchange. Firewire offers speed, but not all computers are set up to handle it. E-Sata leaves you with a drive enclosure cluttering up your desk and wires trailing behind it.
With our specific need for easy access to multiple drives, boot to multiple operating systems, and craving the ability to migrate from SATA to SAS, we went looking for a solution. What we found was a docking bay that fits into a 5 1/4″ drive bay, accepts SATA and SAS drives, and has unlimited storage capacity (depending on how many drives you want to swap).
The iStarUsa T5F-SS accepts 3 1/2″ Sata or SAS (you of course have to have a SAS controller and drive to use the SAS portion) hard drive, connects to the internal controller inside the computer, and swapping a drive is as easy as sliding it in and closing the door.
FEATURES & SPECIFICATIONS
Features
Screwless and trayless design for fast HDD mounting
Anti-vibration design
Support SAS and SATA I/II hard drives
Key Lock prevents theft or removal during operation
Fit for standard 5.25″ drive bay
Best air ventilation with 1 x 40mm fan
Specifications
iStarUSA T5F-SS
Model Number
T5F-SS
RoHS Compliance Version
Yes
Standard Drive Bays
5.25″ Drive: 1
Cooling Fan
1x40mm
Interface
SAS / SATA I/II
Connectors
2 x SATA connectors
4 Pin power connector
Materials
Frame: Metal
Front Panel: Plastic
LED Display
HDD activity
Security
Key Lock
Certification
TUV, CSA, CUL/ UL, CE
Packaging Information
Mobile rack, manual, keys, and screws
Dimensions (W x H x D)
146 x 40 x 190 mm
PICTURES & IMPRESSIONS
Click For A Larger Image
Packaging
The T5F-SS comes packaged in a sturdy box with enough information on it to help the informed consumer make a decision about it’s purchase.
Click For A Larger Image
Inside The Box
Inside the box you’ll find the T5F-SS in a bubble wrap bag, which could have used a little more padding to keep it securely in place. Despite the lack of packing it arrived safely. You’ll also find a set of keys, 4 screws, and a minuscule manual. You won’t find a SATA or SAS cable for the unit. That’s a bad oversight on iStarUSA’s part. We like to see a product come out of the box ready to go with all the accessories required for it’s operation.
Click For A Larger Image
The Front
On the front of the T5F-SS there’s a lockable door to ensure that no one absconds with your hard drive. The locking system is solid steel and quite secure. One of the most impressive things about the T5F-SS is it’s solid steel construction. The gauge steel they used in it’s construction is very substantial. To open the door just use one of the keys and unlock it and pull out on the indented section. Slide your drive in and you’re ready to go. You mount the unit just like any other drive that fits in a standard 5 1/4″ drive bay. Depending on the drive you chose to use (SAS or SATA) you’ll need to connect the appropriate cable to the drive controller. We chose to use a SATA drive for testing because SAS is primarily used for enterprise and server applications and is not representative of our reader base.
Click The Image And Nothing Will Happen
The Back
On the back of the iStarUSA T5F-SS, you’ll see a yellow SAS and black Sata connector. The T5F-SS also uses a molex connector so a SATA to molex adapter would have been appreciated for those that don’t have a molex to spare. The 40mm cooling fan to the right of the picture provides cooling for your drive while in operation.
We thought we’d throw in a picture of the T5F-SS installed in a tower before moving on to the Testing & Conclusion section.
You can see that it’s not gaudy and doesn’t attract undue attention to itself but projects a professional image. The locking feature is pretty nice for an Office environment where hard drives are known to disappear by the dozen.
TESTING & CONCLUSION
Test Rig
Test Rig
Case Type
NZXT Tempest
CPU
Intel E8400 @ 3.214Ghz 1.22 vcore
Motherboard
Gigabyte EP45-Extreme
Ram
2GB Patriot Viper DDR2 1150 5-5-5-15 2.3v (2.0v on the P45)
CPU Cooler
Thermalright Ultra 120
Hard Drive
Western Digital 400 Gig Sata II 8MB cache
Optical
Sony DVD R/W
Graphics Cards In Crossfire
Sapphire 4870
Sapphire 4850 Toxic
Power Supply
Thermaltake ToughPower 1K
NB Cooling
Thermaltake Bigwater 760I
External Enclosure
iStarUsa T5F-SS
Testing
To test the IStar T5F-SS we ran HDTach with a SATA II hard drive in the enclosure. We ran the test three times, and of those three runs the average was reported. The HDD used to run the test was a 400GB 16MB cache Western Digital SATA II HDD. For comparison we used the Thermaltake VI-ON in USB mode with the same hard drive. We also used the same model drive as the primary boot drive and ran those numbers to see how they compared to the iStarUsa T5F-SS.
