Unboxing ICY DOCK FlexCage MB975SP-B R1 Tray-less 5 Bay 3.5" HDD Hot Swap Cage | Testing in HP Z820
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ต.ค. 2024
- In this video I'm going to unbox and review the ICY DOCK MB975SP-B R1. This is is trayless 5-bay 3.5" HDD hot-swap enclosure that fits in 3 5.25" optical drive bays. If you have a computer or server with 5.25" bays and you're looking for a neat way to add 3.5" HDDs, you'll want to check this out.
In addition to an unboxing and review of this product's features, I'm going to attempt to install it in a HP Z820, which has 3x 5.25" drive bays in hopes that I can add additional 3.5" drives to the HP Z820.
If you're interested in the mentioned products, here are links to find them on eBay:
Icy Dock MB975SP-B R1: ebay.to/3DlehRn
HP Z820 workstation: ebay.to/3j3wAnn
Timestamps:
1:10 - Unboxing ICY DOCK FlexCage MB975SP-B R1
3:38 - Reviewing features of MB975SP-B R1
12:50 - Installing MB975SP-B R1 in HP Z820
15:30 - It doesn't fit!
15:44 - The problem
18:18 - Discussing which products will work or won't work, and physical limitations.
23:51 - Wrap up
24:38 - Product B-roll
If you'd like to support this channel, please consider shopping at my eBay store: ebay.to/2ZKBFDM
Product Sponsorship Disclosure:
Product was provided for free by ICY DOCK for review. Other than providing sample products for review, ICY DOCK did not provide compensation for this video or stipulate any conditions for this review. ICY DOCK persons did not preview this video before it's release. Any opinions, thoughts, or comments regarding the product reviewed are my own.
eBay Partner Affiliate disclosure:
The eBay links in this video description are eBay partner affiliate links. By using these links to shop on eBay, you support my channel, at no additional cost to you. Even if you do not buy from the ART OF SERVER eBay store, any purchases you make on eBay via these links, will help support my channel. Please consider using them for your eBay shopping. Thank you for all your support! :-)
Probably don't need to fully cut off the tabs, could just bend them flat. Won't look as clean but also means you aren't going to have to take precautions against getting metal shavings throughout your case.
Yeah, good suggestion 😸.
I purchased the case a few weeks ago. Nope the tabs are very thick and bending them was causing the whole piece to warp. Ended up using an oscillating multi-tool to cut them off. It was much easier than I thought and took all of 20 minutes.
good morning- total perfect done, :))
Good morning 🌄! Thanks for watching! :-)
I really wanted to use IcyDock bays but they're so expensive compared to the cost reviews years ago said. Even used ones I found were so expensive. So I went with Rosewill hotswap instead because it was just cheaper. I just bought some SATA to Molex connector. I also just love blinkenlights so 4 vs 5 slots and blue LEDs vs green LEDs is a bit of a bummer but it just made more sense for me economically right now.
Yeah, I agree... they seem to have gotten expensive over the last few years. I hope their prices will come down soon.
For anyone considering one of these, if you see at 8.47 their is a plastic part of the linkage that failed on two doors I used on this just adding drives for the first time. Its really flimsy and I wouldn't recommend. This is the first electronic item I've damaged in years as I'm usually very delicate with things I own. Its not like the usual high quality Icydock products you would expect. Also the power buttons at the top don't actuate half the time.
They have replaced it already with a new variant and I'm hoping this issue is resolved in that version as they specify a Full aluminium and steel backplane which I'm hoping includes the doors also. I have the new version ordered and if it arrives tomorrow with these plastic rings it will be returned right away.
i also found the buttons are finicky.
@@ArtofServer The new version arrived and the connections are beefed up which gives me a lot more confidence in it. The buttons also work perfect in the new version. Overall its the new one is in a different league quality wise. The only download is it doesn't look as pretty as this one and you can't alter the fan with a Noctua one easily because of the fan connector on it but I don't regret the change.
