It's older v1 version with Mini-SAS HD SFF-8643, but looks like good price. Not to me as much, as I'm based in EU.
The seller says he has 8 pieces.
The seller says he has 8 pieces.
Icy Dock MB699VP-B - 4x NVMe U.2 SSD in 5.25" - $185
- Thread starter chlastakov
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Questionable matter with all these IcyDocks is about powering up drives with single SATA-15pin power plug.
Always thought that y specs single plug can deliver up to 30W (12V rail).
4x NVMe dancing with intensive writes (but SAS versions are also using same power socket) can certainly go over 30W.
Given how tiny these connectors are, and how many we’ve seen melting, its an odd choice.
I might be wrong, please correct if i am.
(But that was the reason i went with supermicro 5,25” caddies (powered up by regular 4-pin old school plug) instead of IcyDocks.)
Always thought that y specs single plug can deliver up to 30W (12V rail).
4x NVMe dancing with intensive writes (but SAS versions are also using same power socket) can certainly go over 30W.
Given how tiny these connectors are, and how many we’ve seen melting, its an odd choice.
I might be wrong, please correct if i am.
(But that was the reason i went with supermicro 5,25” caddies (powered up by regular 4-pin old school plug) instead of IcyDocks.)
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A single plug would be problematic yes, it does use 2 plugs tho.
2 plugs has a combined 108W max draw on 12v plus u.2 has some of its draw on 3.3v also.
As for melting you can see that on any connector if you overload it or its low quality, not a specific or increased risk for the sata connector overall.
Good catch! I'm getting older.
But.
With this one (2x sata15) 8 SAS drives.. what i'm not getting right ?
One sata or molex connector for 4 LFF spinners is not uncommon, that is pretty standard for cases with 1 pcb per 4LFF row especialy.
A single plug is a problem for 4x U.2 because that can potentialy be a 100w consumption, while the spinners does not use nearly as much.
That's not how that works...
If you are using the maximum rated power for more than 1 second every 10(?) you are out of spec.[1]
Many older U.2 drives will HAPPILY chug down 25w constantly, which would be WAY out of spec for those pins.
Heck, it can even be a problem for a SINGLE drive when using the injection molded connectors instead of the vampire tap style ones, because those are rated for WAY less continuous power.
[1] I'd have to go look up the specifications again. I have it around somewhere. If I recall right it's 1 second max at 10%. Those pins need time to dissipate heat...
Feels like you are talking about loads over the 4.5A rating, there is a peak load rating that is higher than 4.5A.
To verify a psu holds spec/requirement when troubleshooting you draw 4.5A over some time, would be strange for the testing of spec to be outside spec.
The peak load is 1.5A per 12v pin.
There are 3x pins each for 12v, 5v, and 3.3v.
They quoted 108w combined power on the 12v lines for 2x connectors, which is correct, if we are talking about peak load.
Continuous load is supposed to be well below that.
I liked Icydock products when they started out. However, I don't think that 10%-25% cost ratio of enclosure to the nvme drives it holds is a good price.
I think these are targeting the homelab/enthusiast market and as a target consumer I happily fix mount my U2/U3 nvme drives and save the difference...
You can peak above the 4.5A across the 3 pins.
To load one connector per row from psu with 1.5A on all pins while the tester also monitors voltage was first testing we did on psus.
Same with rated load on 24pin/eps12v/pcie.
If it cant handle that continuous within allowed voltage range it was marked as defective, and unless a fairly highend model just into the ewaste.
That’s what cables are for…It can’t possibly be that common for a home lab user to be hot swapping disks, so for the few times every decade when it becomes necessary I don’t think it should be overly burdensome to have to fiddle with cables and curse under one’s breath that a backplane would make things easier.
Since even the cables to interface between an HBA/motherboard and a backplane are so damned expensive there’s probably little financial incentive to prefer a backplane over a fistful of 1:1 drive cables.
So if the financial and ease-of-use arguments are essentially moot then the only remaining argument in favor of a backplane is airflow. I won’t hazard a guess as to the financial or effs-given value of airflow but I assume for the vast majority of homelab users the 3d printed drive cage would probably be preferred.
Since even the cables to interface between an HBA/motherboard and a backplane are so damned expensive there’s probably little financial incentive to prefer a backplane over a fistful of 1:1 drive cables.
So if the financial and ease-of-use arguments are essentially moot then the only remaining argument in favor of a backplane is airflow. I won’t hazard a guess as to the financial or effs-given value of airflow but I assume for the vast majority of homelab users the 3d printed drive cage would probably be preferred.
In my case, I need to swap drives a lot. But I understand your use case and that price is somewhat more important than comfort.
Have you ever had 8 SSDs hanging from cables inside the case before? Sure one or two that's fine. You start getting above 2 drives you start running into all kinds of issues, such as power splitters and all the wonder they are for drive placement. Not all cases have room to mount 8 plus drives, even using the 3M tape method.
The most inside a case I ever just dangled was 4 drives. It worked but when that MD array lost a drive its was quite a bit harder to replace it. That was with regular SATA cables and a couple power splitters.
Inexpensive Icy dock makes life quite a bit easier. Its still cheaper than a 3D printer and having to fiddle with that. Cable management in the case on the Inexpensive icy dock is still painful, as it can be spaghetti whether from a HBA or on board controllers. Biggest benefit is power and placement, followed by easily replacing a failed drive.
All im saying is its really impractical to go beyond 4 drives in typical cases using cables and tape. Sure if I bought a Fractal XL and some 1200w power supply maybe its not a big of an issue but for most users the Icydock is helpful.
Not taking into account tariffs, I have been digging for some zhenloong products
They seem to have this
www.alibaba.com
Maybe if it works for you...
They seem to have this
Zhenloong 4 Bay U.2 Ssd Hot Swap Storage 3.5"/2.5" Hard Disk Drive Cage Sas Sata3 Module 5.25 Inch Optical Drive Position Con - Buy Hard Disk Drive Cage 4 Bay Hot Swap Module u.2 Ssd Hot Swap Module Product on Alibaba.com
Zhenloong 4 Bay U.2 Ssd Hot Swap Storage 3.5"/2.5" Hard Disk Drive Cage Sas Sata3 Module 5.25 Inch Optical Drive Position Con - Buy Hard Disk Drive Cage 4 Bay Hot Swap Module u.2 Ssd Hot Swap Module Product on Alibaba.com
Maybe if it works for you...
To be clear I’m not advocating dangling drives from cables, though I’ve been doing that for years.
I’m advocating for 3d printing a 5.25” drive cage and running cables directly to the drives after installing drives in the cage.
Example:
I’m advocating for 3d printing a 5.25” drive cage and running cables directly to the drives after installing drives in the cage.
Example:
Hot Swap Drive Cage for 5.25 bay (4x 2.5 SFF Drives) by Stranger2.0 | Download free STL model | Printables.com
Designed 4x 2.5" hot-swap drive cage, fits 5.25 bay, but no pre-made holes, ample airflow, slots for 29-pin connector. | Download free 3D printable STL models
www.printables.com
In the world of consumer hardware you won't find that as there are not enough PCIe lanes to drive 8 drives (we're talking about a NVMe enclosure after all).
Also, the enclosure does not eliminate the cables - it just eliminates the dangling.
I am more concerned about the cooling.
Did the price just go up? I seem to get a redirect to newegg's ebay store.
Did the price just go up? I seem to get a redirect to newegg's ebay store.
at $185 this is barely worth it... at $300+ it's not remotely worth it I'd rather look into $50 quad PCI-E to u.2 cards before this.