You can't buy this! Affordable Custom 2.5 inch SATA SSD/HDD 4 Bay Direct Attached Drive Enclosure

I have always struggled with keeping my data needs to a minimum, typical case of a Data Hoarder! One after another, and before you know it, you have a lot of drives that are hard to manage, we all have been there. I was trying to find a good solution for consolidating some of my most used drives into a single enclosure, but I couldn't find a solution that worked well for me. In this video, I build a custom HDD/SSD drive enclosure that you can recreate very easily if you are in the same boat.
Some of the items I used were my old parts, but here is a list of comparably priced products that are available on Amazon,
SATA Cage: www.amazon.com/dp/B0BR5RBCMY
SATA Cables: www.amazon.com/dp/B01I9JBMUA
NVME Enclosure: www.amazon.com/dp/B08LYQPRPJ
Pico PSU: www.amazon.com/dp/B08F57GKCL
PSU Jumper: www.amazon.com/dp/B07LGRFMDP
Aluminum Plates: www.amazon.com/dp/B09JF1MSJS
DC Adapter: www.amazon.com/dp/B0852HX9HV
NVME to SATA: www.amazon.com/dp/B09MQKW6DP
For rest of the aesthetic parts, one can choose whatever they want. Hope this helps!
Update on USB to NVME Enclosures
It was brought to my attention in the comments that most of the USB to NVME enclosures don't tunnel PCIE traffic so they will not work for this, unless it's USB 4.0 that can support PCIE. However, it works well with Thunderbolt ones like I have done here. Bottom line is that the cost may go up a little bit once we replace the USB enclosure with a thunderbolt one, but we get 40 G speeds which is a welcome tradeoff I guess. Sorry about the confusion in the video, please make sure to check for this if you are planning a similar build.
Giveaway Details
Please comment on the video and subscribe to my channel to be included in the giveaway. I will reach out to you in the comments and ask for further details for shipping.
Music Credits
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Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
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#DataStorageSolutions #DIYTechProjects #PortableStorage #CustomEnclosureBuild #TravelTech #HomeServerSetup #SATAEnclosure #NVMEtoUSB #PicoPSU #StorageTechTips #DIYNAS #SSDStorage #TechDIY #DataManagement #GadgetHacks

[@LatticeDensity]

## Update on USB to NVME Enclosures It was brought to my attention in the comments that most of the USB to NVME enclosures don't tunnel PCIE traffic so they will not work for this, unless it's USB 4.0 that can support PCIE. However, it works well with Thunderbolt ones like I have done here. Bottom line is that the cost may go up a little bit once we replace the USB enclosure with a thunderbolt one, but we get 40 G speeds which is a welcome tradeoff I guess. Sorry about the confusion in the video, please make sure to check for this if you are planning a similar build and make sure you don't waste your money by choosing a wrong enclosure. Thanks for all your support!

[@2pack4norbi]

For a long time i was searching for this kind of solution. Thx for the video. :)

[@jeremiahsas]

I love this, I have the same drive cage and it doesn’t fit in my new server chassis, so I want to repurpose it. Thanks for sharing!

[@LatticeDensity]

Yeah it's a pretty good use for something like this. The cage is the biggest expense here, so repurposing it makes it even more affordable 👍🏼

[@ericblenner-hassett3945]

Since the goal is low cost and functionality, you might want to look into single board omputers such as the Orange Pi Zero. Low cost, might fit into the existing case and add wifi/ethernet for a NAS and only need open source software to boot from.

[@LatticeDensity]

Yeah, that is exactly my next plan for this setup, I mentioned it towards the end of the video. This one, however was about just a direct attached storage without any compute module attached to it. Also, I use higher end SBCs like Latte Panda Sigmas for some of my projects so I will probably end up using those which aren't especially "affordable" so 😅

[@JamesTenniswood]

Not very quick, I'd want 2.5gbe these days

[@yesterdaysjam2405]

Love this. I wanted to use one of those enclosures as well but couldn't figure out how to power it. Thanks for the ideas. Also that keyboard gadget giveaway looks good, would be interested in it. 😂

[@LatticeDensity]

Thanks for your comment! Please do try it out, let me know how it went. Also, as one of the comments pointed out, some of the USB based enclosures may not work as they don't pass PCIE traffic, so may need to test more on that. I will update with my findings here when I get a chance to test it out.