Test Results
Hard Drive Tach
32 MB Test
TT VION In USB Mode
iStarUsa T5F-SS In Sata Mode
Internal Hard Drive In Sata Mode
Random Access Time* (ms)
15.1
14.4
14.2
Average Read (MB/sec)
27.54
112.6
112.9
CPU Utilization*
2%
2%
2%
Burst Speed (MB/sec)
29.71
129.5
131.2
*Lower is Better … Otherwise Higher is Better
The differences between a USB enclosure and a true SATA enclosure are like day and night. With a higher RPM SAS drive the differences would be even more dramatic. You can clearly see the advantages of an internal SATA docking bay. The internal bay runs at the same speed as the internal hard drive. The internal did do a little better, but nothing that can’t be explained by normal testing variance.
Conclusion
The iStarUsa T5F-SS is a well built drive bay enclosure. It operated in SATA mode as well as an internal hard drive. It also offers the upgrade path to SAS drives which earns it a few points. What detracts from it isn’t performance, but rather the non-existent bundle that drags down it’s value. Most hard drives don’t come with cables, most motherboards come with cables. If you’re maxed out on your cables then to use the T5F-SS you’d have to purchase a cable for SAS or SATA. While most of us have Sata Cables laying around, very few of us have SAS cables. We are big fans of ready out of the box products and without cables the T5F-SS falls short of this ideal. Nobody wants to receive a product to find out that they need to run down to a local shop to purchase an over priced cable just to use it.
That being said, it still performs really well. The steel used in it’s construction is heavy gauge but since it’s an internal that doesn’t earn it a lot of leeway. We’d see using it in a tech or shop environment but a really limited number of people have a stack of hard drives they want to swap in and out. For a business man that want’s to carry data home, e-Sata makes more sense. It’s hard to find a niche to categorize this enclosure in for home use. In a SAS server environment it’d be handy, in a reviewers environment it’s nice, home use for a multiple drive enthusiast wanting to boot multiple Operating Systems from stand alone drives, maybe.
With SAS in the same boat as SCSI, we’d say on normal boards (non-server non-native SAS controller) it would be beyond the average users pocket to use SAS. The controller (a bargain controller) runs upwards of $200+, SAS drives run as much and more than Raptors. So to use the enclosure you’d have to have $400 or more invested in hardware and that’s if you only run one SAS drive in the T5F-SS. Most people would want to run it internally and externally so they’d be looking at a $600 dollar investment plus the cost of the enclosure. Makes it kind of prohibitive for most of use to use the SAS portion of the enclosure.
It’s a good idea but it’s a little ahead of the times for home use, and a little out of reach for most pockets.
Pros:
+ Performance in SATA mode is excellent + SAS ready + Solidly built + Quiet operation (in SATA mode)
Cons:
- Cost of operation in SAS mode - Non-existent bundle - e-SATA is more convienent
The T5F-SS performed well in SATA mode but it would be hard to justify the cost of operation in SAS Mode. The glaring lack of included cables decreases it’s value. In a server environment or those demanding the absolute most of every piece of equipment no matter the cost, it might find a home. For home use it’s good for SATA but it’s not very portable so e-SATA makes more sense.
Overall, the iStarUSA T5F-SS recieves a final score of 6 out of 10 (pretty good). We could see it moving to a 7 if cables were included, but even at 7, with the scores of more functional enclosures (ie. e-SATA devices, and docking Stations) it would still fall short of being award worthy.
iStarUSA may not be the first name on your lips when you think mobile HDD racks. Other companies like Kingwin, Thermaltake, Nexstar and IcyDock get a lot of press with their external and internal HDD docks, racks and enclosures and iStarUSA is one of the names that often gets left out in the cold. Today we are looking at a trayless 5.25" Anti-vibration SAS (Serial Attached SCSI)/SATA mobile rack that may be just the ticket if you have a drive that you want to pull from a system for security or large scale data portability. Keep on reading to find out if the T5F-SS is a worthy choice in this crowded market.
