External SATA III to USB for additional storage

[Dennis Peacock]

Do any of you use an external docking station for plugging desktop HDD's into for additional storage or backups? I have like 10 TB of desktop drives that are just sitting around from my PC days and I'd like to use the drives that are new enough to add external storage to my iMac. One of the drives is a brand new WD Gold Data Center drive 4 TB which would be plenty for what I need currently. My desktop drives measure 4" outside to outside for width.

Please advise as my budget is limited.

[Mike Kreinhop]

I use several external drives for storage and backup on my Late 2009 iMac. I can't remember the WD drive models, but I put them in OWC Mercury Elite (https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/ME3QHKIT0GB/) housings and connect them via the Firewire 800 bus on my iMac. My photo library is on an external drive and is backed up daily as well. I use Carbon Copy Cloner for the daily backups of the bootable system drive and my photo library.

At one time, I had ten of these daisy chained to my iMac for different projects and never had a problem with access, speed, or reliability. In fact, the only HDD that failed was the 1TB drive that came with my iMac. It was part of the recall for the Late 2009 model, but I replaced it myself. The backup drives were at the end of the chain so I could disconnect them and rotate them with the drives I stored off site.

Here is one from OWC that might work for you:

https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/1394/USB/EliteAL/eSATA_FW800_FW400_USB

[Brian Henderson]

Yup, I have an external docking station that holds 2 drives and it works just fine. It's hot swappable. I think it cost about $40 when I got it.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Yeah - I use(d) a SATA/IDE adapter to pull the data off my old laptop with a dead motherboard.
Got it from Amazon for under $20.
I'm not sure if it's hot swap or not.

[Tom M King]

Google "hard drive reader" and you will find the exact flavor to suit you. Some come with a nice little soft "rubber" holder for the hard drive that's been pulled out of whatever.

[Lee DeRaud]

This looks like the cheapest one for what you describe:
https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-External-Lay-Flat-Docking-EC-DFLT/dp/B00LS5NFQ2
(I've been using their $10 case-style adapters for years for old portable notebook drives.)

[Keith Outten]

I use the BlacX Duet from Thermaltake (https://www.bestbuy.com/site/thermaltake-blacx-duet-hard-drive-enclosure-docking-station-black/9062073.p?skuId=9062073&ref=212&loc=1&ds_rl=1260672&ds_rl=1266837&ref=212&loc=1&ds_rl=1266837&gclid=Cj0KCQiA8_PfBRC3ARIsAOzJ2up_GeUVJ00_Gp526yJq GX8_vLdYkv0yvw37pXy3mXeiR8YaPKIiTNUaAlrTEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds). It's a duel drive docking station that accepts 2.5"/3.5" Sata HDD eSATA and USB up to 3 TB.

[Jerome Stanek]

I like my link station NAS that way anyone can add files or retrieve them

[Jim Becker]

Dennis, I have five drives plugged into my Mac (via USB) with my docking station as the connection point. For the iMac, I just used a quality USB "hub". I can't help with the SATA III aspect you mention because all of my drives are already USB. OWC has a bunch of drive mounting solutions, however, and while they are not the least expensive source for things, what they sell works as advertised and they specialize in the MacOS marketplace.