This is an automated archive.
The original was posted on /r/datahoarder by /u/Occidentally on 2024-01-23 04:27:51+00:00.
Hi everyone
I have a few existing drives with data, a mix of internal and external HDDs, mostly external. Most with ntfs filesystem and one 8tb internal with ext4 filesystem (Linux mint) because I dual boot. Some are external ntfs HDDs of smaller size that I'm going to amalgamate into an extra 8tb internal HDD because those small externals are ancient and getting unreliable.
I'm looking for recommendations for an enclosure-like product that sits external to the PC case (I don't want to get rid of my PC case and buy a massive tower instead).
I have these requirements:
- Fits min of 3, max of 4 drives. 4 preferred.
- No RAID, or at least have the ability to opt out of using it
- Under $350 AUD ideally, and stocked in Aus.
- Not a NAS, just a USB 3.x/C connection to the PC
- Either...
- Each drive can be seen individually "as-is" without any raid or spanning that treats several drives as one. No formatting required. One of my existing external HDDs kind of does this in another way by providing USB sockets on the HDD casing itself that other external HDDs can plug into. Only one cable goes to the PC and all drives can be seen individually.
- The drives are treated as a single entity, but the partitioning process can be done safely so my existing data can all be preserved in the filesystem format it's currently in. This seems like a dicey thing to manage logistics-wise. I'm not going to have enough spare empty drive space to relay data across, the larger existing drives are going to have to go straight in to the new enclosure and "work" somehow.
I've done some of my own research and have looked at some of the Orico and Icybox brand but I don't really understand well enough how these products are going to handle my special requirements. I don't want to spend the money till I know I can actually do this transition in the way I expect.
Some examples that seem relevant:
Does anyone have any tips?
Thanks