Reliable 2 Bay 3.5" Drive Enclosure Recommendation?

[mjgunn]

Anyone have recommendations for a reliable 2 bay 3.5" drive enclosure? I've found plenty of possibilities, but pretty much all of them have mixed reviews at best. Just looking for something reliable that won't kill my drives (doesn't seem like asking too much). Bonus points if it's quiet!

 

[komatsu]

You're right most of the two bay disk enclosures get fairly miserable reviews.

Maybe just try something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Synology-Sta...1470177918&sr=8-3&keywords=synology+2+bay+nas

You can use the USB ports instead of the RJ-45 one.

 

[mjgunn]

I was under the impression that the ports on something like that was only for adding another USB drive, not connecting to a computer?

 

[jnachbar]

I have an Akitio-NT2-U3-1 and it works fast and flawless...
https://www.amazon.com/Akitio-NT2-U3-1-Nt2-U3-1/dp/B016R5BK5U/ref=cm_cr_othr_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

 

[dimme]

I was looking for the same and like you I found nothing great out there. I also did not want a raid or other propriety controller . The reason being these drives were backups and archived files, so if the box failed It would be hard to rescue the data. I oped for a thunderbolt dock with USB3 ports and just plug in WD my book drives.

 

[LorenK]

I recently got a four bay Icydock, which is more than you want, but may be what you need. I have had multiple four bay enclosures from several manufacturers and all have failed. Part of the problem is heat transfer, they just don't keep spin drives cool enough and eventually the enclosure. I am impressed with their four bay, it is a very open enclosure and has a super quiet fan. They also make dual bay enclosures that get decent reviews as well. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ategory=92&Manufactory=8336&SpeTabStoreType=1
Good luck.

 

[komatsu]

Loren, do you know what type of RAID Icydock use?

 

[LorenK]

No clue, I use it as JBOD.

 

[komatsu]

No clue, I use it as JBOD.

So no protection should one of the disks fail?

 

[arggg14]

One of Synology's 2 bay systems.

 

[matreya]

These are quite reliable and fairly priced:

https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/External-Drive/OWC/Elite-Pro-Dual

 

[cube]

I have an Akitio-NT2-U3-1 and it works fast and flawless...
https://www.amazon.com/Akitio-NT2-U3-1-Nt2-U3-1/dp/B016R5BK5U/ref=cm_cr_othr_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

Akitio = inXtron = Macpower. Sometimes rebadged as something else. I had good experience with singles.

For something inexpensive with management software, I like Onnto Datatale. Sometimes rebadged as something else.