MB994IPO-3SB review - posted by wegotserved.com

In recent discussions with hard disk module manufacturer Icy Dock, the push seems to be on for 2.5” drives, whether that’s for enterprise server farms or in the home. Anyone can understand where some of this drive comes from for consumer use: Solid State Drives. For the enterprise market, 3.5” drives are still wearing the capacity crown, but speed is a very important factor also..............read the full review

MB080U3S-1SB review - posted by hitechlegion.com

Icy Dock is doing things the right way again with the new Blizzard 3.5” External HDD Enclosure. External HDD Enclosures are simple items, but the Icy Dock Blizzard enclosure takes all of the features one step further and couples that with outstanding build quality and engineering. On the performance end, the Blizzard offers USB 3.0/2.0 and eSATA connectivity to go along with 6Gb/s compatibility to get the most speed from your hard drive, but Icy Dock also adds a very interesting feature set. The Icy Dock Blizzard uses an 80mm fan with active cooling to keep your drive running cool..........read the full review

Introducing the ICY DOCK MB994IPO-3SB Enterprise Full Metal 2x 2.5" SATA/SAS HDD/SSD + Slim Optical Disk

Introducing the MB994IPO-3SB, a full metal dual bay 2.5” SATA/SAS hard drive / SSD mobile rack backplane designed with a Slim Optical Disk Drive (ODD) slot for use in a single 5.25” device bay. It’s a perfect device designed for small form factor system or server such as: IPC, HTPC, NAS, Home Servers and All-In-One computers. Dual 4-pin power connectors are used to ensure secured and consistent power supply to both drives and ODD, whether they are low power consumption 2.5” SATA SSD’s or power hungry 15000 RPM 2.5” SAS drives. Also included is a single 40mm cooling fan with on & off switch to assist the drives running at their optimal temperatures, in even the most intense applications. Versatility is the Key The MB994IPO-3SB separates itself from the rest of the MB994 series by the unique Slim Optical Disk Drive slot that is available. The Slim ODD slot uses our EZ-ODD Tray made of full metal, and is easily removable by use of the provided key or via a side latch. This allows system integrators more freedom to better meet their potential client’s needs. The MB994IPO-3SB utilizes our EZ Slide Mini Trays, making drive interchangeability and maintenance completely hassle free. The trays are built using full metal so that they are durable for many lifetimes, while will not weigh you down when transporting your data from system to system. Also featuring a full cage design, the added top drive cover provides added layer of protection while moving the drive. The trays are designed to accommodate 9.5mm, 12.5mm & 15mm drives, giving you excellent control of your 2.5" hot swap backplane. Interchangeable hard drive tray with: Fan control further allows the potential system to be accommodated properly depending on the hard drives used. If a SSD is used, fan can be left off and shut off the noise completely from the MB994IPO-3SB. Otherwise, the fan is a great asset to assist in cooling mission critical hard drives. Excellent Build Quality The MB994IPO-3SB body is built with aluminum to be able to hold up in the toughest of conditions, provide excellent heat dissipation, and shave as much weight as possible. Included ventilation slots on the front and back for maximum airflow to keep your drives running cool, and an LED is placed on the front of each drive tray to give the user drive status at all times. In the Smallest Package Possible Utilizing its small form factor, the MB994IPO-3SB is perfect for use in gaming PCs, HTPC, small form factor cases with limited 5.25” expansion bays, or a Slim ODD and hard drives are needed. SMB’s, SI and power users all benefit from the most features, in the smallest form factor possible. Key Features * Fits 2 x 2.5" SATA/SAS hard drive or SSD & 1 x slim optical disk drive (ODD). * Accommodates hard drives or SSD with up to 15mm Height. * Supports SATA III & SAS 2.0 interface. * Full aluminum body construction. * Full Metal EZ Slide Mini Tray & EZ-ODD Tray system with Full Cage Design. * 2 x 4 pin power connector to properly power all components. * Available 40mm cooling fan. * On & off switch for cooling fan, reduce the power usage and fan noise when using SSD. * Status LED on Front for each drive. * Top cover for the tray adds extra drive/ODD protection. * Perfect for SFF (small form factor) case, IPC, HTPC, NAS, Home Server and All-In-One computers. * Active Power Technology – Device & fan only powers up if a drive is installed. Quick links: MB994IPO-3SB Product Page MB994IPO-3SB Product images MB994IPO-3SB Datasheet ICY DOCK Taipei County, Taiwan, R.O.C. Tel : +886 2 2999-3251  Fax : +886 2 2999-3478 、+886 2 2999-8099  Sales e-mail:  roy@cremax.com.tw Support e-mail: marketing@cremax.com.tw