I'm going to be ordering some thing like this soon for my PLEX Server with 15 HD's in it.
it's a Rosewill 4U Server Chassis "RSV-L4500U". There all in a cage that is tariffing to remove and brake connectors off when I clean it.
Being a Noob I had no clue about SAS expanders I have 2 Raid controllers in there it will be nice to combine all the 15 2TB drives in to 1 RAID 6
Sounds like a fun project! :-) If you want to learn more about SAS expanders, watch this playlist:
th-cam.com/play/PL28eVGz5vFQ-pn6eFBC6AmfbL3yPcBDV7.html
Hope that helps! :-)
this bay you could use as a build your own... would need to sort out the cables but you could make it look neat
yeah, i eventually got it working in the Z820. see the later videos if you're curious what it took to get it done.
Lol, I have the same problem when I tried to install SM version to Antec1200 case. Well it was time to take multi-tool and trim the tabs.
LOL.. yeah, when time permits, I'm going to cut those tabs off.
Thanks for this video. I had my eye on Icy Dock for quite awhile, but then I snagged a couple of Dell R730xd's with 24drives and attached 15 bay arrays, so no need for the Icy Docks. But... I still think about building something using the icy dock just for fun. I mean, a guy can never have too many servers, right? OOohhh.. love the caddie-less drive bays on that unit too, not so much the power on/off leds. I think I would super glue those on.
yeah, I don't personally use desktop style servers myself anymore, but these trayless things are so cool. i just figure this might help people who are building their server with desktop PC parts. i know installing a server rack is too big of a commitment for some, or simply don't have the space if they are living in apartment, etc.
thanks for watching!
I love server gear having several 4U systems mostly the SM 846 chassis...problem is I live in a mobile home right now and sadly have no room to lay out my servers the way I want. Hopefully when we eventually build my house ill have a dedicated server room for all my gear. Until then they patiently wait in storage....
Could i put these into this case rosewill RSV-L4500U I rather go this route then try to get a super micro and hope it has a updated backplane since these cages already have a powered backplane for sas/sata up to 6gbs and seems like easier to find if 1 goes bad. I am new to the server world just wondering is there any difference in this route then a super micro chassis route?
It really depends on whether you are going with a rackmount setup or a desktop/deskside type of server. If you're going rackmount, I think the Supermicro backplane is a better approach. For a desktop/deskside tower case, there are not a lot of options and something like this Icy Dock makes a lot more sense in my opinion. With the right Supermicro backplane, you could also get a SAS-2 expander, which makes your SAS controller setup simpler.
If you need to learn more about Supermicro backplanes, watch my video here: th-cam.com/video/ZhF1rU0X4eE/w-d-xo.html
ya im trying to go rackmount i want consolidate all my pcs honestly @@ArtofServer
Thanks for the video, such a useful expansion box for most pc's , I have always used Icy Dock products, and always have been happy with the quality of their stuff. As you said in the video, Its a great shame that the HP Z840 only had 2 and 1/2 bays in the front, as this would have been a killer expansion item for expanding the storage options on this great workstation. There is a HP expansion option for fitting drives in the front of this machine, but I think it is for 2 1/2" drives only, and really difficult to source. I am currently using the Icy Dock MB994SP-4S 4 x 2 1/2" sas drive dock that takes up 1 x 5 1/4" bay to enable another 4 x sas drives to be accessed from the front of the machine.
Yeah, the icy dock products for 2.5" drives work great. I just like having large amounts of storage capacity for the video footage. I edit on quad nvme SSD, but save the work on the HDDs.
I had a set of those when I built my first Nas. my case had 9 3.5 bays. So it gave me 15 drives.
yup, i love these things for desktop server builds.
i had some dns-323 NASs i was going to wipe/erase/etc so i could give away or recycle. one of the drive ejectors, made out of a hardened plastic, shattered. I didnt really use them that much.
they cant put the slots because the drives are in the way, the only way to fit 5 drives. I have an icy dock 4x2.5 that has issues, I have it in a chassis that uses metal mounting things and they stick in to far and high the drive tray. I snipped off the end a bit and it works better.
the rosewills are decent. i have a bunch cuz I got them really cheap.
thanks for sharing your experiences.
