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DrCR
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Any issue using a molex switch to turn off HDDs?

Fri Oct 30, 2020 1:22 am

I'm trying to simplify what I use to backup my venerable NAS. Right now, I basically never bother to...

Since my primary desktop is 99.9% of the time booted up into Linux, my thought is to add a hard disk drive to my desktop. And this way without fanfare I can backup the NAS by simply mounting it and rysnc/rsnapshot/whatever to the hard drive in my desktop.

Here's the thing: I would dislike the noise factor of running a HDD in my desktop, so my thought was to buy essentially a molex extension with a power switch in the middle. I can mount the switch externally, and this way I could power off the drive when I don't have the drive mounted. Sounds simple to me, but is there any gotcha I'm not considering? Of course, I'd want to be sure to not power it off when mounted...

This sort of thing:
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Aranarth
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Re: Any issue using a molex switch to turn off HDDs?

Fri Oct 30, 2020 7:21 am

You risk hdd corruption unless you shut the machine down, flip the switch, and then boot the machine back up.
If you want to do it while the machine is in operation make sure the port is hot plug enabled!

Otherwise, why not just use an SSD?

Also are your drives REALLY louder than your fans?!
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meerkt
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Re: Any issue using a molex switch to turn off HDDs?

Fri Oct 30, 2020 7:35 am

Get a 3.5/5.25" HDD drawer/bay with a power switch:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/224200235927

Make sure the SATA controller supports AHCI, for official hot-swappability.
 
Waco
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Re: Any issue using a molex switch to turn off HDDs?

Fri Oct 30, 2020 8:00 am

You could just turn it off via software.
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just brew it!
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Re: Any issue using a molex switch to turn off HDDs?

Fri Oct 30, 2020 9:19 am

Why not use a proper external enclosure or drive dock?
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K-L-Waster
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Re: Any issue using a molex switch to turn off HDDs?

Fri Oct 30, 2020 10:23 am

just brew it! wrote:
Why not use a proper external enclosure or drive dock?


My thoughts exactly. There are loads of inexpensive options for this that you don't have to jury rig -- which means you don't have to worry about your jury-rigging causing problems.
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DrCR
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Re: Any issue using a molex switch to turn off HDDs?

Fri Oct 30, 2020 11:27 am

Thanks guys, glad I asked. Brain blipped and didn't even think of confirming hotswapability. I actually have a really nice OCW / Oyen Digital external enclosure from yesteryear I can use, so I'll just use that. Have some spinning rust in a drawer I can use rather than paying out new money for an SSD.

Aranarth wrote:
Also are your drives REALLY louder than your fans?!

Significantly so. I'm of the now bygone SPCR crowd.
Last edited by DrCR on Fri Oct 30, 2020 11:32 am, edited 1 time in total.
 
Flying Fox
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Re: Any issue using a molex switch to turn off HDDs?

Fri Oct 30, 2020 11:28 am

Is the dock fast enough? I consider eSATA/USB3 a minimum nowadays. But being removable allow you to park the drive before powering off.
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DrCR
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Re: Any issue using a molex switch to turn off HDDs?

Fri Oct 30, 2020 11:35 am

Flying Fox wrote:
Is the dock fast enough? I consider eSATA/USB3 a minimum nowadays. But being removable allow you to park the drive before powering off.

I know for sure it has eSATA interface, amongst several others, so I'll like use that.
 
just brew it!
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Re: Any issue using a molex switch to turn off HDDs?

Fri Oct 30, 2020 2:11 pm

If it's just being used for offline backup, even USB 2.0 is "good enough". Fire it up before you go to bed, disconnect it in the morning. But eSATA/USB3 are obviously better, since they'll more than keep up with a mechanical HDD.
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DrCR
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Re: Any issue using a molex switch to turn off HDDs?

Sun Nov 01, 2020 1:50 am

just brew it! wrote:
If it's just being used for offline backup, even USB 2.0 is "good enough". Fire it up before you go to bed, disconnect it in the morning. But eSATA/USB3 are obviously better, since they'll more than keep up with a mechanical HDD.

Yeah, it's only about 1.2 TB worth of data, and little gets added to it, so honestly while USB1 would be depressing, realistically even that wouldn't be ineffectual beyond the initial rsnapshot.
 
just brew it!
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Re: Any issue using a molex switch to turn off HDDs?

Sun Nov 01, 2020 8:09 am

USB1 would be rather painful; the initial transfer would take a couple of weeks. I'm not aware of anyone selling USB1 docks/enclosures. (Were they ever a thing?)

USB2 is "good enough" if you're not in a hurry.

USB3 will help some with mechanical HDDs, and is a must if you want to take advantage of SSD speeds.
Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.
 
DrCR
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Re: Any issue using a molex switch to turn off HDDs?

Wed Nov 04, 2020 6:53 am

Crucial caveat at the end there of "beyond the initial rsnapshot". Since the enclosure has eSATA, that's what I'll be using. Ran into an interesting issue when freeing up that enclosure for backup duty though.

iirc there were USB 1 docks/enclosures, but I could be getting confused with early USB thumb drives. (I remember paying around $1/MB for my 256MB thumb drive. That was ~2003 iirc.)
 
Topinio
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Re: Any issue using a molex switch to turn off HDDs?

Wed Nov 04, 2020 4:05 pm

just brew it! wrote:
(Were they ever a thing?)

Probably?

There were certainly parallel port external hard drive enclosures for PCs in the mid to late 90's, and once usbsupp.exe / OSR 2.1 came out in '97 there was that factor of 5-6x bandwidth improvement over EPP/ECP to be had - so while I don't personally remember any USB 1.x drive enclosures, I'd be amazed if everyone making enclosures missed that USB boat for the 3-4 years until USB 2.0 came along.
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meerkt
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Re: Any issue using a molex switch to turn off HDDs?

Wed Nov 04, 2020 4:55 pm

Wikipedia says ECP was 2.5MB/sec. If that's half-duplex, it's faster than USB1's 1.5MB/sec.
 
Topinio
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Re: Any issue using a molex switch to turn off HDDs?

Fri Nov 06, 2020 5:03 am

I might be getting muddled in the fog of time here, sorry - I thought EPP came along much later than it did, and was lower bandwidth than it was. A bit more googling and reading tells me that:

  • EPP was introduced by the (laptop) 386SL chipset in 1991
  • EPP was standardised in 1994
  • EPP device bandwidth was bi-directional and 0.5 MB/s to 2 MB/s
  • USB 1 was 1996 and 1.5 MB/s
It's also possible that my personal experiences of USB and EPP hard drives (and CD drives) in the 1997-1998 timeframe skewed my perception, as the former (now?) seems to have been much faster than the latter.
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