Hot-swap drive cage

I am thinking of changing my backup unRAID server to allow for faster drive replacement. Could anyone recommend a 4-in-3 or 5-in-3 cage?

The case is an Antec 900. I was looking at the Supermicro CSE-M35T-1B (would this one would fit without modifying the case)? Also looking at the Norco SS-400 and Kingwin KF-4000-BK. Any suggestions?

Do you prefer trays or trayless?  Trayless tend to cost a bit more, but no screwdriver is needed for drive installation.

As for a general recommendation, I would go with...

SNT SNT-SAC3051TL 5 x 3.5" HDD in 3 x 5.25" Bay SAS/SATA Trayless Backplane Hot Swap RAID Cage

...as it is a good design and it is one of the cheapest on the market.  The fans on the back are tiny and may be a bit loud, but they are easily removable.  Looking at the pictures of your case on Newegg I'm fairly certain that this drive cage will just slide right in, but if there are any ledges between the 5.25" bays you will have to flatten those with pliers and a hammer.

If you prefer trays, Icy Dock and Norco have good options.

Do you prefer trays or trayless?  Trayless tend to cost a bit more, but no screwdriver is needed for drive installation.

What is the difference between trays or trayless? Sorry noob question!

No problem.  I think this is best explained visually.

Trays:

Trayless:

Drive cages with trays require you to physically secure the drive to the tray with 4-6 screws.  You then slide the tray into the slot and it takes care of the rest.  Trayless drive cages require no screws, you just slide the hard drive directly into the slot.

As you can see below, I much prefer trayless drive cages:

In most cases the trayless drive cages are a bit more expensive.  The SNT option I listed above is a bit of an anomaly in that it is cheaper than all the with-tray options.  Most trayless 5-in-3 drive cages run about $120, whereas most with-tray 5-in-3 drive cages run about $100 or less.

Also, I would definitely opt for a 5-in-3 instead of a 4-in-3 since the price difference is generally $20 or less.  You will definitely appreciate that extra drive at some point down the road.  The only reason I can see for getting 4-in-3 cages is if you live in a REALLY hot part of the world where drive temperatures are a big issue.  4-in-3 cages generally have better cooling.  However, if your server will be in a climate controlled environment with case fans and good airflow, then 5-in-3's are the better option.

The problem with a lot of the trayless designs is airflow.  I WANT a trayless, but am leaning towards these at the moment...

Notice the meshing in the front of the trays.

I love Raj's trayless Icy Docks that he did (bottom of his last post), but they seem to be running a little hot for my taste.

The red 5 in 3's aren't IcyDocks, they are, well, generic.  Here's the link:

http://www.plinkusa.net/websata350.htm

They look cool, but after the $15 shipping they aren't terribly cheap.  As aiden pointed out, their biggest downside is airflow.  They have only small vents in the front and two 60 mm fans in the back (which are very difficult to remove or replace).  I think the airflow is adequate if you use only low heat/low power 5400 rpm drives, such as WD Greens, and have decent airflow through the case to help them out.  However, I would not recommend them for hotter 7200 rpm drives.

Those SNTs posted by Raj look nice but they dont have activity lights and thats a deal breaker for me.

Haha, gotta have those pretty lights 

Those SNTs posted by Raj look nice but they dont have activity lights and thats a deal breaker for me.

Yeah, I'm not sure why they would skip the activity LEDs when they are standard on almost all the other cages.

The problem with a lot of the trayless designs is airflow.  I WANT a trayless, but am leaning towards these at the moment...

Can you update that message and provide a link to the product?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816201030&cm_re=StorPack-_-16-201-030-_-Product

That fan layout is going to lead to hotspots. I would not recommend those units.

The ICY Dock and Supermicro's are more centralized in the fan arrangement.

The ICY Dock has a Lo/Med/High switch with an easily replaceable fan.

Wow, expensive too.  They do look snazzy though...

I think the cooling would be adequate for green drives, but I see WeeboTech's point that the right-rear portion of the bay will have no airflow (so basically the two right-most drives may have heat issues).

By the way, what's the deal with the SATA-SAS connections (so 10 total connections instead of just 5)?  The red 5-in-3's I bought from Weebo had those too.  Even though I was using a SAS card, the SATA connections worked just fine (since I was using breakout cables).  So what's the point of the SAS connections?

