Turn on/off hard disks - Page 2 - Overclock.net

technology fan · 09-10-09

Quote:

Originally Posted by MalVeauX

Heya,

It's of course possible and rather easy. No mod required. Well, it helps to mod yourself a place for a 2nd power supply, but that's besides the point.

There's several ways to do it, but here's the easiest (in my opinion) way to accomplish what you want.

1. Get a few hard drives.
2. Get an eSATA controller.
3. Get a separate power supply unit for said drives, or, get external enclosures that have eSATA ports (more appropriate if only using 1 or 2 drives, not 4 to 6 for example).

Now, note, you don't need an eSATA controller. It just has some features that can make things really more handy for yourself. If you don't have one nor want one, that's ok too. The point is to try and get a device that supports hot swapping, which basically means plugging something in and out while the board is still powered and on, rather than turning it off each time. You'll find this feature a big deal for folk who have servers because turning it off equals down time and servers don't like down time. You can take that feature and make it work for you too though.

House those drives where ever you want. House that power supply unit where ever you want. My suggestion is in a separate box. Then you just have drives and a PSU in a box. It won't add extra weight and heat to your main rig that will be accessing it. Alternatively, just install them into your main case, and mod yourself a way to get that 2nd power supply unit in there--but make sure it's in a way that will allow you to turn it on and off of course (without opening the case all the time, right?). This is why I mentioned a 2nd case--you can then mod the power button to the power supply for example to switch on and off.

Alternative enclosure suggestion:

An alternative to this is to get external HDD enclosures. They have their own power source and eSATA connection to boot. You just plug a few in and you're set. This is super easy mode for HDD's that are SATA fast and able to be removed/powered off while the system is still on. If you only need one or two drives worth of storage, this is an easy way to do it!

eSATA

External SATA is fast. Just like internal. They're the same. You can get SATA150 or SATA300 just the same. The "e" is just for external. But it has a nice feature in that it's a quick way to put drives where ever you want and connect them regardless to your system (instead of using dreadful USB speeds).

When an eSATA drive is plugged in and powered on, it will do just like a USB device. It will be recognized, and if it's a drive, assigned a drive letter. Boom, ready for access. And just like USB, you can then `eject' the eSATA device from the system (so it's not being accessed) and this is how you're able to shut it off (power it down) without any issue to the system nor the drive. That's basically `hot swapping' in a way. You can do this manually through Computer Management -> Disk Management (in Control Panel - Admin Tools). Or you can use a super easy and awesome little utility called HotSwap!:

HotSwap!

Download that. You simply run it. It will load to system tray. It looks just like the remove device icon you're used to in Windows. But way more powerful. You can remove physical hard drives with this baby in any version of windows. That way you can power them off. Configure HotSwap! to load when windows starts so you always have access to it, or load it only when you want to. It doesn't install or have a big setup. It's just that one file. Run it and forget it. And it's light.

So, you can connect drives with eSATA. Powered how you please. When done, use HotSwap! to remove them from the system (like ejecting them). Then you'll see the message that it's safe to remove the device. Then you just power it down.

You can get internal 4 port eSATA cards for pretty cheap. It doesn't have to be fancy or super. Also, you can get eSATA 150 for much cheaper than 300. Do that. You will not be copying fast enough to saturate the bandwidth of SATA150 anyways, not even on your internal drives, with 7200rpm drives. Like $40 for a decent card to do this.

Buy some eSATA cables.

Power the drives with a separate power source so that you can turn it off when you're done using them. Run hotswap! first. Then power down.

That should get you started.

Very best,

First of all, thank you very much for all of your time spend telling me your opinion, your ideas and your thoughts, i really appreciate it.

Believe me i already thought of those alternative solutions. The thing is i want to use as less space as possible. So lets discuss how my drives will be powered. I m thinking to cut the correct cable of power sata cable and have it connected accordingly with a switch. That switch is going to stay hidden inside of my case or have it mounted at the back so that there wont be direct access but at the same time not entirely unreachable

P.S.: I use linux so keep software out of this..

