3.5IN Dual Sata External HDD Enclosure with Raid

Other products by StarTech

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 7.5 x 6 inches ; 4.4 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B001K9BF4K
• Item model number: SAT3520U2ER
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #11,904 in Electronics (See Bestsellers in Electronics)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: November 4, 2008

Product Description

Product Description

This Dual SATA External Hard Drive Enclosure delivers the ideal external RAID solution, allowing you to install two 3.5in SATA hard drives, connected to the host computer through either eSATA or USB 2.0.For true eSATA convenience, the enclosure features built-in port multiplier support, allowing both of the installed Serial ATA drives to be connected to the host computer through a single eSATA cable.A versatile external storage solution, the enclosure supports any 3.5in SATA hard drive up to 2.0 TB in capacity for a combined total capacity of 4TB, and can be connected to a computer through USB 2.0, if an eSATA connection is not available.The enclosure supports multiple RAID array configurations including RAID 0, RAID 1, BIG(JBOD), SAFE33 and SAFE55 - allowing you to configure your external drives to best suit the application.To help protect installed SATA hard drives and their valuable data content from in-transit damage, the enclosure features a sturdy aluminum casing that also enhances drive heat dissipation for a cooler operating environment.To provide further cooling for installed SATA hard drives, the enclosure features a built-in 50mm fan that re-distributes the heat build-up generated as a result of typical drive operation. This is especially important when using Terabyte hard drives, and faster "spinning" drives (i.e 7200 RPM), as it can help optimize drive operability and in turn preserve stored data integrity.An out-of-the-box external RAID or USB 2.0 storage solution, the eSATA/USB Dual External RAID Hard Drive Enclosure includes both eSATA and USB 2.0 cables, as well as the necessary power adapter.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very nice enclosure - unable to use with Tivo, February 13, 2009

By	J. J. Marino "Geekasaurus Rex" (Rochester, New York) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

I bought this enclosure to use with my Tivo HD. This is because of the eSATA. I was unable to get it to work but that is not the fault of the manufacturer. Other than that issue this is a really nice tight external enclosure.

I have 1TB inside on 2 seperate drives. The setup is very easy to do, there is a simple dip switch inside that the guide tells you to adjust for the different types of RAID. Right now I set it for JBOD for use as a backup drive.

* Combined capacity of up to 3 TB using two 1.5 TB SATA hard drives
* eSATA supports plug and play with PCI-Express
* Rear interfaces that supports both eSATA and USB 2.0
* Separate rear panel Power and Fan ON/OFF switches
* Supports port multiplier functionality

Not a bad backup solution for your older disks or even if you want to add some new ones. If I can figure out how to get it to work with Tivo I will update my review.

Thanks for looking!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Confuse Instruction Manual and Almost No Customer Service, July 25, 2009

By	Shuxiang Li (Cedar Hills, Utah. United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

1) I bought this product 11 July 2009, it is delivered on 20 July 2009. When took out the package box, it looks solid and beautiful;

2) However, when I setup the driver step by step according to the paper Instruction Manual (also as the online one found on StarTech website), my nightmare started. I spend 4 days (total about 3 hours) to figure out by myself to make the RAID 1 mode work. Below is my experience, hope it helps for you.

a, I bought 2 HHD "Western Digital AV-GP 500 GB Bulk/OEM Hard Drive" , which are installed with StarTech SAT3520U2ER (this product) on 21 July 2009, I set the DIP Switch to 1/2/3/4=On/On/Off/Off, that would be RAID 1 (safe) setting according to the Instruction Manual page 4.

b, The same page in the Instruction Manual stated that "GUI** (Requires Software Installation", so, by my understanding, RAID 1 (and other modes except GUI mode) does not require to install the software.

c, After HDD 1 and HDD2 both installed and setup the DIP to RAID 1 (1/2/3/4=On/On/Off/Off, and push the RESET), I connect it to my Windows XP system, then "Partitioning Installed Drivers" exactly according to the Instruction Manual. When I looked it through Start - My Computer - Explore, it shows me there are 2 separated HDDs (that's JBOD); Reboot the computer, still the same.

d, I went to StartTech website, fill-out the Technical Support form [...] on July 21 night about 10pm EST.

e, I don't get any phone call or email response as of right now (10:40pm EST, 25 July 2009).

g, I start to fix it by myself today from 8:30pm EST. Finally I figured out how to make it work as RAID 1 mode. This is what I found. 1,You need install the software ANYWAY; 2,You have to set the DIP to GUI ANYWAY; 3,You have to find the default password for the software (SteelVine) by reading the SteelVine Manage Help (total 108 pages) and search for "default password"; 4,then you can use that password to set the Product to RAID1 mode.

f, My experience has indicated, the Instruction Manual is not useful as customer wanted; (By the way, a lot of the wording are copying from the SteelVine Manage Help). And StarTech Customer Service is nearly non-existing.

I would come back to update my experience for using the SAT3520U2ER.