Question 1

Could this be used to mount a SATA DVD drive external to a PC?  If so, how to connect to PC?

Accepted Answer

No, this can not be used for an externally mounted drive unless you have an external drive case in which to mount it in an external drive bay. Use an external case connected via a  USB or eSATA cable for externally mounted drives. This is a drive rack that is used to contain a hard drive (or an SSD drive in a 3-1/2 to 2-1/2 inch adapter case) front mounted in a 5-1/4 drive bay of a desktop computer case. You use a drive tray like this if you want to be able to regularly change drives for swapping operating systems or storage. I use them to be able to easily swap between Windows and Linux operating systems on the same computer with a simple boot drive change. The iStar multiple drive racks allow you to fit either 3 drives into 2 drive bays or 5 drives into 3 drive bays. I have one of each of those on separate computers for server class storage.

Question 2

Can I use with 7mm Samsun 850 pro SSD? Would I need a tray? And which one?

Accepted Answer

The BPN-DE110SS-Blue is designed to fit 3.5" hard drives.  You can fit a 2.5" SSD hard drive by using a 2.5" to 3.5" adapter frame.  I have successfully used 2.5" SSD hard drives using the Orico model 1025 with the hot swap rack.

Orico doesn't seem to make that model anymore.  Two other products in the retail market are the Silverstone SDP09 and the IcyDock EZConvert MB882SP-1S-2B.  The Icy Dock has a video on their product page on how to specifically fit 7mm 2.5" SSD drives (Samsung 830 SSD) into the adapter.

What you need is an enclosure that has the exact outside dimensions of a 3.5" hard drive and the data port and power power in the exact same locations.  I have no experience with the Icy Dock or Silverstone but that is what they were designed to be.

If you have alignment issues you may be able to make little tweaks for a snug fit.  I used double sided tape and foam in the Orico 1025 for proper alignment into the iStarUSA hot swap bay.

With that said iStarUSA (BPN-2535DE-SA), Dshot, and Startech make hotswap bays designed specifically for 2.5" drives that are trayless.

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