So what's the point of the SAS connections?

SAS drives like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148559&cm_re=sas-_-22-148-559-_-Product

The ICY Dock and Supermicro's are more centralized in the fan arrangement.

The ICY Dock has a Lo/Med/High switch with an easily replaceable fan.

This leads to a question I have dying to ask:

Out of the two- the Icy Docks and the Supermicros- what are the main differences (aka "Why pay more for the Icy Docks?")?

Wow, expensive too.  They do look snazzy though...

One of the pros for the ICY DOCK is you can purchase an external single 5.25 USB/eSATA unit and swap drives between them.

Out of the two- the Icy Docks and the Supermicros- what are the main differences (aka "Why pay more for the Icy Docks?")?

1. Switch (Low/Med/High)

2. Possibility to allow swapping with a single drive external unit.

3. Easy to replace fan.

4. not as deep as a supermicro.

pros Supermicro.

1. Readily available.

2. Rock Solid

3. Highly unlikely of drive overheating with stock fan.

3.5 you can swap the fan easily with minimal tools

4. Swappable if you have other Supermicro equipment.

5. Comes with external cable for connection to RAID cards for LED activity.

6. Embedded temperature sensor, alarm on overheat or fan not active.

First of all, thanks for that list. I have been thinking of getting some external bays for my newest server, and that helps a lot. You really are the high end around here! I would love to hear your observations on the only option in that price bracket that you have not dissected:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816133030&cm_re=norco-_-16-133-030-_-Product

1. Switch (Low/Med/High)

Ok, I have heard this before. What do other backplates do? Go by temp, or the drives run at just one speed?

I think the cooling would be adequate for green drives, but I see WeeboTech's point that the right-rear portion of the bay will have no airflow (so basically the two right-most drives may have heat issues).

Not to create an argument, because I genuinely want to understand here, but what is the difference between the Enhance fan size...

And the Icy Dock...

They both look like 80 mm to me?

The size is the same, but the location is different.  The IcyDock's is more centrally located, but the Enhance's is off in one corner.  I imagine the Enhance's fan would primarily benefit the 3 left-most drives and neglect the other two.

But even the Icy Dock's position completely ignores the 5th slot, right?  So does it have a hotspot with that drive?  Every one of the cages I have seen has the fan offcenter, even the Supermicro. 

True, I imagine all the drive cages neglect one drive or another.  But it's the middle three drives that are most at risk since they are surrounded on both sides by other heat-producing drives.  Even if you had completely equal cooling on all 5 drives, the middle three would still be a degree or two hotter.  That's why I don't like the Enhance's design, since it neglects the 4th drive from the left, which is one of the at-risk drives.  I wouldn't be worried if it only neglected one or both of the outermost drives.

I see.  Thanks for clarifying what Weebo was talking about.  I was thinking they totally enclosed it to help with negative pressure, but there wouldn't be much flow with the fan off center like that for that 4th and 5th drive, as you say, regardless of the pressure.  That's too bad, because imho those are the sexiest hot swap bays I've seen yet.  I guess I'll go back to sitting on the fence, waiting for someone to create the perfect trayless solution instead. 

Well, that's just my take on it, perhaps Weebo has a different gripe with them.  I agree that they are pretty much the best looking ones I've seen.  A bit more than I would care to spend, but beauty has it's price.

Perhaps (and that is a big perhaps) you could use some tape on the insides to block some of the vents and help direct air into the dead spots.  Or perhaps you could cut some more holes in the metal plate on the back and use the case's fans/negative pressure to draw air through there.  Probably not worth the trouble when there are cheaper and better options though.

Perhaps (and that is a big perhaps) you could use some tape on the insides to block some of the vents and help direct air into the dead spots.  Or perhaps you could cut some more holes in the metal plate on the back and use the case's fans/negative pressure to draw air through there.  Probably not worth the trouble when there are cheaper and better options though.

Well, with my luck I would find a big fat circuit board covering the area.

I guess what bothers me most is the lack of ingenuity... everyone is making the same thing.  Why not move all the ports to one side, use SATA only power connectors insted of molex, and slap a 92mm (since a 120 is about 0.5 inches too big) on the back?