AMUG Addonics Dual Disk Array 3SA 6 Bay eSATA Enclosure Review

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January 27, 2006

Hot Swap Six Bay eSATA Enclosure
Review: Using Two Addonics Disk Array 3SA Drive Cages Inside the Storage Tower (ST6ESA)
By Arthur Whalem

Addonics is shipping the Disk Array 3SA (AE3RCS35NSA) three bay hard drive cage for $89.95. It allows you to mount up to three SATA hard drives in an enclosure which has space available for two 5.25" devices. For the purpose of this article, two Disk Array 3SA units were installed in an Addonics Storage Tower model ST6ESA. You can see the six bay SATA hard drive enclosure that this combination creates in the image above. The ST6ESA Storage Tower enclosure ($145) has six eSATA type "I" connectors on the rear panel, which makes it ideal for this installation. The only other items that you may need are six 100cm eSATA to eSATA external shielded cables $19.99 each (AAESATA100C) and two four port external eSATA host adapters for the computer you plan to use the enclosure with. My favorite host adapter for PowerMac G4 and G5 users is the FirmTek SeriTek/1eVE4 PCI-X.

If you already own a FirmTek SeriTek/1VE4 PCI-X Four-Port external SATA host adapter you could use it with external 100cm eSATA to SATA cables model (AASA2SA100C) $19.99 each. These cables provide the standard "L" connector on one end and the eSATA "I" connector on the other end.

If you purchased a Dual or Quad core PowerMac G5 model which was released in October of 2005, the PCI-X host adapters mentioned above will not work with it. The new PowerMac G5 only has PCI Express expansion slots. Several companies including FirmTek are working on releasing a new host adapter that will support PCI Express in the new PowerMac G5 models.

During this review, an Apple PowerMac G5 2.0GHz dual was used for all testing. It has a SeriTek/1eVE4 Four-Port external SATA host adapter installed in PCI-X slot 4 and a SeriTek/1VE4 host adapter in slot 3. Six Maxtor 300GB SATA hard drives were installed in the Storage Tower Dual 3SA configuration. This article will examine how the Dual Disk Array 3SA enclosure performs when used with an Apple PowerMac.

System Requirements
Requires up to six 3.5" SATA hard drives.
Requires one or two SATA host adapters with external ports.
Shielded SATA cables are recommended.
Works with any System your host adapter is compatible with.

Install
The Addonics Storage Tower side panels can be removed with a single thumb screw. The four aluminum drive bay cover plates were removed with a screw on each side of the cover plate. Next, the Disk Array 3SA units were mounted inside the front opening and secured to the sides of the Addonics Storage Tower using the black case screws provided with the 3SA. The six internal SATA cables provided with the Storage Tower (ST6ESA) were then attached to the rear of the Disk Array 3SA drive cages. The next task was to provide power to the 3SA drives. Each 3SA requires two 4 pin molex connectors. While you may be able to use the existing cables in the Storage Tower, I found it easier to attach a 50 cent "Y" 4 pin molex power adapter to each 3SA cage. Next, the "Y" adapters were plugged into the Storage Tower power connectors. Once that is complete, you can place the Storage Tower side panels back on and the enclosure is ready to be used.

Mounting Drives

Each Addonics Disk Array 3SA comes with three hard drive trays (AA4RCSDR) shown at the right. These high quality aluminum trays dissipate heat very well and are easy to install drives into. Screws are provided with the Disk Array 3SA enclosure for attaching your hard drives to the four screw holes in the bottom of the drive trays. These trays easily slide in and out of the Disk Array 3SA when inserting or removing hard drives from the enclosure. You simply push the front lever in, to mount the hard drive in the enclosure. The lever makes a light snapping noise to assure you that the tray is properly in place. Pushing the tray switch to the left releases the lever so that you can remove the tray from the enclosure. You can also turn the small release mechanism to lock the drive in the enclosure. I don't use the lock function, but it might be a nice feature in a busy work area where unexpected hands may touch your enclosure. Additional trays are available for $14.95 each for those that would like to pre-install additional hard drives in them to facilitate a quick hot swap between hard drives or a RAID set.

When the Addonics Disk Array 3SA cage is paired with a SATA host adapter that supports hot swap, you can dismount hard drives from the desktop, remove the drive and insert another drive into the enclosure without rebooting the computer. For Macintosh users, the FirmTek SeriTek/1eVE4 Four-Port external SATA host adapter adds hot swap capability, deep sleep compatibility and the ability to boot from any port on the host adapter. No other host adapter for the Macintosh supports all of these features. As such, the SeriTek/1eVE4 is a great match for this six bay eSATA Addonics Storage Tower.

