Introduction

Having a removable HDD is nothing new or remarkable. Those who work with servers have always made use of removable HDDs trays, so that when a disk inevitably fails in a RAID setup, it can easily be hot-swapped out and replaced, keeping the system humming along happily, without even the slightest effect on the end-user.

In recent times, removable external USB HDDs have also become quite popular, with people looking for easy-to-install extra data storage flocking to the technology. However, these drives are not ideal for installing programs to, and are not an option if one wants to install an OS. Additionally, internal, hot-swappable drive bays are more ideal for creating backups of data, and are the only real options if one wants to build a redundant HDD array.

ICYDOCK has quite a few internal HDD hot-swappable enclosures, and the MB122 SKGF and Modiflash 722 (MB722 SKGF) are only two of them. Are they worthy of your system?

Specifications

Both of the enclosures fit in a 5.25" drive bay, and can hold one 3.5" SATA-I or SATA-II HDD. Being SATA, the enclosures are ideal for being hot-swappable. They also can both be locked, physically protecting your data (provided your system is also anchored in place), and they also both have LCDs for displaying information such as drive temperature. All things considered, these enclosures provide more than just the standard stuff you'd expect.

• MB122 SKGF Specifications

• Modiflash 722 Specifications

Both are made with an aluminum body, which should help aid in heat dissipation, important when an HDD is confined to a small space. Furthermore, a small fan is also included at the rear to improve airflow and cooling.

After our previous experience with ICYDOCK's products, I was glad to see that these enclosures were shipped to us well-packaged, double-boxed and all. The Modiflash's box, which is the bigger one, had the unit protected by foam caps but the MB122 did not; the box simply fit around it. It should be safe as long as it's shipped in another box with foam. Looking at both of the enclosures, you can see that they're pretty much identical in size, and the main difference lies in the front faceplate.

The enclosures.

Side-by-side .

The MB122.