Solid State Drives are the hottest thing in PC storage right now. Even the cheapest of SSD drives are at least twice as fast as some of the most expensive magnetic hard drives, and their access times are practically instant. Many PC enthusiasts are utilizing these fast drives as their primary boot device for a dramatic speed increase. These drives also stripe very well, as a simple RAID 0 stripe can yield 450 megabyte-per-second transfer rates, and even more.
There are several great uses for solid state drives in a modern rig or server, but the main problem is that the drives are so darn small. Because of their tiny form factor, they don’t plug-and-play into computer cases that have integrated hot-swap drive designs. There are a few adapters that allow installation of SSDs into an external 3.5-inch bay (like the iStar unit reviewed here), but they are generally not hot-swappable, and are only mountable inside floppy bays (hard drive bays have completely different mounting points).
PC case manufacturers are starting to integrate internal 2.5″ bays into their case designs, but the majority of users need some sort of adapter to mount these drives. Many Home Theater PC (HTPCs) can definitely benefit from the silence of a laptop hard drive or SSD, but many of these cases do not offer 2.5″ drive cages. One of my favorite cases, the Lian Li PC-A7110, has hot-swappable circuitry integrated into its drive bays, so an adapter has to be used to utilize SSDs inside them.
To ensure complete compatibility between a 2.5″ device like a laptop hard drive or SSD with a hot-swap bay, you need a completely compatible adapter. Some adapters that come with SSDs do not have the SATA ports in exactly the right place, which is fine for a “free floating” SSD cable lead. An adapter such as the Silverstone SDP09 uses industry standard measurements, so you can be sure that the internal drive will mount, and the adapter can use any mounting method for any standard 3.5″ device, including a hot-swap bay.
On the next page we look at the build quality and install some drives…
The Silverstone SDP09 adapter is very impressive at first glance. The cage is made from thick 0.33″ SECC steel, so it is built like a tank and very solid. The steel is coated with a shiny nickel plating, which matches many other enthusiast products, such as Zalman CPU and VGA heatsinks. On the downside, this nickel plating picks up fingerprints readily. The adapter has two sets of external mounting screw holes (left and right, and bottom of the drive), with the same spacing and threading as standard hard drives. The SATA data and power ports are placed in the exact same place as a standard hard drive, as well.
The inside of the adapter is shaped to accomodate 2.5″ devices. There are four screw holes that allow tiny drives to be secured, and a longer screwdriver (preferrably with a magnetized head) is needed to reach them. The inside of the bay also has two high-density foam pieces to keep the drive stationary. The circuit board appears to be a simple pass-through device, with data traces drawn to ensure signal synchronization.
Installing a 2.5″ device is easy. Just slide it in and mount with screws
Installing a drive is rather simple. Just plop a 2.5″ drive down and slide it into the female port of the adapter. Because the internal screw holes are slightly hidden, securing these internal screws can be a little frustrating to get the screw alignment right. Once this is done, you can mount the device into any standard drive bay or hot-swappable tray. The Lian Li PC-A7110 requires drives to have a customized aluminum pull bar with stand-off screws, which worked just fine with this adapter. The device mounted just fine in many other cases and server hot-swap trays, as well.
Adapter with Lian Li PC-A7110 mounting accessories attached
Performance was not degraded in the slightest. These bays were used to mount two Corsair Force F40 SSD drives (reviewed here) in a RAID 0 configuration, and throughput was exactly the same as with the bare drives, which exceeded 530 megabytes per second.
A Pair of Corsair Force SSDs in RAID 0 yield incredible transfer rates
There are a few other SSD adapters out there, but they are either just a metal housing and/or use cheap loose cables and power adapters. The Silverstone SDP09 is a solid integrated solution with no loose parts or wires that can snag or get in the way.
The adapter performs great, but honestly so do the adapters that come with many SSD devices. People who need this adapter are those who need absolute compatibility with standard 3.5″ drive bays, including hot-swappable drive trays, and PC enthusiasts who just can’t resist shiny nickel plating. The adapter is made from very thick steel, and will absolutely last a lifetime. If you dig the looks and the quality, then the device is worth the $15.
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