Backplane Mounting
The Addonics Disk Array 3SA enclosure uses a backplane hard drive mounting system. The connection on the back of the SATA hard drive physically plugs into the SATA board connector inside the 3SA enclosure. In the image below all of the trays are removed so that you can see the backplane mounting connectors inside the Disk Array 3SA. On the right side, three SATA backplane connections are mounted vertically with ventilation openings cut in the rear of the circuit board. Immediately behind the backplane mounting board is a large 80x80x20mm fan module that provides cooling to the SATA hard drives mounted inside the Disk Array 3SA. The grooves on the sides of the 3SA are used to guide the drive trays into the proper position. As this is a six bay enclosure two of the Disk Array 3SA units are stacked on top of each other to provide a total of six SATA hard drive backplane connections.

Connections
On the rear of the Storage Tower ST6ESA you will find a power cord connector, the master power switch and the 80mm power supply fan exhaust opening. The bottom of the enclosure has a connection plate which provides six eSATA connectors. These eSATA connectors are available for connecting the hard drives mounted in the Disk Array 3SA to the host adapter mounted inside a computer.

The Addonics Disk Array 3SA enclosure has a temperature and a fan failure alarm. The alarm uses an audio pulse and the front fan light turns red instead of the normal green. On the rear of the 3SA there is a jumper that allows you to set the temperature at which the alarm goes off. You can select 55, 60 or 65 degrees Celsius by moving the jumper. The unit tested was set at 60, which is equal to 140 degrees Fahrenheit. It is easier to change the jumper setting if the rear cover plate is removed first. Most users will find the preset 60 setting sufficient.

Interface
Once the SATA hard drives are mounted in the trays and placed in the Addonics Storage Tower with the two Disk Array 3SA units, the enclosure looks like the image above when turned on. On the right side of each drive bay is an on/off switch that allows you to determine which drives will be utilized. When the bay is on, it has a green light that glows as shown in the image above. Each bay is marked on the Disk Array 3SA as HD1, HD2 and HD3. Below the HD3 light is the green light that indicates that the fan is working. The Storage Tower also has a round silver master power button on the right side which allows you to power the enclosure from the front. I usually leave all of the bays on and use the power button on the front to turn the enclosure off and on. The trays are so easy to take out that if I am using less than six hard drives, I usually remove the drives not in use as this provides better ventilation. There is no drive activity light in this configuration, but the enclosure looks good and performs very well.

Having the ability to turn individual drive bays off is a unique feature. If you have six hard drives installed in the two Addonics Disk Array 3SA units but only need to use a few hard drives at a time, the Disk Array cage gives you the option to leave the hard drive installed in the 3SA bay and power off that part of the enclosure with the push of a button. This can save hard drive wear and tear by only powering up the hard drives needed and can also lower electricity usage. Very few multi-bay enclosures have this ability. Most SATA enclosures only have one power switch that turns on all of the hard drives and that switch is usually only on the back. The Storage Tower and Disk Array combination provides more power button options on the front of a SATA enclosure than any other unit that I have seen.

The Storage Tower measures 8.1" wide, 9.4" high (with handle) and 12.9" deep. It weighs 11 pounds empty and 22 pounds with six Maxtor hard drives inside. The enclosure has a nice silver finish and the Disk Array 3SA cages provide a black front tray face. According to the Kill-a-Watt electricity usage monitor, this six bay Storage Tower configuration uses14 watts when the enclosure is turned on but empty. Adding a single Maxtor 300GB SATA hard drive adds 11 watts while idle. Once six Maxtor 300GB hard drives are mounted inside the enclosure the power usage increases to 68 watts while idle. When a six drive striped RAID set begins copying lots of data the power usage rises to 86 watts.

Cooling
In the cooling test, the six bay Dual Disk Array 3SA enclosure was tested using a 1.64 TB striped RAID comprised of six Maxtor 300GB SATA hard drives. A PowerMac G5 2.0GHz Dual running Mac OS X 10.4.4 with FirmTek SeriTek/1eVE4 and 1VE4 host adapters installed was used for this test. The six drives were worked very hard duplicating twenty copies of a 4.2GB folder of video files several times simultaneously. In addition, DiskTester sequential writes were also run to keep all six hard drives active for 90 minutes. Hardware Monitor 3.2 was utilized to monitor the hard drive temperatures. At the end of 90 minutes all of the Maxtor drives in the lower 3SA cage reported a temperature of 114.8 degrees Fahrenheit. The drives in the upper 3SA cage recorded a temperature of 116.6 degrees in the top and lower bay, while the middle bay reported 118.4 degrees Fahrenheit.

