Eagle Tech I-Series Dual SATA HDD USB Enclosure Review
Other by SidneyWong @ 2008-04-01
Eagle Tech I-Series dual hard-drive enclosure in JBOD setup looks appealing with two face plates and a rear fan for the tough job.
Review
Introduction
Introduction:
Eagle Tech is introducing another dual SATA hard drive enclosure. This time the unit has two face-plates in "Orange" and "Silver" colors. An exhaust fan is included at the back to cool the hard drives using USB 2.0 connectivity. It even comes with backup software.
Users can put in any size hard drives in mix or match capacity as long as they are SATA. The I-series enclosure is made of sheet-metal casing and plastic front cover. The face-plate is snapped on.
Features:
Built for Media enthusiasts
Works with 2 hard drives up to 1 TB each (total 2 TB)
Combines two hard drives into one giant storage
Mix-n-match different drives
Built-in 6cm smart fan
Plug-n-Play USB 2.0
Specifications:
Type: JBOD enclosure
Form Factor: 3.5" external
Capacity: 2 TB (2 x 1 TB)
Internal Interface: SATA
External Interface: High speed USB 2.0
Data Transfer Rate: 480 Mbps
Spindle speed: 7200 RPM
Power Source: External Power Adapter (5V/12V/ 2.0A)
Power input: 100~240VAC, 50/50Hz
Certification: FCC, CE Certified
O.S. Required: MS Vista/ME/2000/XP Or Mac OS 9.0 or higher
Dimension: 8.75" (L) x 5" (H) x 3.14" (W)
One year warranty
Package Content:
I-series external storage system
Power Adapter
Installation CD
User Manual
USB 2.0 cable
Second face plate
The power supply is good for both 110 & 220v input and with 5 & 12v output at 2A allowing around the world use.
Eagle Tech is introducing another dual SATA hard drive enclosure. This time the unit has two face-plates in "Orange" and "Silver" colors. An exhaust fan is included at the back to cool the hard drives using USB 2.0 connectivity. It even comes with backup software.
Users can put in any size hard drives in mix or match capacity as long as they are SATA. The I-series enclosure is made of sheet-metal casing and plastic front cover. The face-plate is snapped on.
Features:
Specifications:
Package Content:
The power supply is good for both 110 & 220v input and with 5 & 12v output at 2A allowing around the world use.
Installation
Installation:
Ease of installation is one of the key elements in choosing an external hard drive enclosure. USB 2.0 or eSATA or FireWire connectivity does not matter much as the speed of the three when it comes to external enclosure is neck to neck; rather the hard drive size and speed determine the actual real-world performance.
If you prefer "Silver" over "Orange ....
Removing the 4 screws at the bottom of the case, the hard drive tray can be slided out.
There is a 5-pin connector that must be disconnected before the entire tray can be slided out.
Once the tray is out, a bag of screws for the hard drive mount is taped to the tray. Installing the hard drives is as easy as sliding the hard drives into the plugs on the PCB, there is no power or SATA cable to deal with. Secure the hard drives with the screws provided and you are done.
Now I must question the effect of the fan, since it is mounted right behind the PCB blocking any possible air flow to the hard drives.
As you can see in the photo above; the fan and PCB location leaving the cooling for your imagination.
I installed a single drive in the lower slot; can't be easier.
Two mount screws on each side of the tray; I did encounter a slight problem when I was reinstalling the cover. The four screws are pretty short, since there is no rail inside the cover, the tray with hard drive will drop slightly thanks to gravity as I turned the unit upside down to tighten the screws. This becomes a challenge and I finally got a handle of it after 10 minutes.
Ease of installation is one of the key elements in choosing an external hard drive enclosure. USB 2.0 or eSATA or FireWire connectivity does not matter much as the speed of the three when it comes to external enclosure is neck to neck; rather the hard drive size and speed determine the actual real-world performance.
If you prefer "Silver" over "Orange ....
Removing the 4 screws at the bottom of the case, the hard drive tray can be slided out.
There is a 5-pin connector that must be disconnected before the entire tray can be slided out.
Once the tray is out, a bag of screws for the hard drive mount is taped to the tray. Installing the hard drives is as easy as sliding the hard drives into the plugs on the PCB, there is no power or SATA cable to deal with. Secure the hard drives with the screws provided and you are done.
Now I must question the effect of the fan, since it is mounted right behind the PCB blocking any possible air flow to the hard drives.
As you can see in the photo above; the fan and PCB location leaving the cooling for your imagination.
I installed a single drive in the lower slot; can't be easier.
Two mount screws on each side of the tray; I did encounter a slight problem when I was reinstalling the cover. The four screws are pretty short, since there is no rail inside the cover, the tray with hard drive will drop slightly thanks to gravity as I turned the unit upside down to tighten the screws. This becomes a challenge and I finally got a handle of it after 10 minutes.
