Review on Yottamaster Aluminum Drive Enclosure Support by Michael Bazen

First let me say that I really like this case, so much that I bought two of them, 4-bay and 5-bay, both USB 3.0 non-raid options. I love its aesthetic: simple, sleek, and clean, no shiny black plastic, nice front grille, and simple, no-fuss installation. As you can see from the first two photos, they even stack well on top of each other. That being said, I'm also writing this review in the hope that Yottamaster will see this and actually do something about their products' biggest weakness. What is your biggest weakness (at least for me)? air flow in these cases. I work a lot with airflow as I design computer cases where optimal airflow is important, but even more important is the balance between aesthetics and functionality. I understand that balance is difficult to achieve, but if we had to choose between functionality and not aesthetics, functionality would come first. And that is the main disadvantage of these products. The cases are equipped with an 80mm fan on the back that draws air in from the front and exhausts it from the back. Even the larger 5-bay case still comes with an 80mm fan, although it can actually fit a 92mm fan. In general, this would be fine in a 4-bay case, but a few issues make it unsuitable. First, the fan airflow is already weak to reduce noise. Second, the front and rear vents are so narrow that airflow is severely blocked. Hardly any air can enter at the front and hardly any hot air can escape at the back. I discovered this after installing all 4 bays and in my disk management software saw that the temperatures on all 4 disks were much higher than my server's disk enclosure. The situation is exacerbated on warm days when the bottom and top hard drives reach 45°C (almost a critical temperature) because there is no airflow around the two drives. install my own custom fans externally. As you can see in the 3rd picture, I connected a 92mm fan to the 4-bay case and a 120mm fan to the 5-bay case. These are high static pressure fans that move a lot of air silently. I set it up so that air enters the cases from the back and front. Since airflow is limited, it's better to force air into the case than to vent it out the back, as this only creates a partial vacuum inside the case and actually raises the temperature. After these modifications, the temperatures are much better and the same for all hard drives. As mentioned, I'm hoping the Yottamasters try to improve the airflow in their cases as it's currently just a hot camera when used in standard mode. the settings. Prospective customers reading this, please ensure cases are stored in a cool, well-ventilated area. Never put them near a heater or other heat source and certainly don't let them cool down in the summer (they can't).