The next process of the cooling test was to leave the enclosure turned on with the hard drives mounted for an hour, but with no usage other than temperature monitoring. I wanted to see how well the hard drives might cool down inside this six bay enclosure. After resting for an hour, the Maxtor hard drive in the bottom bay reported a temperature of 105.8 degrees Fahrenheit. The next three higher bays displayed 107.6 degrees and the top two bays reported 109.4 degrees Fahrenheit.

Based on these tests, hard drives mounted in this six bay enclosure will probably operate between 105.8 and 118.4 degrees Fahrenheit when used over an extended period of time.

Acoustics
Each Addonics Disk Array 3SA cage has a powerful Titan 80x80x20mm 12v DC fan model TFD-8020H12C mounted on the rear of the enclosure. The fan is rated at 3000 RPM and can move up to 35.45 cubic feet of air per minute (CFM). Each fan is rated at less than 31 dBA. In addition, the Addonics Storage Tower has a 40x40x28mm high speed double ball bearing Dynatron (Top Motor) case fan model DF124028BA. This 12v fan is rated at 9200 RPM and moves 11.48 cubic feet of air per minute. It has a sound rating of 39.8 dBA.

When using the fans that come with the Addonics Storage Tower and the two Disk Array 3SA units this six bay enclosure is not quiet. The power supply fan in the Storage Tower enclosure is fairly quiet, but the other three fans can create quite a bit of wind noise. If the enclosure is five feet away behind the PowerMac G5 Dual 2.0GHz, I can hear the enclosures fans working away while the PowerMac G5 is in sleep mode. Once the PowerMac G5 is turned on the enclosures fan noise masks all noise made by the PowerMac G5 while in "reduced" energy mode. Once the PowerMac G5 energy setting is moved to "highest" you can hear the PowerMac G5 power supply "chirp" sounds over the enclosures fans. This six bay enclosure with stock fans is not quiet, but it can be modified to run quieter at very little additional expense.

Optional Fan Modification
If you would like to reduce the fan noise produced by the stock dual 3SA enclosure, it can be done. The Storage Tower provides access to 4 pin molex power connectors which allows you to easily change the fan configuration. The stock Dynatron 40mm case fan can be replaced with a quieter 40mm fan like the Papst 412FM ($16.95). A better option for me was to simply unplug the 40mm original case fan and mount two 80mm case fans in the rear of the enclosure, blowing toward the side panels. An Antec 80mm TRICOOL ($8) fan was mounted on one side of enclosure (set at the middle speed setting) and a Panaflo FBA08T12L ($10) on the other side. The aluminum side panels of the Storage Tower have 1,400 ventilation holes incorporated into their design, which allows internal case fans to work well. I also removed the stock 80mm fans in the rear of the Disk Array 3SA cages and replaced them with 80mm Panaflo FBA08T12L ($10) fans. The Panaflo fan is 15mm deep, while the stock fan is 20mm deep. Small washers were used to allow the screws to hold the fans in place. I did not have a small 3 pin connector that the 3SA uses for the fan, so I ran the fan power cables out to the back of the enclosure and plugged them into the Storage Tower 4 pin molex connectors. As I did not want the fan light to glow red (as the fans were no longer powered by the backplane connector), I simply disconnected the bottom rear fan alarm connector from each 3SA backplane board. The Panaflo fans that I purchased had no connector. I soldered the leads to a 12" 3-pin fan tail for Panaflo fans and insulated the splice. Each fan was connected to a 4 pin molex connector using a 3-pin to 4-pin adapter. This setup allows the fans to be used with a 3 or 4 pin connection.

Modifying the fan setup substantially reduced the noise produced by the Addonics Dual 3SA six bay enclosure. In addition, the overall cooling characteristics tested within two degrees of the stock temperature readings. After the alteration, the PowerMac G5 2.0GHz Dual was usually louder than the enclosure. Before the alteration the enclosure was a little louder than the WiebeTech TrayDock eSATA. The majority of the noise heard from the enclosure after the fan modification was the six Maxtor 300GB hard drives accessing data. The cost of the upgrade was $45 or about $10 per fan plus adapters.

