Storage

Vantec EZ-Swap 2 Hot-Swap HDD Bay Review

There are two different kinds of users that will use this product: an enthusiast that wants to boot off seperate drives easily, and a server user. An enthusiast who has ever had to move a large amount of data around a few different computer systems can definitely appreciate the usefulness of removable hard drive racks. A user can also have different versions of Windows, or have seprate drives to switch between Linux and Windows. For this application, a user will need one full kit plus an additional drive insert. You will need two complete kits if you want to easily share a single drive between two computers.

This is also a good upgrade for a server chasis that does not include hot-swappable drives (like the I-Star D-300 chassis reviewed here). Users will need at least two for a RAID setup, which will take up two 5.25″ bays. If you have a RAID array with 3 drives, then I would recommend looking for another product that can easily squeeze 3 hard drives into two drive bays.

This is an excellent solution for a user that wants to easily boot between seperate operating systems, share drives between computers, and is a good solution for RAID arrays using two hard drives.

REPORT CARD : Vantec EZ-Swap 2 SATA Removable Hard Drive
category rating comments
Quality 4 Well machined aluminum is high quality and slides effortlessly. Drives fit into the compartment like a glove. A sturdier locking mechanism would have warranted a 5 rating.
Innovation 4 A good looking drive bay that works well. Unfortunately the activity lights are driven from the drive controller and may not reflect individual drive activity in a RAID setup.
Performance 5 No degredation in performance while the fan keeps the drive cooler than if it were standalone.
Installation 5 Simple drive installation makes for simple and convenient drive swapping.
Value 3 $30 is a good price for a SATA drive bay like this, but I wouldn’t pay much more than that. Most users will need at least two.
FINAL VERDICT: 4 out of 5 stars
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