Cd roms slots are still important
I would agree with you, but you and I are in the minority..
YES, HP Z820... TOP ROCK SERVER for Linux System...
Indeed! And this unit has the water coolers with the W Xeon CPUs! Thanks for watching!
Yes, I love my Z820. Bought it because Art recommended it!
I bougth this: SilverStone SST-FS304B three times.Also trayless, also SAS and with a lock and key.Though only 4 not 5 slots. I did have one release tab break (Plastic) but still works. It has the slots so fit no problem.
Right, I think the 4x3.5" bay version will all fit fine. It's the 5x3.5" bay units that don't have the slots.
Thanks for watching!
@@ArtofServer Seems that way, so this is good advice from you. I kind of always go towards 2, 4, 8 etc. So did not even look at x5 bay systems. All 3 I bought are 4x3.5, so my binary mind saved me :-)
I'm having an issue with this bay, when I put my drives in they tend to be a little too long and it doesn't latch that well.
Any ideas?
what do you mean by "too long" ? i don't imagine your 3.5" not being of standard dimensions?
@@ArtofServer The drives are of standard 3.5, but something is wrong with the icydock unit.
Friends, you can also search for the Unestech brand and learn about it.
It's a cool piece of hardware, but not many cases have 3 5.25" bays any more, and the cost seems a bit high to me for 5 bays.. When you can get an external 5 bay USB dock for $100..
It's true.. but there are a lot of old PC cases with 5.25" bays that could be great for JBOD build using these. Also, there are a few modern cases too... I just received one which I will review in a few weeks.
I think having direct SAS/SATA lanes to each drive is very different than using a USB dock.
But, I do agree with you that Icy Dock products are a bit expensive. And their prices have gone up significantly during the pandemic shortage. They might come down this year or next, at least I hope.
@@ArtofServer Will be watching for the review on the new case, I just purchased a rack mount 24 bay server that I'm going to be redoing, I got it with 24 6tb HDDs for just over a grand, I'm going to sell the 6tb drives and if I get $50 each, I'm looking at $1200, which nets me the case, mobo, power supplies and all that for less than free.. when I can find deals like that on ebay, that's the thing that makes it hard for me to even consider tracking down a case with a bunch of 5.25 bays for that use case..
Of course, I'm telling you nothing new here, I'm 100% sure you're aware of these deals existing and that the use case for something like this icydock unit is more for someone that would only like to add a few drives, not someone like me that has over 40 drives in use :)
Sick video man! Also thanks for your help via eBay, can wait to lock in on some upgrades for my R610
Thanks man! It was my pleasure to help!
I checked out your store but did not find what I was looking for. You typically have items that you also teach to us about and how to use them so I thought I would look. I want to build a home workstation in a Jonsbo n2 case and was looking for a SAS backplane to insert as I want to use 2.5 inch enterprise drives. Any advice?
Thanks for checking out my store! The Jonsbo N2 looks like it already has a 5-bay backplane. I'm not sure it will make sense to replace the backplane with a 2.5" drive BP as that would require changes to physically support such drives. Might be easier to use 3.5" to 2.5" reducer brackets?
@@ArtofServer Just learning.......IfI figured it out by wwatching your cable videio again. So the SAS controller cable connects to the Backplane....got it.
hey, do you know if we can get a custom backplane made for one's particular requirement ???
requirements like specific spacing between driver connectors, specific driver connectors, number of drives, their orientation vertical or horizontal, etc.
Sorry, I don't know of anyone who does that. If you can design your own circuit board, there are places that will make them for you for prototyping or even mass production for not that much.