Stability
A six drive striped RAID mounting stability test was the next task. Six Maxtor 300GB SATA hard drives were mounted in the Disk Array 3SA cages. The six drive striped RAID set was dismounted and all six SATA hard drives were ejected and placed back in the enclosure in a different order. Sometimes this was done with the enclosure power off while the RAID was dismounted, other times the power to the enclosure was left on. In all cases, the test was a hot swap removal of the RAID while the computer was left on. These tests were performed 20 times. In order for the enclosure to pass this test, all six hard drives needed to be recognized by the PowerMac G5 2.0Ghz Dual each time the drives were re-inserted, so that the RAID could be mounted on the desktop.

Out of the twenty tests, the Addonics six bay enclosure mounted eighteen times within 5 seconds of the FirmTek host adapters dialog boxes being dismissed. These dialog boxes inform the user when a change has been made to the SATA drive configuration. The two times that the RAID did not mount, Disk Utility reported that one of the six hard drives had failed to be recognized. When the failure occurred, simply ejecting all of the drives and re-inserting them allowed the 1.64 TB striped RAID set to mount on the desktop. I do not have a clear reason for the 10% failure rate in this test, as ejecting and re-inserting the six drives always fixed the problem. During this stability test a reboot by the computer was never necessary. The more drives in a striped RAID set the more probability that a failure may occur when mounting. The host adapter is typically just as important as the enclosure in these tests. Based on my experience with the Addonics six bay enclosure and the FirmTek host adapters used, I would classify this combination as a very nice hot swap compatible setup.

Sleep
Sleep mode works well when using the FirmTek SeriTek/1eVE4 host adapters with this six bay Addonics enclosure. If you put the computer to sleep with the RAID left mounted on the desktop, the RAID is immediately available for use when the Macintosh wakes from sleep. If you dismount the RAID and put the computer to sleep, Disk Utility can be used to mount the RAID once the Macintosh is awake. The 1eVE4 host adapter allows the Addonics Disk Array 3SA cages to work well with a PowerMac in sleep mode. However, the Addonics Disk Array 3SA fans and any installed hard drives continue to run while the Macintosh is in sleep mode.

Boot Capability
One feature that all of the FirmTek SATA host adapter cards have in common including the SeriTek/1eVE4 (which was used in this review), is the ability to boot from each port on the host adapter. I am not aware of any other SATA host adapter for the Macintosh that has this feature. If you are trying to make a bootable backup of your hard drive, the FirmTek host adapter allows you to test it while the backup drive is mounted on the host adapter. Non-bootable cards do not have this capability. If your main internal drive fails, you can boot from your backup using it mounted in the Addonics six bay enclosure. Next, reformat the main internal hard drive and copy the backup drive data back to the main internal boot drive. Without the ability to boot, the functionality of an SATA host adapter is limited.

Dual 3SA RAID Boot Test
Some users may be interested in what kind of performance the Addonics six bay eSATA enclosure can provide when used as a boot drive. A number of disk intensive functions were recorded with a PowerMac G5 Dual 2.0GHz using a 1.64 TB Maxtor six drive striped RAID set as the boot drive. The results were compared with using a single Maxtor 300GB SATA for the same tasks in the chart below. To make the test a little more interesting, the new Maxtor MaxLine III model 7V300F0 300GB 3.0Gb/s SATA hard drive was used as the single drive. Each test drive has 191 GB of data on it, along with Mac OS X 10.4.4. Each setup was tested while it was used as the boot drive. Tests performed include time to startup, time to repair permissions, duplicating 4.25GB and several others.

PowerMac G5 Dual 2.0 boot drive test	Single 300GB	1.6TB 6 Drive RAID 0
Startup	1:00 minutes	1:08 minutes
Repair Disk Permissions	46 seconds	43 seconds
Duplicate 4.25GB	2:43 minutes	31 seconds
Launch Safari (1st time after restart)	8 seconds	4 seconds
Launch EyeTV	5 seconds	4 seconds
Save EyeTV file to disk (32 minute MPG-1)	7 seconds	5 seconds
Save EyeTV file to disk (42 minute MPG-2)	1:19 minutes	53 seconds
Xbench Drive score	146	438
Xbench Overall Score	227	267

