The best Hard Drive Docking Stations: Reddit reviews

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

Prevention is the best medicine, but for now, immediately disconnect the power, and look up a tutorial on how to remove the hard drive, as long as it's not encrypted, you should be able to just put the hard drive in an external enclosure like this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B018FTE87S/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_ucIQBb0FFQWEB

And just plug it into another computer, assuming the drive wasn't fried, it should work.

Sporting two hard drives (1 TB and 320 GB) in a dock with the Pi. Streaming with Infuse since the Pi can’t handle transcoding. It’s humble beginnings but I’m pretty excited.

Edit: here is the docking station.

>most money?

Sell individually on Ebay, list them as 2011/2012 MACBOOK HARD DRIVE

>least effort?

Sell them in bulk or give them away or recycle them? Please don't throw the out. They can still be used.

>any cool things I could do with them?

Build a replica model of the Great Pyramids of Giza or you buy an old desktop and build a NAS using nothing but 2.5 inch drives I guess. ICY DOCK hot swap bay

I've always wanted to try building a NAS with only 2.5 inch hard drives. Dumb but funny project. But honestly I would sell them. You can turn quite a profit on top of the money you already make.

Edit: Grammar

If it still works you could just buy a external hard drive dock, and then just plug it into your current computer

One of these: https://www.amazon.ca/Sabrent-External-Lay-Flat-Docking-EC-DFLT/dp/B00LS5NFQ2/ref=asc_df_B00LS5NFQ2/?tag=googlemobshop-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=326972463096&hvpos=1o3&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13912694636959243616&hvpone=&hvptwo=&a...

Did you used to hotswap drives? Or did you have to remove them from your computer?

If they used to be inside your computer, it might be worthwhile investing in something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-External-Duplicator-Function-EC-HD2B/dp/B0759567JT/

And then spend a weekend looking through those drives. Might not find the wallet, but at least it’s something?

(Sorry if you have already tried something like this. I know unsolicited advice can be very annoying)

If you go with one of these smaller machines you can just throw a bunch of SSDs in any sized JBOD enclosure or dock connected with USB 3 and have tons of storage in a nice compact form factor. Like this for example.

Hell yeah! If you can't access the files using the computer, crack it open, take out the hard drive (and RAM for your next machine), and get an external hard drive dock. I got a dual dock from Amazon, so one holds all my VSTs and the other holds backups.

If all you're using it for is a simple NAS for storage and relatively infrequent access, I'd get an Orange Pi PC and a 2-bay USB3 SATA dock (https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-External-Duplicator-Function-EC-HD2B/dp/B0759567JT). Install Armbian, install mdadm, NFS and SMB. Now you have a power sipping, silent, no extra heat generating, small form factor RAID1 2-bay NAS/Linux server for $50-60USD not including drives.

Edit: If you want something with gigabit ethernet, then look at an ODROID-XU4. I had 8 SATA 3.5" drives connected to my -XU4 via USB-SATA bridges, and was always able to fully saturate the gigabit link. The -XU4 will run you about $75, the drive dock another $30-40, so about $110-125 for all of it. Install the HardKernel provided Ubuntu image, mdadm, NFS and SMB and you're good to go.

Edit2: Also look at Rock64 with USB3 port and gigabit ethernet. $25USD for the 1GB RAM version+maybe $10-15 for case, power supply and shipping. So you're back at around $30-40USD for the computer, and $30-40 for the 2-bay drive dock.

You could also open it up, remove the hard drive, and try to mount it on another computer using one of these https://smile.amazon.com/Sabrent-External-Duplicator-Function-EC-HD2B/dp/B0759567JT or something similar. That will avoid any problems if it’s a power supply or motherboard failure. But like a previous poster suggested, I’d start with a bootable usb drive and see if that works. That’s the simplest thing to try first.

