External Enclosure

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You’ve probably heard of it at some point, hard drive external enclosure, but what exactly are they and what do they do? They’re also commonly known as a hard disk caddy or hard disk case. Simply put, they are basically external cases that house a typical computer hard drive and transform it into an external storage device similar in function to your typical USB flash drives. A hard drive external enclosure is connected to a computer using eSATA, Firewire connection or simply through a USB cable.

Hard drive external enclosures are available on the market today in many variations. Many manufacturers such as Maxtor, Lacie or Freecom offer external enclosures in various designs and specifications. Some may even include the hard disk in addition to the actual enclosure which is very much convenient as you do not need to install a separate hard drive unto the enclosure and just use it right away after purchasing it. However, it is obviously a tad more expensive compared to purchasing the external enclosure alone which is a cost effective option if you happen to have an existing hard drive that you can salvage from an old non-functional computer.

Though the whole thing may initially look a bit sophisticated there isn’t actually anything complicated with regards to using a hard drive external enclosure. You can simply think of it as a container in which you can put in your computer hard drive which are typically secured by multiple screws and features external connections that would enable you to connect it to a computer. As mentioned earlier, you can use them as a typical external data storage device such as USB flash drives. External enclosures are a great way to put old hard drives into good use or recover old data from them. However, before you consider going ahead and buying one, there are a couple of things that you need to keep in mind regarding its use and specifications.

First one on the list is the physical size of the hard drive. This aspect has nothing to do with its data storage capacity but rather simply refers to how big or small the hard drive is. This is because hard drives typically come in two standard sizes which all depend on their intended use may it be for desktop or laptop computers. Those that were designed for laptop computers are obviously smaller in size compared to their desktop counterparts. Thus you need to keep this factor in mind when buying external enclosures with the goal of salvaging an old hard drive. If the hard drive is from a desktop computer then you need to purchase an external enclosure labelled for a 3.5” and if it’s from a laptop computer, you would need one labelled as a 2.5”.

One other thing that you need to consider when purchasing an external enclosure is its interface. Typical hard drives of today are of the SATA or Serial-ATA type. However, if you intend to salvage an old hard drive you first got a couple of years ago then it probably has a different interface known as an IDE or ATA/PATA. Although the terminologies may sound fancy it actually isn’t hard to visually determine which is which. The SATA hard drive interface simply looks like a piece of plastic with multiple connectors while the ones having the older IDE interface possess dual rows consisting of 22 pins each along it’s connectors.

Lastly, you would also definitely want to check on the type of connection that it uses. Typical enclosures in the market today uses a Firewire or USB connection in order t hook it up to you computer. More advanced external enclosure may also have an eSATA connection as added option. Your options with regards to these types of connection revolve around the kind of devices or computers that you want to use the external enclosure with. For more versatility, you may want to purchase external enclosures with multiple connection options although they would naturally cost significantly more than the ones sporting only one specific type of connection.