The 2.5” market has steadily become more dominant in the storage industry because of the advancement of cutting edge storage such as SSD’s (Solid State Drive), and well designed traditional high speed hard drives. In the Small to Medium Business (SMB) or larger markets, 3.5” 10K and 15K SAS hard drives have been the most reliable type of storage, because of the reliability and performance. The two performance categories when deciding what hard drives to use in a storage array is: Input/Output Operations Per Second (IOPS) and sustained transfer rate. Since a Storage Area Network (SAN) uses either iSCSI or Fibre Channel (FC) protocols, there isn’t much of a change that can be made at this end. This is one of the reasons why 2.5” SAS hard drives has been becoming the better choice, in addition to the affordability, the increase in IOPS, and in sustained transfer performance, compared to the similar spec of the 3.5” SAS counterparts. So, the question becomes of how to upgrade your current SAN or server with 2.5” SAS hard drives or SSD. Given that the your current system uses SFF-8482 3.5” hard drives, that means that there is a difference in form factor, which makes transitioning to the newer storage difficult and purchasing new hardware/infrastructure with dedicated 2.5” slots can be very expensive and will have down time during the setup process. This is not the most efficient use of resources, especially when reducing costs is crucial. If the goal is to have high performing 2.5” SAS SSD/HDD to improve your system’s overall performance, it will be much more cost-effective to find a different solution. Our solution is to easily provide an upgrade enterprise converter kit for your 2.5” SAS SSD or HDD and then converting it to have the same compatibility with your current 3.5” data center, server, or any enterprise environment using a large storage arrays. This comes in the form of the MB982IP-1S-1 2.5” to 3.5” SAS HDD/SSD enterprise full metal converter. How the MB982IP-1S-1 Fits into your Current System: The MB982IP-1S-1 converter is an excellent enterprise tool to quickly perform upgrades to your current infrastructure while keeping the costs low. This is a great as a low-risk, high-reward investment for your company or your client to be more competitive and productive. When selecting the SSD or HDD to use for your application, the MB982IP-1S-1 will fit most standard 2.5” SAS drives, from 9.5mm up to 15mm height. Thus, installing into the converter is seamless with our completely screw-less design drive installation, as a DIY type application. The device also uses exact mounting holes and connector (using SFF-8482) as a standard 3.5” SAS hard drive, so there are no additional tools needed in order to upgrade. Two Tiered Storage that Greatly Benefit From the MB982IP-1S-1: In Tier 0 storage systems, data is time sensitive and needs to be at the highest possible speed, so the choice of storage is 2.5” SAS SSD’s. The benefit of using a 2.5” SAS SSD over a traditional 2.5” SAS hard drive is the excellent performance gain in IOPS in the 4K, 8K, and 16K sectors. For example, for a corporate email server, accessing the data quickly is crucial for day-to-day operations, or a negative impact on sales could be experienced. For Tier 1 storage systems, IOPS is not the main requirement, however, the overall performance of the hard drive are considered carefully. 2.5” SAS hard drives are the best for a tier 1 system because of the performance boost compared to 3.5” SAS hard drives, and larger capacity with lower cost compared to 2.5” SAS SSD’s. Some applications that would best benefit from this are media streaming or online retail server systems. The KEY Features of Using MB982IP-1S-1 for Upgrading your 3.5” SAS Hard Drive System: ‧ Minimize the down time ‧ Fast drive and system installation ‧ Performance consistency – No speed loss ‧ 3 years warranty ‧ Cost effective ‧ Quick and easy drive maintenance The MB982IP-1S-1 makes post installation issues very easy to deal with. When time is crucial for many businesses, having a hard drive failure is never a good thing. However, the design of the converter makes it very simple to replace your SSD or HDD. All that is needed is to eject the tray on your array, open the lid of the MB982IP-1S-1, replace the drive and close the lid. This can be done in 30 seconds or less. In case there is an issue with the converter itself, our 3 year warranty is complementary to each unit purchased. These additional features provide an overall good experience when working with 2.5” SAS hard drives or SSD’s. Click HERE to learn more about MB982IP-1S-1 Phone Support: +886 2 2999-3251  Email Support: marketing@cremax.com.tw ICY DOCK Taipei County, Taiwan, R.O.C. Tel : +886 2 2999-3251  Fax : +886 2 2999-3478 、+886 2 2999-8099  Sales e-mail:  roy@cremax.com.tw Support e-mail: marketing@cremax.com.tw

MB994IPO-3SB review - posted by hitechlegion.com

The Icy Dock MB994IPO-3SB opens up small form factor systems to more storage without ODD sacrifice. The MB994IPO-3SB combines two 2.5" HDD racks and a slim ODD bay in a single 5.25" bay configuration. The MB994IPO-3SB uses a full metal construction. The HDD bays support SAS 2.0 and SATA III drives. Icy Dock installed a 40mm cooling fan on the rear that uses an on/off switch and features active power technology. The fan will only run when a drive is installed...........read the full review

MB559U3S-1S review - posted by hitechlegion.com

The Icy Dock MB559U3S-1S is an ultra slim HDD enclosure equipped with USB 3.0 and e-SATA connectivity. The Icy Dock MB559U3S-1S has an aluminum frame and comes in pearl white or matte black design. Compatible with SATA3 6G 3.5-inch hard drives.........read the full review

MB994SP-4SB-1 review - posted by storagereview.com

The MB994SP-4SB-1 is Icy Dock’s latest quad-bay 5.25” bay RAID cage, successor to the MB994SP-4S we reviewed. The backplane hosts up to four 2.5" 6Gbps SATA drives and provides SATA connectivity. The MB994SP-4SB-1 represents an evolution of previous Icy Dock designs, adding a fan power switch to provide more cooling flexibility in environments that use both hard drives and SSDs as well as dropping the power input to a single connection.............read the full review