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Published: Jun 26, 2008 Author: Niko Lupala Editor: Amber Lupala Provider: Raidsonic Share this article:

Conclusion

Please click on thumbnails to get bigger pictures

The rack itself looks pretty much like the dock with a black case and a Icy Box logo on the front. In the back it's different though as there you wull find all the plugins that you need. Since this unit offers eSata and USB you dont need the rack itself. You can hook this device up to any computer with USB or eSATA. In the back you will also find a On/Off button if you dont want to run the unit 24/7.

Please click on thumbnails to get bigger pictures

The small tool that comes with the screws is used to pull the locking clips out of the enclosure. This way you can remove the back part and mount the drive itself. The mount is not locked on by anything more than the connectors in the back. When you are done push the pins back into place and the drive will sit tight until you want to remove it.

Testing:

Please click on thumbnails to get bigger pictures

If we look at the first test to the left, it shows us the speed performance vs SATA drives. The speed is as expected alot lower due to the slow USB 2 interface. We see that it holds a steady speed though while the SATA drives drop.

The right picture on the other hand hsows the performance compared to normal flash drives and as we can see the performance is a tad faster than a normal flash drive.

Conclusion:
This device makes it easy for you to take your harddrive to your friends house or to a LAN or wherever you feel you need it. The USB interface and eSata interface makes it extremely easy to use without the docking device itself. Just pack down the power cable and the cable you need to plug it in and run it anywhere. Your drive is protected in the cover and plugin is very easy. I remember these harddrive racks a long time ago when I still had a 486 and Pentium setup but the quality or performance was not the same. This steel case takes care of covering the drive. Installation was easy and if you find it hard there is documentation available.

I'm glad to see these racks are making it back on the market but I still feel their time is limited. Flash drives are getting so big and so small that these racks will not be necessary in a few years but until then this makes it easy to move a 1TB drive to your friends house and just hook it up to his setup. Overall this is a high quality product though and the only flaw I can find is the design to pull the drive out of the docking station and it's annoying that you need a small tool to open the rack up to access the harddrive.

Pros:
+ Performance
+ Easy to use
+ Docking station not needed
+ Good documentation

Cons:
- Remove rack out of docking station
- Tool needed for rack