Question 1

are drives accessible individually by one connection method only (that is only by USB or only by eSata, or both?

Accepted Answer

Hi,
I purchased one of the these back in August 2013.  The hard drives have this handle mount screwed on the front.  The unit opens up in the front.  You slide the drives in back first and the plug into their own connections.  The handle that was mounted is used to pull drives out when needed.

The connection is USB 3.0 or eSATA.   I am currently using the USB 3.0 connection and I love this hard drive Tower.  It has fan inside the unit that you can manually adjust speed and it automatically shuts off when you turn your computer off.

I used to have three external hard drives, I purchased this to save space and use less electricity.  Only have to deal with one power supply instead of four.

Build quality is very well.  The only issue. The tiny silver buttons on the front have small text above each of them.  Very small.  So once you figure out what each button does. Then everything is smooth sailing.  Hope this helps

Question 2

Is anyone else noticed that when the front door is closed the drive temperatures go up dramatically? I have four drives in mine and when the door is open the temps are around 31 degrees and closed at 37 degrees. Even higher if there is a lot of disk activity. I have seen as high as 44.

Accepted Answer

The Sans Digital unit I purchased also has 4 drives.  I have the fan on Auto, and it has never gone to the highest speed.  As long as the front vents are clear, and the fan is working, the temp should not be dangerously high.  I hope this helps.

Question 3

Has anyone successfully used a 5 TB or larger drive with this enclosure?

Accepted Answer

I have an 8 TB drive and it works well, also two 6 TB drives.  One 6 TB drive and one 2 TB drive are a dynamic drive and that works just like it should too.

Question 4

i think my question may misunderstood. i understand that i can use only one connection type at a time, and that via eSata requires port multiplier support. i mean that whichever connection type i use, is individual drive access available to either connection? not something like "individual drive access only available via eSata", that it works with USB and eSata.

Accepted Answer

So far as I know the drives you put in the bays only use individual SATA connections. One model has an eSATA and USB port on the front but they have nothing to do with the hard drive bays as far as I know.

Questions & Answers