Question 1

What is the maximum HARD DRIVE CAPACITY supported by each bay, is there a limit ?
I can't find this information anywhere on iStar website or on newegg ! it's like it was omitted by design.

Accepted Answer

This unit is not 'smart' in any way (other than lighting up the activity light when a drive is accessed) - all it does is pass the drive straight through to the controller. Therefore, any limits that would be imposed would come from the controller only.

Question 2

What size drives (physical dimensions) does this accommodate?

Accepted Answer

Obviously it takes 2.5" form-factor drives, but I suspect you're asking for the max thickness of the drive.  I have 2x 7mm SSDs and 2x 9mm hard drives in mine.  The 9mm are a snug fit; I don't think it would take anything thicker.

Question 3

So is it SATA III or just I and II? As it is a pass through, I imagine I,II and III...?

Accepted Answer

Paperwork that came with it says Sata 1 and Sata 2... no mention of Sata 3.  This maybe due to old paperwork?  I sure hope so but I couldn't test it because 5 of the 6 bays jammed up due to horrible quality control and/or implementation of the design--metal edges on the sliding trays are literally razor sharp metal.   The trays just slice cut into the slider aluminum based sides of the case where they are located, jamming the trays.  Oh boy.  And you HAVE to be extremely careful not to cut yourself.  5 out of 6 trays.. think about it.  Very very sharp edges on the steel trays as if some big machine pressed cut them off on the sides and nobody bothered to even lightly file or sand them.  I bet there are alot of returns on this product because of that.  Oh, and it's a basic 'pass through' design for Sata so it should work ok with Sata 3, at least in theory.

Question 4

The description claims RAID capability, but nothing at all about that in the manual, nor on their web site.

Anyone using this in RAID mode, and if so, how well does it work?

Accepted Answer

First, I have been playing with computers for decades, and I still feel like a newby, but from what I understand, this is just a place to keep your drives with shared power and separate sata connections.  I haven't built the rig or even opened the box yet, but this was the purpose I purchased for.  It requires six sata connections and one power, molex.  I purchased a separate sata expansion board for dvd and primary hard drive and am going to use the six sata on the mobo, which has raid, but I am probably not going to mess with it.  From what I understand, though, a separate raid control board is the way to go, but the faster the sata, the more the sata connects, exponentially the higher the price.

Question 5

Will this cage support 2.5" SAS drives?

Accepted Answer

Unfortunately not, just SATA. I would say you could use adapters to make it work, but the locking HDD trays probably would not accommodate

Brand	iStarUSA
Model	BPU-126-SA

iStarUSA BPU-126-SA 1 x 5.25" to 6 x 2.5" SATA 6.0 Gb/s Hot-Swap Cage - OEM

iStarUSA BPU-126-SA - One 5.25in. to Six 2.5in. SATA 6.0Gbps Hot-Swap Cage - OEM

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Item#: N82E16816215222