About iStarUSA:
For those of you not familiar with iStarUSA, you might find their company information interesting. We've pulled it from their site and posted it below for your convenience.
iStarUSA established in 1989, iStarUSA Computer Inc. has over fifteen years of experience in designing and manufacturing Industrial Switching Power Supply, Rackmount Chassis and Server Cabinet. From the standard switching power supply to high-end redundant power supply, iStarUSA has grown to be one of major provider in IPC power supply industry. In recent years, we have also expanded our products to include 1U to 8U rackmount chassis and 6U to 42U server cabinets. Our goal is always to provide our customer with the best products and superior customer services. In the beginning, iStarUSA focused on providing our customers the combinations of cutting-edge technologies, high quality manufacturing, and superior customer services. It has been a proving record that these principles earned a strong partnership for iStarUSA in today's competitive market.
iStarUSA builds its strength upon its experience, technology, and strong partnership. We have been working closely with major computer components manufactures and system integrators for years to ensure that our products have high compatibility and solid stability. We also adopt new industrial standards to improve our design. Our ability to design according to customer's requirement also wins us a high reputation in the industry.
The T5F-SS comes is a pretty plain looking box and the bundle is pretty plain as well. In the box is the enclosure/rack, a set of keys, four screws for mounting the rack in a 5.25" bay and a small manual. The T5F-SS is really simple to install as you insert it into an available bay, open the door, slide a drive in and shut the door. There is no tray to install on the HDD - it's a one piece unit that really makes installation simple.
T5F-SS Bundle
The front of the unit is somewhat vented and this allows the small 40mm fan at the rear of the unit to achieve small airflow inside the unit to keep your drive cool. Because there is no major aluminum component touching the drive (such as a tray) the drive could get hot if the unit were cooled passively. The active cooling on this unit is quiet and works very well.
Front Close - Closed
Back Close
The black hard drive connector on the back is for SATA while the orange connector is for SAS devices. Not familiar with SAS? Check out Wikipedia for more info.
On the next page we'll install it and test it out.
Installation:
As I mentioned before, installing the T5F-SS is very simple. To install it into your case is as simple as installing a SATA Optical drive - just make sure if you're using a SATA drive that you connect the SATA cable to the black connector. You can secure the unit with the included screws if you case isn't tool-less. I used the Zalman GS1000 case and the unit slid easily into a bay and was secured with thumbscrews that came with the case. Installing a drive is as simple as turning a key, pulling the latch on the left front of the unit and then sliding the drive in place. When you close the door it will push the drive securely into the connector and keep it from vibrating thanks to the secure fit and spring-loaded door.
Front Close - Open
Drive Installation
Once you've got the T5F-SS in your system and powered on, you'll see that there are two distinctive LEDs on the front left on the device. The LED at the top of the lock indicates power and that a drive is installed. The LED at the bottom of the lock is an HDD activity indicator. It flashes like every other HDD light on the front of every case. The handy thing about having drives installed in the T5F-SS devices is that you can see which drive is being accessed.
Installed
Usage & Testing:
I've used the T5F-SS for about a week and have had absolutely no issue with it at all. While some may shy away from the unit because of the fan, I never found this to add any noise to the system at all. This is currently running one half of a RAID 0 stripe on an Phenom 9950BE system and it has been rock solid. The performance with the drive in this enclosure is identical to the performance when the drive was strapped solely into the GS1000 Case. The benefit for some corporate users is that this device also supports SAS drives as well. When using the iStarUSA T5F-SS in a RAID 1 array, it works as advertised and lets you hot-swap drives with no issues at all. In terms of performance and usability, this device scores very well.
Final Thoughts:
The iStarUSA T5F-SS works as advertised and brings iStarUSA to the table in the crowded market of HDD enclosures. One of the main benefits of this HDD Dock is also its weakness; it is tray less. This means that you have nothing to install on your HDD and you can use your HDD in any system, dock, or other device without taking it out of its proprietary tray. This also means that if you plan on pulling your drive from the T5F-SS before you go home at the end of the day, you'll have to transport your Hard Drive without any protection on it at all.