@@ArtofServer thanks, i kinda thought might have to go that way 👍
Is that a black anodized case??? Slick looking.
if you're referring to the Z820 side panels, yes that's the black option. HP offered some options to change the side panels to a black version in the Z820. The Z840 also has something similar, but the color is more greyish than black.
what HBA would you use for 2 of these with a supermico X9csm mb
I would get rid of the Supermicro X9SCM-F motherboard. It has bugs and with v2 CPUs most of the PCIe slots are disabled. So you can't use them other than the chipset PCIe slot.
Icy dock is the best hands down but pricy af
I agree with you 100%. And the inflation and pandemic shortage only drove those prices higher.
Icydock is very solid brand.
indeed. although they can be pricey.
5-in-3 are a bad idea for several reasons.
4-in-3 horizontal gives me more peace of mind.
why is that?
@@ArtofServer I've been thinking the same, reason being the constant deceleration and acceleration of the mechanical parts when mounted vertically.
But to disprove this you have enterprise DASs which mount drives vertically as well. This might be an interesting idea to test for the channel
Since the SATA cables don't connect directly to the drives, I would be wary that the PCB traces on the backplane are engineered correctly to assure signal integrity.
Routing high speed differential traces across several inches of PCB requires technical skill and testing/simulation.
Monitor for CRC errors on the SATA interface.
Powering 5 drives off one SATA motherboard output is a bit sus. That much current through the conductor could add up to a fair amount of voltage drop at the drives.
Come on, clip, cut, or grind those tabs off using a Dremel tool with a abrasive cut-off wheel and carry on.
(You'll need to strip the enclosure bare and blow
it out with compressed air afterwards to eliminate metal bits or metal dust.)
I've never had a problem with the backplanes in Icy Dock products causing a problem. They have been around for a long time making these types of products so I would think they know what they are doing.
SATA power can deliver about 50W each, so 3 such connectors should be able to safely deliver 150W. 7200RPM spinning drives consume between 5-10W during normal operation, and conservatively about 25W at peak during spin-up (usually closer to 20W). So, 5 drives spinning up at the same time needs at most 125W. If you stagger your spin-up, that can be much less, so you should be able to get away with using 2 SATA power plugs for 5 HDDs.
This was just a product review, not a let's cut up a Z820 to fit the Icy Dock video and I didn't want to get too side tracked for the review. Although, I am thinking about doing that for another video as I really wanted that 5th drive bay for other reasons.
No trays means no 2.5 SSds
actually, Icy Dock sent me a 2.5" to 3.5" adapter that turns the 2.5" into the size of a 3.5" HDD. so it is possible... that'll be in an upcoming review.
I really don't get the problem? Are you assuming your viewers aren't capable of removing those tabs? It's annoying but hardly insurmountable! If you look at all the 5 bay docks you will notice there isn't room for 5 drive bays and the slots on the side to! The real lesson to be learned here is that if you don't want to mod the cast then you are limited to 4 bays.
Chill, some people just don't think about whipping out a hack saw or cut-off wheel like some of us do.
He was just doing a product review video and isn't in to metalworking his hardware. No shame in that. We're all different.
I don't personally have a problem doing that; i actually have the tools and have shaped metals for automotive repairs and artwork. I'm not assuming anything, including not assuming that everyone would be comfortable cutting sheet metal or bending it. I'm just pointing out a potential pitfall for someone who's interested in this product.
I guess I'm not normal in that regard. I actually enjoy overcoming problems like that. Don't think I have ever owned a case I haven't nodded in some way.
@@ronsafranic5177 I'm capable of grinding off the tabs, but I'm not willing to do that to gain 1 drive bay.
I appreciate how Art honestly showed his experience trying to install it, and rather than end with a meme picture of an angle grinder, he found a different solution.
I found the fan small
It's sufficient. one can always modify the case to mount a larger fan.
@@ArtofServer I'm from Brazil Rio de Janeiro it's very hot here I think it's not enough here