What's coming up for me is this item, which looks to be just a newer revision of the Probox that I have. If that's right, it is a dumb box.
Assuming I have the right hardware and you haven't installed any software RAID or drivepool software, the box is literally only turning your eSATA or USB port into a bunch of SATA ports. The drives are all individual and can be changed at will - some models of these dumb boxes are even okay to hot swap drives, but I'm not sure about this one.
There are a ton of devices that can do this This is one on Amazon
I have 3 of these and never had a problem with them. Just search Amazon for "4 bay diskless", you will have alot to choose from but I recommend the mediasonic.
The Mediasonic Probox with eSATA should do what you want. https://www.amazon.com/Mediasonic-PROBOX-SATA-Drive-Enclosure/dp/B09WPPJHSS/ref=sr\_1\_1?crid=2RYFII0I2LNHI&keywords=mediasonic+probox&qid=1665885852&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIzLjcyIiwicXNhIjoiMy4yNyIsInFzcCI6IjIuNTUifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=mediasoni...
I use something like this, which is more tidy (I can put old drive in as torrent temp folder as well)
You can buy something like this and pop your disks into it, boot your PC/laptop with Linux live USB and do the same thing.
You might consider something like this and pop a few big drives in it to do backup (note: Don't buy Orico, and don't use any RAID on those boxes), DSM will see 4 separate USB disks, then you can do backup to them and bring it away.
You get what you pay for. Cheap enclosures, such as manufacturer cases cause overheating and the components, USB interface and power supply are cheap, cheap, cheap. In addition, you're limited to about 4 drives per USB port if you're using a powered hub. Over four and drives will start not being recognized and drop out randomly.
That said, some here will probably send their shucked enclosures for every cheap or free. Personally, I trash them rather than pass on junk to someone else.
Better to get a proper multi-bay enclosure. I use and recommend the Mediasonic Probox which is now $100 at Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Mediasonic-PROBOX-SATA-Drive-Enclosure/dp/B09WPPJHSS
Which brings us the issue of when free isn't always a good thing. If the drives are small, say 4TB or smaller, the cost per enclosure (and hub if necessary) or bay in a multi-bay enclosure, plus the electricity and heat generated is more than the value of the drive.
Where are you that the Probox is $250? Here's the 4 bay box: https://www.amazon.com/Mediasonic-PROBOX-SATA-Drive-Enclosure/dp/B09WPPJHSS
The 8 bay is $250 https://www.amazon.com/Mediasonic-PROBOX-3-5-inch-Drive-Enclosure/dp/B09V3TGDFW
Both are non-RAID. The USB 3.1 boxes are more. Maybe that's that you're looking at.
Outside the U.S., I believe it's sold as Fantec.
+1 to the Probox. The 4-Bay non-RAID, USB 3.0 version is back to $100, where it belongs, at Amazon in the U.S. https://www.amazon.com/Mediasonic-PROBOX-SATA-Drive-Enclosure/dp/B09WPPJHSS.
RAID is not a backup and USB 3.0 has more than enough bandwidth for any hard drives.
I have numerous 4 & 8 bay boxes and they've worked well for years.
for my plex server i use hdd bays
https://www.amazon.com/Mediasonic-PROBOX-SATA-Drive-Enclosure/dp/B09WPPJHSS
https://www.amazon.com/ORICO-Enclosure-Magnetic-Tool-Free-Expansion/dp/B0734G79FW
the orico had to be hard reset a few times when on boot up none of the drives loaded. simple on and off fix it though.
Assuming you want only 1 external drive, there is plenty of sata hdd enclosures like this that use a USB connection to a PC. If you think you will need more than one, there is this. You can use internal hdds in them, just make sure that if you buy 3.5" hdds you get 3.5" enclosures (if you buy 2.5" get 2.5" enclosures).
You can use the cloud, but if you need 2Tb, you will probably need to pay.
Shortened URL's:
ProBox 4-bay: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09WPPJHSS
ProBox 8-bay: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09V3TGDFW
Yottamaster 4 bya: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XKWNJSB
One man's review: I have two of the ProBox 4-bay devices. While they were great for a while, both ended up somehow with greatly diminished performance and connectivity issues. Confirmed between two different PC's, multiple USB ports (including a PCIe USB card). Connecting HDD's directly to SATA didn't result in any performance degradation or connectivity problems.
I use and recommend Mediasonic ProBox. I've used 4 & 8 bay boxes for years. Right now the 4 bay USB 3.0 box is $110 at Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Mediasonic-PROBOX-SATA-Drive-Enclosure/dp/B09WPPJHSS/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=probox&qid=1660325021&sr=8-1. Where it should be. When the USB-C model came out, they shot up to $130+.
Unless you're running SSDs, USB 3.0 is more than enough for HDDs.
I'd like to know what your power strip situation looks like.
I have a couple of these right now that I use for shucked drives since my case is at capacity: https://www.amazon.com/Mediasonic-PROBOX-SATA-Drive-Enclosure/dp/B09WPPJHSS/ref=pd_lpo_2?pd_rd_i=B09WPPJHSS&psc=1
I have mostly 8tb drives.
I use and recommend Mediasonic Probox. https://www.amazon.com/Mediasonic-PROBOX-SATA-Drive-Enclosure/dp/B09WPPJHSS/ref=sr_1_3?crid=2NP7URXPIU41J&keywords=probox+4+bay&qid=1656391325&sprefix=probox+4+%2Caps%2C684&sr=8-3
Better cooling than any dock without a fan.
I wouldn't trust drive to drive copying. Not much faster, if at all than doing it through a PC where you can monitor the progress and verify the copy.
https://www.amazon.com/Mediasonic-PROBOX-SATA-Drive-Enclosure/dp/B09WPPJHSS/
This one is OK. I would should i find the one with internal power supply?