Mike Halmarack <mikehalmarack@gmail.com> wrote:

I'm abandoning my HP micro server.
I'd like to put it's 3 hard drives in my tower PC for archiving
purposes, along with the existing drives.
Is there a way to have these extra drives be running only when
required, in a switch-on-able, switch-offable way?

What OS is your tower PC running?

It's possible for software to spin down the drives. Not sure about Windows
but I think it might do that if you 'eject' them. Then they'll spin back up again if you try to access them. Or there is software to set them to automatically spin down if not accessed for N seconds/minutes.

(I think on Windows it's typically made by the HDD manufacturer - eg
WDIDLE3)

Theo

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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On 10/03/2024 17:11, Mike Halmarack wrote:

I'm abandoning my HP micro server.
I'd like to put it's 3 hard drives in my tower PC for archiving
purposes, along with the existing drives.
Is there a way to have these extra drives be running only when
required, in a switch-on-able, switch-offable way?

There are 2 ways:

One would unfortunately involve an external drive box, such as https://www.amazon.co.uk/QNAP-TR-004-Desktop-Expansion-Enclosure/dp/B07K23ZJFN/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2BTYB32F0X4W7&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.mGNKI0BLiDy2jlkIKbcodr2jaBhy7_5uVNsrEhYGGl2QSlCk6zHzkD19RMYt5IX6K3WzSDZL3C59JPbGYUgCjgpwu2-
x8mE3HqZusbehvFsV93uaCjFbrS4OCqHqoA0z5FVaZDOSNjuAf3vB-atju-6-sxQNdaJQNg5Kiw_vokeJulBmBQqNJHKUWcunaneiQSKJy2partMaSGFQ1pDuLJG0FFtOfAmCOrQD2QLFuyk.vdremrOeRHXwPGX5C9z5rsA9EbYXNqg1QpaqjKEfTkg&dib_tag=se&keywords=QNAP+DAS&qid=1710099130&sprefix=qnap+das%
2Caps%2C93&sr=8-1&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.d7e5a2de-8759-4da3-993c-d11b6e3d217f

Simply unmount the USB drives and then pull the USB cable.

Replug the USB cable and the drives will automount.

Another option is to use a SATA add on card that permits hot plugging
and use some HDD caddies such as those by ICY DOCK or by StarTech:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=icy+dock+5.25+bay&crid=1LX4YNYXFPJLI&sprefix=Icy+dock+%2Caps%2C94&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_2_9

S.

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On 11/03/2024 in message <4aqtui98kqofnse0s35ktvbibarqo771ao@4ax.com> Mike Halmarack wrote:

Thanks for the advice.
I went for this one

There are 2 ways:

One would unfortunately involve an external drive box, such as

https://www.amazon.co.uk/QNAP-TR-004-Desktop-Expansion-Enclosure/dp/B07K23ZJFN/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2BTYB32F0X4W7&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.mGNKI0BLiDy2jlkIKbcodr2jaBhy7_5uVNsrEhYGGl2QSlCk6zHzkD19RMYt5IX6K3WzSDZL3C59JPbGYUgCjgpwu2-
x8mE3HqZusbehvFsV93uaCjFbrS4OCqHqoA0z5FVaZDOSNjuAf3vB-atju-6-sxQNdaJQNg5Kiw_vokeJulBmBQqNJHKUWcunaneiQSKJy2partMaSGFQ1pDuLJG0FFtOfAmCOrQD2QLFuyk.vdremrOeRHXwPGX5C9z5rsA9EbYXNqg1QpaqjKEfTkg&dib_tag=se&keywords=QNAP+DAS&qid=1710099130&sprefix=qnap+das%
2Caps%2C93&sr=8-1&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.d7

I have just got one. What took 17 minutes to copy over the network now
takes 1.5 minutes over USB3! This is even though the 4 bay version seems
to share something that means it runs at 3 GB/s rather than 6 GB/s.

--
Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
If it's not broken, mess around with it until it is

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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On 13/03/2024 in message <rat2vilf01dbccpt55b4b3068ujnjkh7rm@4ax.com> Mike Halmarack wrote:

I have just got one. What took 17 minutes to copy over the network now >>takes 1.5 minutes over USB3! This is even though the 4 bay version seems
to share something that means it runs at 3 GB/s rather than 6 GB/s.

Mine arrives tomorrow. What are the chances that I'll be a able to
turn off or eject any one or more of the 4 drives without having to
pulll the plug on all of them?

I haven't tried that I must admit, it disconnects in a couple of seconds
when you press the eject button. The drives are treated as external drives (actually that's logical) and so they appear in the "Safely remove
hardware.." icon - and in the send to context menu. Anything there that
helps?

--
Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
This is as bad as it can get, but don't bet on it

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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On 13 Mar 2024 at 10:00:06 GMT, ""Jeff Gaines"" <jgnewsid@outlook.com>
wrote:

On 13/03/2024 in message <rat2vilf01dbccpt55b4b3068ujnjkh7rm@4ax.com> Mike Halmarack wrote:

I have just got one. What took 17 minutes to copy over the network now
takes 1.5 minutes over USB3! This is even though the 4 bay version seems >>> to share something that means it runs at 3 GB/s rather than 6 GB/s.

Mine arrives tomorrow. What are the chances that I'll be a able to
turn off or eject any one or more of the 4 drives without having to
pulll the plug on all of them?

I haven't tried that I must admit, it disconnects in a couple of seconds
when you press the eject button. The drives are treated as external drives (actually that's logical) and so they appear in the "Safely remove hardware.." icon - and in the send to context menu. Anything there that helps?

How do you reconnect them when you want them?

Cheers - Jaimie
--
The only thing we learn from history is that we learn
nothing from history.
-- Hegel

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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On 13/03/2024 in message <l5eficFobmgU1@mid.individual.net> Jaimie
Vandenbergh wrote:

On 13 Mar 2024 at 10:00:06 GMT, ""Jeff Gaines"" <jgnewsid@outlook.com>
wrote:

On 13/03/2024 in message <rat2vilf01dbccpt55b4b3068ujnjkh7rm@4ax.com> Mike >>Halmarack wrote:

I have just got one. What took 17 minutes to copy over the network now >>>>takes 1.5 minutes over USB3! This is even though the 4 bay version seems >>>>to share something that means it runs at 3 GB/s rather than 6 GB/s.

Mine arrives tomorrow. What are the chances that I'll be a able to
turn off or eject any one or more of the 4 drives without having to
pulll the plug on all of them?

I haven't tried that I must admit, it disconnects in a couple of seconds >>when you press the eject button. The drives are treated as external drives >>(actually that's logical) and so they appear in the "Safely remove >>hardware.." icon - and in the send to context menu. Anything there that >>helps?

How do you reconnect them when you want them?

Cheers - Jaimie

Haven't quite figured that out....

--
Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
George Washington was a British subject until well after his 40th birthday. (Margaret Thatcher, speech at the White House 17 December 1979)

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