Backup Software
Backup Software:
Before we start, I can see the orange color front cover is very attractive so much that I'd rather go with the silver if you don't mind.
PCClone EX lite is a simple backup software; drag and drop.
I am using one of the HD from another system; it is easy to see that Windows XP installed.
PCClone allows the use of FAT32 or NTFS format. Since it is operated under Windows, backing up files should work fine but not your operating system if you have only a single system at home. However, it is free.
Before we start, I can see the orange color front cover is very attractive so much that I'd rather go with the silver if you don't mind.
PCClone EX lite is a simple backup software; drag and drop.
I am using one of the HD from another system; it is easy to see that Windows XP installed.
PCClone allows the use of FAT32 or NTFS format. Since it is operated under Windows, backing up files should work fine but not your operating system if you have only a single system at home. However, it is free.
Performance & Conclusion
Performance:
I found the noise level of the exhaust fan to be very acceptable at a mere 2.5dBA above ambient of about 37.8 dBA at about 6 inches away. However, I doubt its effect on cooling the hard drives which are partitioned by the PCB.
Like any external HD enclosure with USB 2.0 connectivity, the difference in speed on both read and write is marginal from one another.
Using a 750GB from Seagate, I get an average read speed of 35.6MB/s which is not bad at all. Having two HDDs capacity will only mean I could add another drive when my "collections" begin to get out of hands.
Dual HDDs:
I installed a Seagate 750GB and a Western Digital 250GB. Both HDDs contain Windows XP O/S with different partition settings. Although the enclosure recognizes the disks, the different partitions put the second drive in "unallocated" size.
Of course, this is no fault to the I-Series. I would have to reformat the drive which I am not about to do but to show you the result of JBOD.
Regarding "Raid" setup, it is similar to our last dual HDDs enclosure review. Since "Raid" does not really add performance in USB connectivity, I am not going to repeat the process knowing the result would be the same.
A note of caution - the hard drives temperature is not to my liking at all from the inefficient exhaust cooling fan. Or, should I say no active cooling.
Conclusion:
I have had the opportunity to test a few HD enclosures from Eagle Tech in the last 12 months. Before this I-Series, I like very much the M-Series single drive enclosure while others were not so impressive. I look for ease of installation and the M and I Series are the best from Eagle Tech.
No, the exhaust fan doesn't do much the way it is placed. Thankfully, the noise level is low enough that it won't bother anyone. I would only turn the enclosure on when I need access; otherwise I keep it turn off. Sliding the drives into the connection slot is easy. The minor issue with the four bottom cover mounting screws can be overlooked. At around $39, or about $10 over a single drive enclosure plus the free backup software, I'd consider it a pretty nice deal.
+ Ease of installation
+ Additional face-plate
+ Free backup software
+ Reasonable price point
- Lacks effective cooling
I found the noise level of the exhaust fan to be very acceptable at a mere 2.5dBA above ambient of about 37.8 dBA at about 6 inches away. However, I doubt its effect on cooling the hard drives which are partitioned by the PCB.
Like any external HD enclosure with USB 2.0 connectivity, the difference in speed on both read and write is marginal from one another.
Using a 750GB from Seagate, I get an average read speed of 35.6MB/s which is not bad at all. Having two HDDs capacity will only mean I could add another drive when my "collections" begin to get out of hands.
Dual HDDs:
I installed a Seagate 750GB and a Western Digital 250GB. Both HDDs contain Windows XP O/S with different partition settings. Although the enclosure recognizes the disks, the different partitions put the second drive in "unallocated" size.
Of course, this is no fault to the I-Series. I would have to reformat the drive which I am not about to do but to show you the result of JBOD.
Regarding "Raid" setup, it is similar to our last dual HDDs enclosure review. Since "Raid" does not really add performance in USB connectivity, I am not going to repeat the process knowing the result would be the same.
A note of caution - the hard drives temperature is not to my liking at all from the inefficient exhaust cooling fan. Or, should I say no active cooling.
Conclusion:
I have had the opportunity to test a few HD enclosures from Eagle Tech in the last 12 months. Before this I-Series, I like very much the M-Series single drive enclosure while others were not so impressive. I look for ease of installation and the M and I Series are the best from Eagle Tech.
No, the exhaust fan doesn't do much the way it is placed. Thankfully, the noise level is low enough that it won't bother anyone. I would only turn the enclosure on when I need access; otherwise I keep it turn off. Sliding the drives into the connection slot is easy. The minor issue with the four bottom cover mounting screws can be overlooked. At around $39, or about $10 over a single drive enclosure plus the free backup software, I'd consider it a pretty nice deal.
+ Ease of installation
+ Additional face-plate
+ Free backup software
+ Reasonable price point
- Lacks effective cooling