StarTech External 5 Bay Drive Enclosure (Good or Bad)

[Thousandbuckle]

Hello all, I just got a StarTech 5 Bay external drive enclosure and wanted to see if any one has used this box with FreeNAS that could give me some feedback if this would be good or bad.

I would have it connected via USB 3.0 controller card as the ESata port on the Precision T3500 I have does not have ESata multiplier capabilities.

 

[zambanini]

usb for your main pool is stupid. there is no nicer word for it, sorry.

 

[nightshade00013]

Yeah, it's bad. To compound the problem is ONE USB connection or ONE eSATA connection to five drives. Probably some sort of funky monkey raid going on in there and overall will be crap for performance. I wouldn't wish this on a windows desktop. Just back away then turn and run.

Your better option would be a SAS card with an external SAS expander. It's still not the best idea since one power or data cable will cause the pool to be disconnected but running the drives in that startech box is just begging for an "I told you so." The best option is buying a case that everything can transplant into and have the storage capacity that you need for all the drives under one roof.

 

[SweetAndLow]

Bad