With this in mind, the T5F-SS is not for everyone as it is not a standard rack/tray design that many other companies use. This leaves your drive free of the burden of a tray and makes it more usable more quickly in different situations. Still, if you use this in your office machine and plan on taking your drive home with you at the end of the day it will certainly leave your drive more exposed to damage.
Pros:
Simple to install both in system and drive
Quiet - even though it's actively cooled
Drive doesn't vibrate
Trayless design leaves drive free for other applications quickly and easily
Supports both SATA and SAS drives
Cons:
Trayless design fails to protect drive when transported outside the entire enclosure
I'd like to thank iStarUSA for sending over the T5F-SS for us to review. It just squeaked in at 9.0 to make a Top Pick. If you have any questions or comments, please post them in the forum at the "Comments" link below.
Reviewed by: The HL Staff Editor: Aron Schatz Date: February 17, 2008
Article url: http://hardwarelogic.com/articles.php?id=5371&page=4
Product page: http://istarusa.com/istarusa/products.php?model=T-7M1-SATA&showmenu=1
With more and more enthusiasts relying on external hard drives to backup and transport their data with, it is no wonder that the market is simply inundated with these kinds of devices. iStarUSA's newest offering, the T-7M1 removable internal hard drive rack, looks to do something different by attracting enthusiasts with a more versatile and performance minded product. Can the T-7M1 out-perform its external HDD cousins? Will the T-7M1 be able to prove its mettle? HardwareLogic is on the hunt to find out!
Fifteen years of experience in the computer industry has led iStarUSA to become one of the most sought after and successful companies in the world today. With a full stable of computing solutions that run the gamut from enclosures to server rack mounts to everything in between, iStarUSA has proven itself to be a company solely focused on their customers. It is due to iStarUSA's dedication to both the computing industry and their customers that allows the company to retain that much needed edge in a highly competitive environment.
With more and more enthusiasts relying on external hard drives to backup and transport their data with, it is no wonder that the market is simply inundated with these kinds of devices. iStarUSA's newest offering, the T-7M1 removable internal hard drive rack, looks to do something different by attracting enthusiasts with a more versatile and performance minded product. Can the T-7M1 out-perform its external HDD cousins? Will the T-7M1 be able to prove its mettle? HardwareLogic is on the hunt to find out!
Specifications
 Model Number
 T-7M1-SABLUE
 Tray Type / HDD
 5.25" SATA HDD enclosure in 3.5" HDD form factor
The T-7M1 bundle, while sparse, is not a letdown by any means. Lesser manufacturers would have you fend for yourself by having to purchase a separate SATA cable to connect your device with, and it's nice to see that iStar included one with the T-7M1. It is worth noting that the cable is quite long, approximately 30" in length which is more than enough to connect the internal HDD enclosure to your motherboard. Along with the cable, iStar gives you enough screws to mount the HDD inside the enclosure, as well to mount the enclosure in an available 5.25" bay in your chassis. The manual, while brief, was more than enough in instructing us on how to install a hard drive in the enclosure and mount the enclosure into a chassis.
Upon removing the HDD enclosure from its packaging, we were extremely surprised by the build quality of the product. At about three pounds sans hard drive, this enclosure is beefy, strong, and extremely sturdy. Made completely of aluminum, we expect this HDD enclosure to exist long after we have departed this Earth. Needless to say, we were very impressed with the fit and finish of the T-7M1. We could not find a single flaw in the construction of this enclosure, a true testament to the quality that iStar is known for in its products.
To remove the HDD tray from the enclosure, simply pull on the black tab at the front of the enclosure and slide the entire tray from the chassis. It's that easy, and yes, we love the way that iStar has designed it. The handle, if you would call it that, comes in a variety of colors, and they are all made of anodized aluminum. Currently, you can purchase the T-7M1 in silver, black, red, and blue.