In the startup test above the PowerMac G5 was started up a few minutes after a complete shutdown. It was set to open the user desktop automatically and launch EyeTV and Eyehome. The test was ended when the EyeTV screen was playing in full size mode on the LCD. As you can see, booting with the Addonics Dual 3SA six drive striped RAID set was slightly slower than when using the new Maxtor 300GB SATA II 3.0Gb/s model. In the "Repair Disk Permissions" test, the results were very close. Next, Two video files were placed in a folder with a total size of 4.25GB. The Addonics Dual 3SA enclosure duplicated the folder in 31 seconds while the single Maxtor 300GB took five times longer at 2:43 minutes. The Safari and EyeTV launch tests were a little faster using the RAID. Saving an EyeTV file to disk was as much as 40% faster using the six drive striped RAID set. In addition, the Xbench drive scores were 300% faster with the Addonics Dual 3SA enclosure and the overall score was about 17% higher.

The new Maxline 7V300F0 300GB performs a little faster than previous models. It measured very well against the RAID in most of these tests. Based on the results, Macintosh users that perform a considerable amount of disk intensive functions copying and manipulating large files each day, may find using a striped RAID set as a boot drive increases their productivity.

Addonics Dual 3SA RAID Performance
In this test, a PowerMac G5 2.0GHz Dual running Mac OS X 10.4.4 was used with the Addonics Dual 3SA enclosure. A SeriTek/1eVE4 host adapter was installed in slot 4 and a SeriTek/1VE4 host adapter was mounted in slot 3. A six drive Maxtor 300GB striped RAID set was created in the Addonics Dual 3SA enclosure using Disk Utility RAID functions. DiskTester 1GB read and write tests were performed using a run area test on this 1.64 TB formatted strip RAID set. DiskTester was used to measure the combined performance of the striped RAID set and the Mac OS X operating system. It is a Terminal application which requires using Mac OS X Terminal with a command line executable. Using the command: ./disktester run-area-test --transfer-size 131072 --iterations 3 --test-size 1024 --delta-percent 10 DriveName, puts DiskTester to work testing how the RAID will perform when empty, 10% full, 20% full and so on. The same test was also done using the same hard drives in the SeriTek/2eEN4 four bay enclosure with the FirmTek dual bay SeriTek/1EN2. In addition, the TrayDock eSATA four bay enclosure with a FirmTek dual bay SeriTek/1EN2 was also tested. You can see the images of each set of enclosures tested below.

The object of this test was to see if a definitive performance difference could be detected between any of these six bay SATA combinations. The same SATA hard drives and host adapters were used in each test. Only the enclosures were different.

Three iterations of the DiskTester results were averaged and recorded for each enclosure combination tested below. Reading from left to right, the Dual 3SA write and read results are displayed first. The SeriTek 2eEN4/1EN2 enclosure results are shown in the middle and the TrayDock eSATA/1EN2 combination is displayed on the right.

Maxtor 6 Drive 1.64TB Striped RAID - DiskTester 1GB Test

	Dual 3SA	eSATA	SeriTek	2eEN4/1EN2	TrayDock	1EN2
Area Full	write	read	write	read	write	read
empty	402.1	353.3	401.5	354.4	399.1	355.5
10%	392.2	346.6	392.2	346	390.4	347.6
20%	383.2	339.9	382.8	341.2	383	342.7
30%	373.9	331.8	371.2	332.5	372.5	334.9
40%	363.3	324.6	364.3	322.5	364	324.1
50%	342.1	308	341.4	307.6	341.4	308.9
60%	332.9	296.8	331.1	297.6	332.3	297.6
70%	317.2	288.2	317.5	287.4	317.3	288.2
80%	292.4	262.3	293.3	260	291.8	261.2
90%	279.3	249	278.5	249.8	278.2	249.6
Average	347.86	310.05	347.38	309.9	347	311.03

Results are shown in MB per second. SeriTek/1eVE4 and 1VE4 host adapters were used with
a PowerMac G5 Dual 2.0 in PCI-X slot 4 and 3 with six Maxtor 300GB SATA hard drives.

As you can see in the chart above, all three enclosure setups recorded slightly different numbers when their performance was tested. In fact, the same enclosure will test a little differently each time the test is run. However, if you add all ten readings together and divide by ten, the average MB per second rate for the striped RAID set from empty to 90% full is calculated. Looking at the average, you can see that all three of these backplane mounting solutions provide very similar results. The performance is very close as the host adapter and the hard drives are the major factors that determine RAID performance. However, one advantage that the Dual 3SA enclosure provides is the ability to mount all six hard drives in a single enclosure. With write speeds of 400 MB per second when empty and over 270 MB per second when 90% full, this Maxtor six drive striped RAID set is a great tool for high speed disk drive needs like HD video editing.

