Power Control Panel for External Drives?

[Macshroomer]

Hi,

I have some 8 external drives / devices I use that are not always mounted at the same time for various reasons and it is often a pain to reach back behind the enclosure to power them on and off.

Is there a option out there that you can plug all the power cords into for each drive and have a dedicated switch on a panel of some sort?

Or...how are people dealing with this when using a fair amount of externals?

 

[h9826790]

If you just want to mount / unmount different drives inside the OS, that should be easy.

But if you want a software way to control your HDD enclosures’ hardware power supply. I really don’t know ho to do that. At least not via a simple software without extra hardware assist.

 

[Macshroomer]

If you just want to mount / unmount different drives inside the OS, that should be easy.

But if you want a software way to control your HDD enclosures’ hardware power supply. I really don’t know ho to do that. At least not via a simple software without extra hardware assist.

That’s correct, I am looking for a hardware solution. Given the fact that most drive cases keep everything in the back but activity lights face forward, I am hoping there is a solution.

 

[h9826790]

That’s correct, I am looking for a hardware solution. Given the fact that most drive cases keep everything in the back but activity lights face forward, I am hoping there is a solution.

I really don’t know how to do that. Unless you willing to ignore the switch at the back of your HDD enclosure, and just cut the power from the upper stream, but I don’t think this is a good idea.

 

[HDFan]

Backblaze in their blog about the Thailand disk crisis (factories under water due to flooding) said the way they got around the problem was by buying disks in enclosures. They pulled the disks and threw away the enclosures.

This got me to thinking about all of my enclosures. I had about 10 at that time. If I wanted to use one I had to find it, plug it in to the computer and power socket. I was using them for backups for things like my pictures so they were relatively rarely used. I have discovered through hard experience to mount as few things as possible at a time. If one of the mounts causes finder to hang for some reason then you can get corruption on any of the disks that are mounted.

So then I got my brain storm. I had an unused 5 disk Mobius enclosure. I pulled disks from their enclosures and put them in the Mobius (no disk carrier needed). I keep it off until I need to run a backup, such as after adding a lot of photos. After the photos are backed up, off goes the unit. Other items are backed up to other Mobius disks, such as movies, music, etc. So I have only 1 switch to flip, rather than 5 separate ones.

When I'm ready for a trip to my safe deposit box I simply pull the appropriate disk.

Software activation/shutdown would require hardware support in the enclosure. I've never heard of that existing in consumer enclosures.

 

[Macshroomer]

Backblaze in their blog about the Thailand disk crisis (factories under water due to flooding) said the way they got around the problem was by buying disks in enclosures. They pulled the disks and threw away the enclosures.

This got me to thinking about all of my enclosures. I had about 10 at that time. If I wanted to use one I had to find it, plug it in to the computer and power socket. I was using them for backups for things like my pictures so they were relatively rarely used. I have discovered through hard experience to mount as few things as possible at a time. If one of the mounts causes finder to hang for some reason then you can get corruption on any of the disks that are mounted.

So then I got my brain storm. I had an unused 5 disk Mobius enclosure. I pulled disks from their enclosures and put them in the Mobius (no disk carrier needed). I keep it off until I need to run a backup, such as after adding a lot of photos. After the photos are backed up, off goes the unit. Other items are backed up to other Mobius disks, such as movies, music, etc. So I have only 1 switch to flip, rather than 5 separate ones.

When I'm ready for a trip to my safe deposit box I simply pull the appropriate disk.

Software activation/shutdown would require hardware support in the enclosure. I've never heard of that existing in consumer enclosures.

Exactly, a fair amount of these RAID units are only mounted for a backup session and then I un-mount them. Basically and in primary I have 4x 40TB RAID 5 systems that mirror in pairs of two for extra protection.

What I am looking to do is plug the drives into a switch system in that the power switch on the drive stays on but after un-mounted I cut power to the selected drive.

Years ago I would do this via a power strip but then that gets to be a game of what else is plugged in. I’d buy what I am looking for but I have a feeling it might need to be custom made.

Something in the A/V lighting area might a place for me to look.

 

[barmann]

There are power strips with individual switches for each outlet , some of them with remote controls via IR or Wifi .

Pro lighting/ Audio has solutions as well, but what I worked with as a photographer is bulky and expensive stuff .

 

[ActionableMango]

Something like these I'd guess.

 

[Macshroomer]

There are power strips with individual switches for each outlet , some of them with remote controls via IR or Wifi .

Pro lighting/ Audio has solutions as well, but what I worked with as a photographer is bulky and expensive stuff .

I just googled these and found what I needed, exactly what I am looking for, thanks!

 

[barmann]

I just googled these and found what I needed, exactly what I am looking for, thanks!

Great !
Out of curiosity, what did you pick ?

 

[JesterJJZ]

I use a pyle rackmount powerstrip with 9 switches.

 

[Macshroomer]

Great !
Out of curiosity, what did you pick ?

After reading a fair amount of reviews between three possible units, I went with an Eliminator Lighting E-107 rack mount 8 outlet power strip. Once I get to building the work area in my basement I will probably buy a second battery backup / surge protector that will be dedicated to this strip.

This ought to do the trick.

 

[Draeconis]

Hi,

I have some 8 external drives / devices I use that are not always mounted at the same time for various reasons and it is often a pain to reach back behind the enclosure to power them on and off.

Is there a option out there that you can plug all the power cords into for each drive and have a dedicated switch on a panel of some sort?

Or...how are people dealing with this when using a fair amount of externals?

Perhaps I'm missing something, but it sounds like all you need to do is turn them all on, then ensure that 'put hard disks to sleep when possible' is enabled. If you don't use a drive for a period of time, or you unmount it, it'll spin down, but spin back up when you try and access it again. Seems like it solves your issue without having to mess around with anything.

 

[Macshroomer]

Perhaps I'm missing something, but it sounds like all you need to do is turn them all on, then ensure that 'put hard disks to sleep when possible' is enabled. If you don't use a drive for a period of time, or you unmount it, it'll spin down, but spin back up when you try and access it again. Seems like it solves your issue without having to mess around with anything.

Nah, I dont want 24 drives powered up all the time, just not good protocol in my experience. I have found my solution and look forward to getting it up and running.