The front of the T-7M1 is devoid of eye-candy that would normally make a product such as this appear gaudy and cheap. The only lights on this enclosure are the HDD and power LED's, and along with a power button located on the lower right-hand side of the enclosure, there really isn't much else to the T-7M1. This is not to infer that we don't feel that this enclosure is drab or boring, quite the contrary. iStar has included enough to make the front of the enclosure look great, while at the same time remaining professional. As mentioned earlier, you can get the "handle" in different colors for those enthusiasts that want to personalize their system.
The rear end of the T-7M1 is about as basic as one can get for connection outputs. RoHS compliant, the T-7M1 gives you connection points for a SATA data cable and power connector. It's worth mentioning that this enclosure does not support legacy 4-pin molex power connectors (or IDE hard drives for that matter!), and if you're still using IDE drives, well, it's damn time to upgrade 'em! Nevertheless, it would have been nice if iStar had included a patch cable for those people that do not have an available SATA power connector in their systems.
The cooling system for this enclosure is handled by a single 60mm fan that is not speed variable. Yes, yes, cry us a river. The fact of the matter is that, during our testing, the fan was barely audible, requiring us to put our ears to the enclosure to ensure that the fan was working. However, the fan puts out plenty of air, and we found that it kept our hard drive nice and cool during operation. Further testing revealed that the fan was able to keep our hard drive a few degrees cooler than hard drives installed in their respective 3.5" internal bays in our test chassis.
Taking a peek inside the T-7M1, we can see the bottom mounted 60mm fan and the PCI board for the SATA hard drive. However, one of the things that we would have liked to have seen inside the enclosure is the use of anti-vibration dampening materials for the tray as it is slid and finally locked into place inside the enclosure. While not necessarily a deal breaker, much in the same as the Tagan Icy Box, it would have been a really nice touch nonetheless.
The tray of the T-7M1, like the rest of the enclosure, is made completely of aluminum, save for the plastic housing area of the handle. With a cutout for the 60mm fan to do its thing and four holes to install a 3.5" SATA hard drive into, the tray is more than adequate to handle the weight of the heaviest hard drive used. While four screw holes to secure the hard drive to the tray is expected, what was not was the lack of grommets between the tray and the hard drive. This would have prevented any kind of vibration from occurring from hard drive operation, and a necessary one as well.
The installation of a SATA hard drive in the T-7M1 is a relatively painless process. Orient your SATA hard drive of choice onto the tray, and with four screws, secure the drive to the tray. Yes, even a monkey could do this, it's that easy.
Once the hard drive is installed onto the tray, carefully slide the tray into the T-7M1 enclosure and push the handle until it clicks into place.
Once the tray is installed into the T-7M1 enclosure, install the enclosure into an available 5.25" external bay in your chassis and secure it with the screws that iStar provided in the accessory bundle. After that, connect the SATA data cable and presto! You're done!
If you've made it this far in the review, you're no doubt wondering how the T-7M1 fared during our torture testing of the product. Well, to be perfectly honest, we cannot find a single substantial negative remark concerning this product. iStar put together a perfect product without resorting to gimmicks or other tomfoolery that commonly befall similar products. Suffice to say, if the only negative comments we can make about the T-7M1 is the lack of grommets on the HDD tray, anti-vibration materials inside the enclosure, and the lack of a 4-pin molex patch power cable, then you know that this product is destined for greatness.
For those wondering about transfer speeds via the T-7M1 interface, we experienced no detrimental speed decreases or noticeable drop in throughput during our testing of this product. The T-7M1 retained the same data transfer speeds as a regular hard drive mounted inside a case in an available 3.5" bay would. The time it took to unpack the product, install a hard drive onto the tray, and install the HDD enclosure into our test chassis took less than 10 minutes. This, by far, was one of the quickest and easiest installation and setups of a rack mount HDD solution we've ever encountered.
Our Recommendation
Completely made of aluminum, there is something to be said of the heat-wicking abilities of this lightweight, yet sturdy metal. Coupled with a 60mm fan, our hard drive stayed nice and cool during operation, even during our stress test of defragging our hard drive or transferring tremendous amounts of data from one drive to another. In the end, we could not find a single failing point with this product. It's a solid performing device at a terrific price point. Simply put, the T-7M1 will appeal to any enthusiast, novice or expert, who are serious about removable media storage.
