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Build a Premium and Hot-Swappable Gaming or Media Storage Tower Case Using the FlexCage Tray-Less HDD Cage
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When looking at an enthusiast tower, server, or media case that are usually $200 or more such as the Corsair 900D, NZXT SWITCH 810, Cooler Master Storm Stryker or HAF X, it has almost everything that you could ask as a premium enthusiast case. These types of cases are built very well with excellent craftsmanship and generally focus on ensuring your core components of the CPU, GPU, and motherboard are cooled with plenty of options for overclocking. You may also see that in these full tower cases, your storage section at the very least is screw-less and removable with some sort of basic cooling solution.
When you compare how much time is spent designing your storage capability, it’s not on the same level of sophistication as with other components in your build. It lacks the flexibility or additional features such as hot swap or power management that make it truly an enthusiast case. The good thing is that many of the full or mid tower cases come with multiple 5.25” device bays, which would allow to expand with more hard drives by way of hot swappable HDD cages.
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Why Use a Tray-less Configuration?
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There are trays or tray-less models that are usually available and both also tend to save you some space. Of the two options, it’s generally more convenient to have tray-less HDD cages without going through drive screws to mount your hard drives with to quickly hot swap or replace drives. Within a home setting, tray-less is the way to go for the most part. From there it is about finding the right product that suits your needs and that can handle any system configuration thrown at it. The FlexCage HDD Cage series uses ideas from user feedback that makes it unique to other HDD cages while providing maximum performance, flexibility, and security of a hard drive. Let’s take a look at what it has to offer.
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The ICY DOCK ToughArmor Series
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The FlexCage series focuses on maximizing storage density, while minimizing the use of 5.25” bays as possible. For example, the FlexCage MB975SP-B uses only 3 x 5.25” bay and fits 5 x 3.5” SATA hard drives. To complement the device, the FlexCage series uses features that focus on the user experience: Elegant plug & play Tray-less design, replaceable 80mm cooling fan, 3 speed fan control with Smart Cooling Technology, and full power management of your drive by use individual power buttons to improve the lifespan when not used. Given the large density of possible drive storage, it can be used in consumer, enthusiast, and system integrator systems that hot swap drives frequently or that wants to expand their current system if it lacks the capabilities to hot swap. The FlexCage series is compatible with most gaming / media / server computer cases, and it is perfect for file server application such as unRAID, Windows home server and others.
Note: With some computer cases, the 5.25” bays that use tabs may interfere with the installation process of the device due to design space limitations. You may need to modify your case to properly install the HDD cage. However, this is not limited to ICY DOCK cages.
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3 Bay Solution (3 x 3.5” SATA hard drives in 2 x 5.25” device bays)
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Key Features:
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- Fits 3 x 3.5” SATA III HDD into 2 x 5.25” Device Bays.
- Supports SATA 3 (6 Gb/s) hard drives.
- SuperSpeed USB 3.0 hub built into front of device for performance and easy access.
- Active Power Technology+ – cooling fan and drive only powers up when the child proof buttons are pressed.
- Flex Fit Design – accommodates different 5.25” tab lengths for different type of cases.
- Two 4 pin to 15 pin adapter cable included for 15 pin SATA power ports.
- Multi-locking door latches to prevent accidental drive ejection.
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Key Features:
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- Fits 3 x 3.5” SATA HDD into 2 x 5.25” Device Bays
- Support SATA 3 (6 Gb/s) hard drive.
- Commercially designed for servers & rackmounts.
- Two 4 pin to 15 pin adapter cable included for 15 pin SATA power ports.
- Multi-locking door latches to prevent accidental drive ejection.
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4 Bay Solution (4 x 3.5” SATA hard drives in 3 x 5.25” device bays)
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Key Features:
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- Fits 4 x 3.5” SATA III HDD into 3 x 5.25” Device Bays.
- Supports SATA 3 (6 Gb/s) hard drives.
- SuperSpeed USB 3.0 hub built into front of device for performance and easy access.
- Active Power Technology+ – cooling fan and drive only powers up when the child proof buttons are pressed.
- Multi-locking door latches to prevent accidental drive ejection.
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Key Features:
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- Fits 4 x 3.5” SATA HDD into 3 x 5.25” Device Bays
- Support SATA 3 (6 Gb/s) hard drive.
- Front side USB and eSATA ports for convenient external storage connections.
- Multi-locking door latches to prevent accidental drive ejection.
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5 Bay Solution (5 x 3.5” SATA hard drives in 3 x 5.25” device bays)
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Key Features:
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- Fits 5 x 3.5” SATA III HDD into 3 x 5.25” Device Bays.
- Ultimate compact and space saving design to fit multiple drives.
- Designed for consumers & enthusiasts gaming / media / server computer cases and servers.
- Elegant full aluminum housing for durability and heat dissipation.
- Active Power Technology+ – cooling fan and drive only powers up when the power buttons are pressed.
- Multi-locking door latches to prevent accidental drive ejection.
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