ICY TIP: How to Choose the Right 2.5" to 3.5" SSD / Hard Drive Converter?

How to Choose the Right 2.5" to 3.5" SSD / Hard Drive Converter?

While the price of the SSDs are getting cheaper, the performance are actually getting better. The SSD has become one of the most popular type of drive for the consumer, as well as the enterprise user. Because of that, we’ve seen various SSD converters with different price tag and look available on the market. No matter what they called, they are made for one reason – to make a 2.5” SSD/HDD fit into a 3.5” drive bay, which allows you to upgrade your system drive to an SSD without spending too much, compared to an entire system upgrade. As the original creator of the SSD converter, we want to make sure our customers know how to select a high-quality converter for their application. SSD Bracket or Converter? Many people don’t know the difference between SSD bracket and converter. The SSD Bracket is a simple rack that allows the user to mount one or two 2.5” SSDs onto a 3.5” drive bay. But when you compare this to an SSD converter, the SSD bracket provides less protection to the SSD, and is not compatible with systems that use a SATA backplane. This is because a SSD bracket does not properly line up the SATA connectors with the host (e.g. Servers, HDD Enclosures, NAS Enclosures, DVR device, Mac Pro, iMac). If you are a PC user who’s looking to upgrade the internal 3.5” hard drive to 2.5” SSD within the 3.5” drive bay, then a SSD bracket may fit your need and it would save you a few bucks in the process. On the other hand, Mac users would have to opt for a SSD converter as brackets will not allow your SSD to be properly installed to the drive bay. Moreover, if you plan to move the SSD to other system or device in the future, you might still consider the converter for maximum compatibility. Recommended ICY DOCK SSD Brackets: EZ-FIT MB990SP-B – Dual SSD bracket featuring a complete tool-less drive & case installation EZ-FIT PRO MB082SP – Full metal dual SSD bracket with tool-less SSD installation design

How do I choose the right SSD converter? 1. Compatibility – The converters are made to be compatible with 3.5” bay, slot or tray. You need to make sure the converter has everything that 3.5” HDD has, in the exact same way. This includes the side and bottom screw holes, the dimension of the converter, and placement of the SATA connector. Don’t skimp on the details - you want to make sure the screw holes threading are used with copper cylinder so it won’t wear off after few times of the installation. Check the circuit board and make sure the SATA connection is pin to pin with no missing solders. This ensures your converter will deliver full speed and signal from the SSD to the host. 2. Installation & Security – A simple installation will reduce the overall installation and maintenance time when a drive has failed. To the enterprise market, it means reduced cost to infrastructure. Most of the SSD converters on the market are designed with front install, which allows you to insert / remove the SSD from the front. The problem with the front install design is that it gets blocked easily once installed. It could get blocked by case panel, wires or HDD tray panel as well. This would force you to remove the entire converter and then remove the SSD. Also, the SSD could break through the front cover of the converter and get damage during the shipment. The ICY DOCK EZConvert SSD converter uses an US patented tool-less design that allows you remove the SSD from the top. The design also provides maximum security to the SSD with an anti-vibration kit to support the SSD internally. 3. Reliability & Warranty – As a SSD is a high performance device, you want to make sure the converter won’t slow down the SSD speed, and keep your SSD up and running for long time. The ICY DOCK EZConvert SSD converter is the first SSD converter on the market. It’s been used by Tier 1 companies such as Google & Intel and improved to keep up with the ever changing SSD market. It has complete test data with SATA 6G/s SSD and covers with 3-year warranty for your peace of mind.

So which EZConvert SSD converter I should choose? For Consumers who with the SATA SSD MB882SP-1S-2B (Cost effective) ‧ Support SATA 6Gb/s SSD (7-9.5mm thickness*) ‧ Tool-less design ‧ Universal mounting holes ‧ Built-in anti-vibration kit ‧ Airflow vents ‧ 3 year warranty * 7mm thickness drive requires manual installation. The tool-less design only works on SSDs with 9.5mm thickness. For Enterprise / Professionals with the SATA SSD MB882SP-1S-1B (Patented tool-less design) ‧ Support SATA 6Gb/s SSD (7-15mm thickness) ‧ Full metal design for intense environments ‧ USA Patented Tool-less design ‧ Universal mounting holes ‧ Built-in anti-vibration kit ‧ Airflow vents ‧ 3 year warranty MB982SP-1S (Patented tool-less design & full metal) ‧ Support SATA 6Gb/s SSD (7-15mm thickness) ‧ Full metal design for intense environments ‧ USA Patented Tool-less design ‧ Universal mounting holes ‧ Built-in anti-vibration kit ‧ Airflow vents ‧ 3 year warranty For DATA Center / Server Application (SAN, iSCSI) with SAS SSD/HDD MB982IP-1S-1 (Direct SAS connection) ‧ Support SAS 2.0 or SATA 6Gb/s SSD / HDD (7-15mm thickness) ‧ Full metal design for intense environments ‧ Direct SAS connection support up to 12Gb/s ‧ USA Patented Tool-less design ‧ Built-in anti-vibration kit ‧ Universal mounting holes ‧ Airflow vents ‧ 3 year warranty

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