Review on 🔥 High-Speed 4-Bay Trayless Hot Swap Mobile Rack Backplane for 3.5in SAS II/SATA III - 6 Gbps HDD by StarTech.com (Model: HSB4SATSASBA) by Viswanath Lopez

I needed a 4 drive backplane that didn't use port multiplication for my RAID 10 configuration on my server system and it worked great. It's designed to fit in a real PC case, but for what I was doing that wasn't possible. I needed it to be able to connect to 4 WD Red 3TB drives for hot-plug RAID 10, but I needed it to be disconnected from the actual server machine. I was able to build a custom case for this and connect the PSU to the bottom of the case to power the case. The case sits on top of the case and has 4 SATA connectors coming from my Intel RS2PI008 RAID card via a mini SAS to SATA Y cable. When I was done with the whole building I connected everything to the server and configured the RAID with no problems. I love the fact that this backplane has individual LEDs for each drive that monitor activity and let you know if one of the drives has failed. Each disc slot has no tray and allows for easy disc insertion and removal. All you have to do is open the flap on the front of the slot you want to insert a disc into and partially insert the disc. Then close the door and the spring in the hinge does the rest for you, pushing the washer all the way in and making the connection on the circuit board. To eject a drive, simply open the door and the drive will partially pop out of the slot so you can grab it to insert a new one. Each slot has a lock so you can lock the doors to prevent someone from opening the doors and pulling out the drives. It is good if the device is in a place where others can access it. Just don't lose the keys (there are 2 of them). If you are installing it in a case, there are slots on each side for attaching screws to hold the backplane in place. This requires 2 SATA power connectors from your PSU and it is recommended to use each one from a different power rail, especially if you are using the same power rails to power other devices. That way you don't overload the rails. There are 2 switches on the back, one to turn the LEDs on and off and the other to set the fan to off, low or high. There is also a cutout where you can see the 4 empty pins on the board. I've taken everything apart to try and understand what they are for and as far as I can tell the temperature. I checked online and there are some models like this one that have a factory fitted temp sensor. I think if you wanted and are good at soldering you could install your own if you have a thermocouple but without an LCD it would be pointless. All in all this is a good backplane that is really well built and ready for the long haul. I forgot to mention that the 4 drive slots can take SATA or SAS drives, but unfortunately the connectors on the back are SATA only, but it's not hard to get a SAS to SATA cable adapter or even a SATA adapter to find. eSATA adapter if required. The fan built into it is a standard 3-pin 80mm fan and really works as if it were set to low. If the fan ever fails or you just want to put in a better fan, it's not difficult. There are 4 screws on the fan case that need to be removed to access the fan, but the remaining 12 screws need to be removed around the outside of the back panel to access the circuit board so you can disable the fan. . I can't remember right away, but I think the fan connector is a special 3-pin connector, so you might want to have a pin removal kit handy so you can swap out the connectors. The circuit board for the backplane isn't available online, I did a bit of searching to see it as it was actually the only part I really needed, but I couldn't find it. As long as the temperature stays relatively low and the input voltage doesn't jump (I connected it to an APC 1500 Pro UPS, so there shouldn't be any voltage fluctuations) and burn out the circuit, everything should be fine and not needed. Substitute. In that case I guess I'll have to contact StarTech and see if they can point me in the right direction to get a replacement. Since it's used on my server to host all my media and backups, it'll be running 24/7, so I'll give it a little time and write back later so you guys know how it works. I predict there will be no problems, but I've been wrong before, just ask my wife.