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Serial ATA interface/firewire enclosure advice needed...

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Original poster
Dec 27, 2003
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I'm looking for an external firewire enclosure for a serial ata hard drive.

I can't even FIND one online (found plenty of IDE and ATA ones though).

Here is what we are doing...

I have a 500mhz G3 iMac with a 120gig HD connected via ethernet to our router, which is in turn connected to an airport express.

All other computers connect wirelessly.

The iMac (the server, I suppose) is running a database software that all computers can connect to. I would like to EXPAND our use of the iMac (server) by connecting firewire hard drives so we can use that extra storage space for backup purposes. Firewire seems a better choice here (or would a separate, networked HD work better?) as we will migrate the drives to a G4 tower whenever the iMac dies or we can afford something to replace the G4 tower as a work computer. USB is not an option as the iMac has only 1.1 ports.

We already own a 3.5" serial ATA hard drive (no, I can't return it). It's also going to be on 24/7 and is so far our only complete backup.
 
Thanks for that...

Damn...pricey, but I suppose I really don't have many options here.

We are using a 500mhz G3 iMac as a server/backup, so my options are limited. Thanks for the help!
 
My current favorite enclosure I own is the Venus DS-3. It has USB/FW but I think there is a SATA model availble. There are also 5.25" and 2.5" models available. I paid about $50 plus shipping for my DS-3. The site is http://www.amselectronics.com/ Sorry, I don't have a specific page for the DS product. It's a site that the URL doesn't change when navigating through different pages. Anyways, go to "products" then "external enclosures" and you should be able to find it.

Another drive enclosure I use is a D-Link DSM-600. It's a little different, being a network attached device that can be connected via gigabit ethernet or wifi. It can also serve as a wireless access point. I have a 320 GB PATA drive in it for doing backups and for storing files to share.

The Venus DS-3 is a quality good looking unit and the cooling fan is similar to a video card fan, being on the surface of the drive rather than at the rear of the enclosure. It's a little more expensive than other enclosures but I like the design. If you are going to be running it for extended periods, whatever you get, I highly recommend an enclosure with a cooling fan. Passive cooling works fine for short time usage but tend to get hot if you use them for an hour or more. I have seen enclosures for as cheap as $30 but one with a cooling fan may be a bit more.

One other thing, it's been a while since I used to surf for this stuff, but keep on the look out for deals. Sometimes you can find an enclosure with a drive for a good price. When a vendor is clearing out drives you could actually buy an enclosure and a drive for less than normal price.
 
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