BUILD 4-bay, 4-eSATA JBOD enclosure?

[DaPlumber]

Does anyone know of a reasonably priced 4-bay enclosure that simply passes through the SATA ports to 4 X eSATA ports on the back? i.e. no port multiplexing. Active cooling a must, Removable trays a nice to have.

 

[DaPlumber]

To answer myself, I found this:
http://www.istarusa.com/raidage/pro...om Storage Tower&sub=eSATA&model=DAGE440M1-ES and they seem to ba available on Amazon for ~$300.
Is there nothing else? Preferably cheaper... :D

 

[bestboy]

I just ordered one of those: Icybox IB-544SSK

It is not exactly what you are looking for as it has

1. SATA instead of eSATA connectors
2. no PSU

But it is cheap (<80 EUR).

I'm also trying to build a cheap backup solution with it according to your suggestion.

imho the short comings are not that big of a problem tho:

1. I'll just use short SATA-to-eSATA cables to connect it to the eSATA bracket. I guess I'll be fine as long as the total cable length doesn't exceed 1m by too much.
2. I'll power it with an external 12V PSU that has a 4 pin Molex connector similar to this one. The one I ordered has allegedly 24W and I have high hopes, that it will be capable of powering 2 measly WD Greens @ ~12W.

 

[Ericloewe]

I just ordered one of those: Icybox IB-544SSK

It is not exactly what you are looking for as it has

1. SATA instead of eSATA connectors
2. no PSU

But it is cheap (<80 EUR).

I'm also trying to build a cheap backup solution with it according to your suggestion.

imho the short comings are not that big of a problem tho:

1. I'll just use short SATA-to-eSATA cables to connect it to the eSATA bracket. I guess I'll be fine as long as the total cable length doesn't exceed 1m by too much.
2. I'll power it with an external 12V PSU that has a 4 pin Molex connector similar to this one. The one I ordered has allegedly 24W and I have high hopes, that it will be capable of powering 2 measly WD Greens @ ~12W.

Greens require up to 30W each on spinup, with about 24W on the 12V rail and a bit more on the 5V rail.

 

[bestboy]

aww crap I did not consider the spinup. Well, I better go for the 90W version then.

 

[DaPlumber]

Yeah I've considered several 4 X 3.5" into 3X 5.25" bay "converters" standalone and in cheap cabinets. At least this one has a fan.

I too was a little concerned about power, but I've put bigger surges through a Molex 8981. Remember the bleep-ing things were designed for full height 5.25" dinosaurs. :D As long as the wiring isn't warm to the touch...

I'm more concerned about structural integrity, but I suppose the steel and aluminum ones would be OK.

 

[DaPlumber]

OK, so I found this @ B&H for $232, no tax to me and free shipping, so not too shabby.

Here are the specs:
Host Interface 4 x eSATA
HDD Interface 3.5" SAS I/II & SATA I/II/III
Hot Swap 3.5" (88.9 mm) 4
LED Display Power and HDD activity
Power Supply 250 W
Material Steel
RAID Level Configured by host controller
Cooling Fan 1 x 80 mm
RoHS Compliance Yes
Dimensions (W x H x D) 7.0 x 11.0 x 16.0" (177.8 x 279.4 x 406.4 mm)

So, a nice dumb sturdy non-multiplex eSATA 4-bay JBOD box, just what I wanted. The "RAID Level: Configured by host controller" did make me smile a little.

Still a bit more than I wanted to pay and it's backordered so it's only going to get to me sometime late next month. (shrug) I guess I'll just have to keep the fan blowing over the two enclosures I'm using now, passive cooling just doesn't cut it in Houston in the summer!