LemonSlice · 09-10-09

Quote:

Originally Posted by DuckieHo

True, but the bandwidth will be reduced to <50MB/s

True, then I guess his options will depend on what he uses the hard drives for. If he uses it for like small access stuff, then USB should work fine (stuff like music and videos and docs). If he wants to load games on the drive, and play off the drive, maybe USB isn't such a great idea

kevingreenbmx · 09-10-09

windows has a setting in advanced power settings to turn an HDD off when not in use for xx minutes...

edit: sorry, missed the linux comment. but still, most distros i have used still offer that option...

technology fan · 09-10-09

Quote:

Originally Posted by kevingreenbmx

windows has a setting in advanced power settings to turn an HDD off when not in use for xx minutes...

edit: sorry, missed the linux comment. but still, most distros i have used still offer that option...

Even if i had windows I wouldn't do that. It makes the disk last a lot a less, if I m not mistaken.. as well as it requires relatively a lot of power to start/sleep disk.

kevingreenbmx · 09-10-09

Quote:

Originally Posted by technology fan

Even if i had windows I wouldn't do that. It makes the disk last a lot a less, if I m not mistaken..

i do not see how it would make them not last as long. it is the exact same thing as what you are saying you want to do with the exception of ensuring that they do not accidentally get turned off in the middle of a write.

LemonSlice · 09-10-09

IMO you shouldn't cut up your power cables, the warranty gets killed, just my

. Well, if you really want to, here's how. The sata cable should have 4/5 wires going into it. If it has 4 wires, it should go

Yellow, Black, Red, Black. I'll refer to those like this:
Y1,B1,R2,B2. I compared it to a molex cable and came up with the +/- terminals. Y1/B1 are the 12v, R2/B2 are 5v.

If its a 5 pin, it should go yellow, black, red, black, orange. Pretend the orange isn't there, and just work with the yellow, red, and blacks. The orange is 3.3v and shouldn't have an issue, as the device usually won't try to power on if there is no 12v or 5v. Most drives don't even use the 3.3v.

I would recommend a double pole switch, something like this. The reason is so you don't end up providing 12v power but not 5v, and etc. That's a little more safe. Basically, the double pole is 2 switches built into 1 toggle.

Then, split the yellow wire, and add a bit of an extension. Take that and wire it to one pole of the switch. Take the red, and wire it to the other pole. Before powering on, check every cable and make sure you read the manual of the switch to make sure you wired it correctly. You don't want to throw the switch and have it short out the red and yellow

. If you've tested it, solder it together, and electrical tape it. Then you should be done. I'll see if I can make some time to draw a diagram.

AND take note I take no responsibility for any damage that occurs from doing it incorrectly or whatnot.

DuckieHo · 09-10-09

Quote:

Originally Posted by technology fan

Even if i had windows I wouldn't do that. It makes the disk last a lot a less, if I m not mistaken.. as well as it requires relatively a lot of power to start/sleep disk.

That's only true if you turn them on/off often.

A relatively lot power (<30w).... for a relatively short period (<5s).

Quote:

Originally Posted by kevingreenbmx

i do not see how it would make them not last as long. it is the exact same thing as what you are saying you want to do with the exception of ensuring that they do not accidentally get turned off in the middle of a write.

Spin up is the most intensive time for a hard drive. Once it reaches operating speed, it's easy to maintain it.

technology fan · 09-10-09

So after all is was the yellow one, yes that 's sort of what switch i ll use. are you sure?

Actually i misread is red too.. thats weird i only know how to switch with only one cable..

DuckieHo · 09-10-09

Quote:

Originally Posted by technology fan

So after all is was the yellow one, yes that 's sort of what switch i ll use. are you sure?

Yellow (+12v) and Red (+5v)...

or both Blacks (GND).

technology fan · 09-10-09

Now you confused me.. what do you mean or both blacks? Can't i just use just a simple switch with only one cable?

09-10-09	#18 (permalink)
technology fan New to Overclock.net Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 11 Rep: 0 Unique Rep: 0 Trader Rating: 0	So after all is was the yellow one, yes that 's sort of what switch i ll use. are you sure? Actually i misread is red too.. thats weird i only know how to switch with only one cable.. Last edited by technology fan : 09-10-09 at 02:56 PM

		Overclock.net - Overclocking.net > Case Mods & Cases > Other Hardware Mods
Turn on/off hard disks

09-10-09	#20 (permalink)
technology fan New to Overclock.net Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 11 Rep: 0 Unique Rep: 0 Trader Rating: 0	Now you confused me.. what do you mean or both blacks? Can't i just use just a simple switch with only one cable?

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)