The iStarUSA T-7M1 earns our coveted "Great Innovation" award.
Pros:
 - Extremely well built and sturdy
 - Easy to install and maintain hard drivesÂ
 - Superb performance; exceptionally cool and quiet operationÂ
 - Price point is fantastic for a product of this caliber
Cons:Â Â -Â Lack of anti-vibration materia;s on the HDD tray and inside the enclosure
 - No 4-pin molex patch cable for those that don't have an available SATA power connector
Other Reviews of Note
It's always nice to have more than one opinion on a component before you spend your hard earned money. For one, we may see something others missed, or vice versa. As with all reviews published at HardwareLogic, we'll not only give you our recommendation, but also point out reviews from some other great sites around the web.
Transferring large amounts of data from one computer to another can sometimes be a hassle. If you are using a flash drive you might have to take several trips back and forth between computers and if you are using an external hard drive, it might take a while. A nice alternative is to simple copy the data onto an internal hard drive and then just move the hard drive to the other computer. You might be thinking that this will end up being a lot of work since you are going to have to take the computer apart and unplug everything, but no, you don’t have to do any of that. With the iStarUSA T-7M1-SA Removable Hard Drive Rack which will mount into a 5.25” drive bay, all you have to do is simply press a button and the hard drive comes right out with no problems.
iStarUSA’s Take:
“Audio type aluminum hot-swappable iStarUSA T-7M1-SA mobile rack. Unique compact in size, high performance SATA interface. T-7M1-SA is tough in strength, but flexible in functionality. Additional blower cooling fan provides extra cooling in worst operating condition. LED indicator enables monitor power and hard drive activities. Security lock prevents intrusion and theft to the most important data. T-7M1-SA audio mobile rack construct with quality and versatility.”
Packaging:
Features:
SATA Interface
Cableless Connection, Support Plug & Play, Hot-Swappable
All Aluminum for Best Heat Sink
Best Air Ventilation with 1x60mm Blower Fan
Point to Point, Free from Master/Slave Setting
Specifications:
Model Number
T-7M1-SA
RoHS Compliance Version
Yes
Standard Drive Bays
5.25" Drive:
1
Cooling Fan [Option]
1x60mm Blower
Interface
SATA 2.0 Hot-Swap Capable
Materials
All Aluminum Design
Color
Black
Red: T-7M1-SARED
Blue: T-7M1-SABLUE
Silver: T-7M1-SASILVER
Cables
Yes
Weight
3.0 lbs
Color of Handle
Silver / Black / Blue / Red
Dimensions (W x H x D)
146 x 42 x 186 mm
Testing:
Installation and ease of use are probably the two most important factors in a product of this type. First off the installation is extremely easy as it fits into the standard 5.25” drive bay, which can be installed several different ways depending on the case. Once securely placed into the drive bay we simply plug in the SATA and power to the back of the drive and that’s it. Installation is complete. Placing and removing a hard drive into the tray involves simply putting the hard drive down into it. Once you place the tray into the rack and push it in, it will connect to the SATA and power that you have plugged into the back. Now onto speed: I copied and pasted data from one hard drive to the hard drive in the rack and it maintained the same speed as if it was plugged in directly as an internal drive. With removable hard drive rack's what you have is basically a setup almost identical to mounting the hard drive internally. Speeds of writing and access will not be affected as all you have esentially done is mounted the drive into an enclosure which can be removed.
The iStarUSA T-7M1-SA also has a 60mm fan located on the bottom so that it will keep your hard drive running nice and cool. The hard drive ran a few degrees cooler in the rack than as if the hard drive ran as an internal with no fan or any type of direct air circulation. As we know heat is the number 1 killerof hard drives, and as such anything we can do to reduce the heat in will lead to a longer hard drive life.
Conclusion:
From our testing, you can see that the installation and ease of use is extremely simple. As we explained transfer speeds depend more on the max speed of the hard drive itself and other system factors than on anything to do with an enclosure. Additionally since the iStarUSA T-7 comes in a variety of different colors, you are likley to find one that will match your case perfectly. Overall I would have to say that the iStarUSA T-7M1-SA is a very well designed and thought out product.
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The iStar BPU-2535V2 