The Shield pro 500gb model has a SSHD drive that's prone to failure, this drive isn't recognized by windows and if it goes dead you've basically got a paperweight. People found that if you take a closer you can essential clone this to a SSD of the same size and enjoy much faster boot times and reliability. They have tutorials on how to open the unit and a cloner like this should do the job

Sabrent USB 3.0 to SATA I/II/III Dual Bay External Hard Drive Docking Station for 2.5 or 3.5in HDD, SSD with Hard Drive Duplicator/Cloner Function [10TB Support] (EC-HD2B) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0759567JT/ref=cm_sw_r_u_apa_fab_QxpFFb3BY34B6

load BIOS defaults .. reboot .. Your hard drive is listed under main (250gb) .. see if it boots .. if it doesn't, Hopefully it's just something like a corrupt boot partition an the drive as a whole isn't dead/inaccessible if there was data on there that you wanted.

You can try a repair install of windows .. you could pick up an inexpensive SSD and replace the drive and reinstall windows and get a USB SATA docking station like https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-External-Duplicator-Function-EC-HD2B/dp/B0759567JT/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=Sata+Docking+Station&qid=1625305393&sr=8-3 and put in your old drive to recover whatever data.

I would prefer to shuck them and put them in a bay or something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0711L68MS/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_2?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

But sadly that does not allow 15mm form factor.

I just want it to be accessible over the network, rather than externally. Like a NAS.

6TB of photos on my Synology. It's been a great backup for photos & documents for years.

Consider adding an external drive that you can initiate a backup of the NAS and then gets disconnected and set aside for a month or so. There are two reasons to consider having "cold storage" that's not connected. You could use a bare drive and a dock like this one.

-If some major power surge comes in and destroys the NAS and the drives that are spinning inside (lightning hits the house?)

-If you get hit with ransomware that encrypts all of the drives connected to your system. You'll be happy you have some external drive with a complete backup of all of your important files sitting disconnected from the system.

https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-External-Lay-Flat-Docking-EC-DFLT/dp/B00LS5NFQ2/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=hard+drive+enclosure&qid=1620766702&sr=8-3 try using one of these

Looks like they’ve changed the design a little, but this is basically the one I have: Sabrent USB 3.0 to SATA I/II/III Dual Bay External Hard Drive Docking Station for 2.5 or 3.5in HDD, SSD with Hard Drive Duplicator/Cloner Function [10TB Support] (EC-HD2B) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0759567JT/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_DTH7Q5EP18R5Z0NH8Z76

Not sure about the quality, but I recently came across https://www.amazon.com/ICY-DOCK-Mobile-Comparable-Tray-less/dp/B01M0BIPYC which you can probably use in tandem with a SATA to USB connector? There are different configurations available.

I'd totally ask a computer friend you know. That's probably cheaper than a business :)

Getting an enclosure like this would an easy way to check

https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-External-Lay-Flat-Docking-EC-DFLT/dp/B00LS5NFQ2/

The hard drive in the Mac Pro you have is just a standard SATA 3.5" hard drive. You'll need to remove it from the computer and then remove the drive from the carrier.

After you do that you'll need a USB SATA enclosure like this one. It has to be one that uses a wall adapter for power - the USB port alone can't provide enough power for a 3.5" hard drive. The one I've linked includes the power supply.

Having the backup destination on the same device isn't best practice, but that's not to say it's not best practice for you. I wouldn't do it, for reasons u/ImplicitEmpiricism mentioned. If something goes awry on your mainboard, PSU, RAM, or some other internal component, your 'backup' won't matter because it went down with the ship.

Since you don't care about redundancy in your backup target, I would advise instead of getting a whole other NAS, which could be a PITA to manage, instead get one or more of these, plop those spare drives into them, plug them into the NAS, and use either HyperBackup, or if you're just looking for direct file backup (not imaging or versioning), use USB Copy or rsync to copy your stuff over. Then take those drives off-site or stick them in a safe place away from the NAS or whatever, and set a routine to back up to them occasionally.

