Exposed drive bay for HD

B

bonanza

New Member
In the specification of computer case : (centurion C5)
5.25" drive bay : 5 exposed.
3.5" drive bay : 1 exposed, 4 hidden.

Can I utilize removable HD (add/remove without opening the case) ? do I need special HD ?


Thanks.
 
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The only way to add a 3.5" hard drive into a 5 1/4" bay is with an adapter that you mount after securing the drive into it. Those run about $2. The option to have a removable drive for file transfers and simply backing things up would be the external usb adapter or going with a usb type drive. Those two can be used while never opening up the case itself.
 
You can get those removeable bays for about $20 that fit in your 5.25" bay. I think most are IDE/PATA, but there might be some SATA ones out now. That would be your only limitation on drives. Besides the interface, any 3.5" hard drive would work.
 
Thank you all.

With such removeable bays can I even add/remove while the system is on (without shutting down the system first) ?
 
If it's SATA, you should be able to... I have seen people do it with IDE drives as well, but technically you are not suppose to. Plus, I know IDE drives for sure must be initialized in the BIOS. Unless the drives you swap are identical, it probably wouldn't work... But again, they ARE NOT mean to be hot swappable...
 
You should have read one thread where someone plugged the power in on an ide drive while the system was running. SPARKS FLIED! The system immediately shutdown and had problems starting up afterwards! You don't plug and unplug 12v connections while the system is running. Only usb devices are hot swappable due to the low current(micro amps) there.
 
Even with sata drives you still have a 12v power connection to contend with. You may get away with unplugging a drive while the system is running. But it would be risky plugging power in while live current is there. The external bays simply allow you to transfer files back and forth without opening the case up but not while the system is running for the most part. There's no buffering available there however.

The usb method is low current and you have an external 12v feed where you can shut that off without effecting the board or anything else inside the system itself. That's for both adapters for internal drives and the newer external usb type. (Gee? That WD 500gb Work Book looked good instead of adding a second 500gb internal sata drive lately. :P )
 
PC eye said:
Even with sata drives you still have a 12v power connection to contend with. You may get away with unplugging a drive while the system is running. But it would be risky plugging power in while live current is there. The external bays simply allow you to transfer files back and forth without opening the case up but not while the system is running for the most part. There's no buffering available there however.

The usb method is low current and you have an external 12v feed where you can shut that off without effecting the board or anything else inside the system itself. That's for both adapters for internal drives and the newer external usb type. (Gee? That WD 500gb Work Book looked good instead of adding a second 500gb internal sata drive lately. :P )
Click to expand...

I see your point. But I've heard that a server system can do that (24x7 hours kind of work). Is that a different system ? SCSI maybe ?
 
Various networks even your ISP have to maintain enormous server setups 24/7! This forum has to be maintained for 24/7 access. When you can't log onto a usual account the servers themselves may be down for maintainence then. Server are network type cases while your average desktop serves as what is termed a personal workstation or even stand alone system. A network and servers connect a large number of stations or simply allow you to post a reply here while being what distance apart from each other?

SCSI drives are an older idea still in use for adding more storage drives on a faster bus. These are usually connected to a SCSI controller card added into a system. Those go in much like you would see a SATA or RAID for ide drives type controller card.
 
PC eye said:
Various networks even your ISP have to maintain enormous server setups 24/7! This forum has to be maintained for 24/7 access. When you can't log onto a usual account the servers themselves may be down for maintainence then. Server are network type cases while your average desktop serves as what is termed a personal workstation or even stand alone system. A network and servers connect a large number of stations or simply allow you to post a reply here while being what distance apart from each other?

SCSI drives are an older idea still in use for adding more storage drives on a faster bus. These are usually connected to a SCSI controller card added into a system. Those go in much like you would see a SATA or RAID for ide drives type controller card.
Click to expand...

There must be a time for a server to replace HD (eg: failure, maintenance, etc) without having to shut down the system/hotwappable and without having to worry about the 12v power shock. So, What kind of HD system do they commonly use ?
 
The network as it would better be called may have a backup server that takes over for the period of time needed when routine maintainance is performed. You know the telepjhone companies have to have those already in order to keep anything going. But individual sites will see shutdowns at one time or another usually brief periods in order to service or update information.

Even this forum is maintained to some degree by the ad banners in order to cover the costs of operation. Uploading a new ad or routine servicing will then see "the Computer Forum will return shortly" type message when trying to log on here. For something like a sata drive the hot swappable could only happen with two drives sharing one data cable while both still have the 12v power feed plugged in.

There only the sata data cable is plugged and unplugged not the actual power feed necessarily. But sata drives while still using 12v are a little different then ide drives with a different type of power plug and configuration. For the average user the shutdown and power off is the golden rule for swapping drives out to prevent damage that can happen on a live pc.
 
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