Discussion
The Addonics Dual 3SA enclosure provides an awesome six bay SATA hot swap solution that is not readily available from many other sources. Six fast large capacity SATA hard drives used as a striped RAID set can provide sufficient speed to accommodate just about any high performance usage. A four drive enclosure may not be quite enough power for HD video editing, while eight bays may be more than you really need. Having the ability to mount all six hard drives in the same enclosure is a nice option that requires less space. The ability of the Addonics 3SA to turn off individual bays and to power the enclosure on/off from the front are both distinctive features that few other enclosures provide. In addition, the Addonics 3SA aluminum drive trays are one of the easiest to attach hard drives into that I have used. The trays dissipate heat and protect the hard drives very well. The six rear eSATA drive connections work well and the panel can be modified to accommodate other connection options. The enclosure side panels are easy to remove should you need access or additional ventilation. While the stock fans are not quiet, the $40 fan solution outlined in this article enabled the Dual 3SA reviewed in this article to become quieter than the PowerMac G5 2.0 Dual. Even with the quiet fans installed, the Dual 3SA was able to keep all six hard drives under 121 degrees Fahrenheit with heavy usage in these tests. While the Dual 3SA operates warmer than the WiebeTech SATA enclosures, it is still within the drive manufacturers temperature specifications. The only improvements I would implement if I were the designer, would be to add drive activity lights and to retrofit the enclosure with quiet cooling fans.

Dual Disk Array 3SA Six Bay Enclosure Parts List
Two Disk Array 3SA cages (AE3RCS35NSA) $89.95 each.
One Addonics Storage Tower model (ST6ESA) $145.00.
Six 100cm eSATA external shielded cables (AAESATA100C) $19.99 each.
Two "Y" 4 pin molex power adapters $1.

Optional low noise fan parts:
Panaflo FBA08T12L low noise fans $9.99 each.
12" 3-pin Fan Tail for Panaflo Fans 75 cents each.
3-Pin to 4-Pin Adapter 50 cents each.

Optional Macintosh PCI-X host adapters:
FirmTek SeriTek/1eVE4 four port external host adapter $139.95 each.

Pros
Works with OS X, OS 9, Windows, Linux (with the proper SATA host adapter).
Silver aluminum finish.
Can be easily modified.
Side panels come off easily with a single thumb screw.
Internal 220W 110/220 power supply with quiet fan.
Mounts up to six SATA hard drives into a single enclosure.
Allows data transfer to all six drives simultaneously.
Inexpensive, easy to install, hot swap, protective drive trays.
Can boot drives using the SeriTek/1eVE4.
Provides hot swap capability when used with the 1eVE4.
Supports Macintosh deep sleep when using the 1eVE4.
Allows you to select which bays will be powered.
Secure backplane drive mounting.
Temperature alarm.
Fan failure alarm.
Great performance.
Recorded up to 400 MB per second empty (347 MB Average).
Dual 3SA $180 + enclosure $145 + 6 cables $120 = $445.
Low noise fan solution can be added for $40.

Cons
Stock fans are not quiet.
No hard drive activity lights.
Drives may operate 14 degrees warmer than when in TrayDock eSATA.

Dual Disk Array 3SA gets 4 AMUGs out of 5!
The Addonics Dual Disk Array 3SA setup installed in a Storage Tower model ST6ESA provides an excellent performing six bay hot swap eSATA enclosure. Retrofitting the fans as outlined in this article allows the Dual 3SA enclosure to be almost as quiet as the SeriTek/2eEN4 four bay enclosure, (which is the quietest four bay enclosure I have tested so far). While the Dual 3SA will perform about 14 degrees warmer than the WiebeTech TrayDock eSATA, it is still cooler than the SeriTek/2eEN4. Once four or more hard drives are stacked into a single enclosure, there is usually a battle between acoustics and cooling. With the fan modification described in this article a nice balance can be achieved. When the Dual 3SA enclosure is matched with six Maxtor Maxline 300GB SATA hard drives in a striped RAID set, it can reach a write speed of 400 MB per second when empty and 279 MB per second when 90% full. If you are looking for a fast six bay SATA solution, an Addonics Dual 3SA enclosure is a nice hot swap option at an affordable price.

Contact Information:
Addonics Technologies
2466 Kruse Drive,
San Jose, CA 95131 USA
408-433-3899
addonics@addonics.com
http://www.addonics.com

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