Without having to make compromises due to the space constraints of the T1, I don't think so. I too was in your position and didn't want to deal with making space where space isn't already available, so I just went with a docking station lol.

​

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LS5NFQ2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

​

May not be the answer you're looking for, but definitely an easier route IMO.

Here you go

https://www.macrium.com/reflectfree

Sabrent USB 3.0 to SATA External Hard Drive Lay-Flat Docking Station for 2.5 or 3.5in HDD, SSD [Support UASP] (EC-DFLT) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LS5NFQ2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_82A76HC3PEABEDX95ESW

The drives will only write so fast. I think what you've been doing, Acronis, is the best way to go. I'm assuming you're connecting each drive either internally or USB? Maybe insure you're using USB 3 or 3.1 since transfer speeds are faster (and good cables) and connect them directly not through hubs.

Other than that I don't see many other ways to increase the speed using the method you've described.

I did get a drive cloner a while back but haven't had a chance to use it. Maybe you're looking for something like this?

> Supports Transfer Speeds up to 5Gbps (USB 3.0),480Mbps (USB 2.0), 12Mbps (USB 1.1)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0759567JT/

Yes, hardware, can also be connected to a computer and used as a drive dock to swap drives in and out easily.

like this: https://www.amazon.com/WAVLINK-Dual-Bay-Docking-Station-Functions/dp/B018FTE87S/

Sata Dock

M.2 Enclosure

It’s more expensive, but IcyDock makes a more easily accessible unit. ICY DOCK 6 x 2.5 SATA HDD/SSD Hot Swap Mobile Rack/Cage in 1 x 5.25 Drive Bay Comparable to Tray-Less Design - ExpressCage MB326SP-B https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M0BIPYC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_fabt1_nAfUFbWRG9G6X

The first project I wanted to cover was NAS. I currently have two 3TB HDDs and wanted a concise way of linking them to the Pi. I've been looking into the cheap drive docks on amazon, but was unsure whether those would have software hangups when trying to connect those to a Pi. Anybody have experience with using these?

(reference product : https://www.amazon.com/WAVLINK-Dual-Bay-Docking-Station-Functions/dp/B018FTE87S/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=hdd+2+bay&qid=1562676373&s=gateway&sr=8-4)

They’re HDD’s I had laying around, because they were replaced by SSD’s. It’s annoying watching them just sit there collecting dust. So I bought this thingthis thing off Amazon. It’s pretty slick, for the price!

I have a "soft 3-2-1" scheme going.

Second NAS. It's on my LAN, but in a different room. It's really just my "old NAS" that I "replaced" when I got my most recent unit. Runs de-dupes about once per week using HyperBackup. Not using RAID - it's two very large independent storage pools.

Two large HDDs in a SATA/USB bridges using a mix of USB Copy and HyperBackup. Bring them home from work once per month, run a full backup of everything, then take them back to work and shove them in my cabinet behind a bunch of old accounting textbooks, where I'm confident even the Gestapo would never look... Wish they were farther away, which is why I consider it "soft."

I also use Google Drive for docs I sometimes need while I'm out and about, and OneDrive for work. Both are backed up nightly to the second NAS. Is it stupid to back up public cloud? Maybe, but every time I cut/paste the contents of the NAS destination folder to a new directory not being backed up, my cloud accounts drop back to 0, keeping me out of danger of hitting the quota. So it's more for that than anything, but the app is called "Cloud Backup Sync" or something, so I'm mentioning it.

Was thinking of doing the same myself recently and have this on my wishlist. Read good reviews but they could be paid shills, of course. I like the sleek look and individual power buttons, and also that it doesn't do any fancy, possibly unreliable raid in hardware. I have drivepool.

Thank you so very much for taking the time to respond.

It is almost certainly the external USB case I purchased this week to house the HDD I use to clone my MacintoshHD every other day.

I got this one from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LS5NFQ2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I have it plugged into a powered Anker USB hub.

I have just unplugged it and will see if that is the problem.