[@yesterdaysjam2405]

​@LatticeDensity I have a spare ATX PSU and empty NVME enclosure that I might try and do this with. Just need to buy the power switch and the NVME-SATA adapter.

[@LatticeDensity]

Hey @yesterdaysjam2405 ! Looks like your channel came up at the top for being interested in the giveaway, congratulations! I tried reaching out to you over email under your user id but the email bounced. Please send me an email at [e-mail] to discuss about shipping details :)

[@JamesTenniswood]

Great idea, nicely made video ❤

[@LatticeDensity]

Thanks!

[@sheldonkupa9120]

Awesome project!

[@LatticeDensity]

Thank you!

[@user-pn9mw2fd9g]

I want a small portable 16+ drive SATA enclosure, to run off a standard LSI chip HBA, maybe via Zima Blade or a SFF Mini-ITX mini-PC. Check out Icy Dock's 6-bay hotswap, fits in a 5.25" bay. Need a chassis cage for three such bays stacked, no need for mobo yes Pico PSU, and the mini-SAS cabling connectors.

[@ShawnPark]

Very cool. Yes, please post links to the parts. 😎

[@LatticeDensity]

Some of the items I used were my old parts, but here is a list of comparably priced products that are available on Amazon, SATA Cage: www.amazon.com/dp/B0BR5RBCMY SATA Cables: www.amazon.com/dp/B01I9JBMUA NVME Enclosure: www.amazon.com/dp/B07MNFH1PX Pico PSU: www.amazon.com/dp/B08F57GKCL PSU Jumper: www.amazon.com/dp/B07LGRFMDP Aluminum Plates: www.amazon.com/dp/B09JF1MSJS DC Adapter: www.amazon.com/dp/B0852HX9HV NVME to SATA: www.amazon.com/dp/B09MQKW6DP For rest of the aesthetic parts, one can choose whatever they want. Hope this helps!

[@SB-qm5wg]

Wow, you made your own case. That's really cool. Make a video on that.

[@LatticeDensity]

Thanks! I am trying, will stay away from 3D printing as long as I can but it needs a lot of manual effort and hard to give good finish. But it's fun to create 🤘🏻

[@MaximeDeClercq]

Wow, looks very interesting. I'm very curious how well it works with a ProxMox cluster. Thanks for doing the giveaway!

[@LatticeDensity]

It should work equally well or better with proxmox as typically proxmox is much more efficient than TrueNAS to make sure it supports both ARM and x86, where TrueNAS only does x86. Thanks for the comment!

[@fwiler]

Power for external diy storage solutions has always been an issue, as no one makes a power supply just for hard drives. If you go sata ssd then you only need 5v which makes it easier.

[@LatticeDensity]

Yeah💯, any 2.5 inch drives needs 5v, but it's always safe to have the full SATA protocol delivered as we cannot know what the onboard pcb inside the drive may be doing. But yeah you are right, it's a very unique use case which probably doesn't make for a good business case which is why no-one seems to make them. But in my experience, these Pico PSUs are the most optimal solution you can get, pretty much

[@krisclem8290]

Great Idea, looks like a cheaper and possibly more power efficient.

[@LatticeDensity]

Yeah, most importantly, it's an excuse to build one more thing DIY 😛

[@user-kg6uj6ji5p]

There a cad for NAS cases with support for 6 x 2.5inch drive. However it uses smaller motherboard need to stripe from industrial router pc from aliexpress

[@LatticeDensity]

Staying away from CAD for now 🥹

[@Dreadylock9170]

nice video very informing. i was working on something like it except i needed a raspberry pi to act like a NAS server and cloud machine , i designed a 3d printable case but i am having problems trying to power everything (4 sata SSD and 4 nvme drives all in USB enclosures)

[@LatticeDensity]

Yeah, arranging the power of all that is the key

[@asa_1479]

are you sure you can use a USB to nvme adapter with that sata m.2 card? Thunderbolt does indeed get a pci-e signal, but USB doesn.t Those USB > NVME really only read the drive and serve the data to you. At least update on that beacuse people can and likely will waste money on that

[@LatticeDensity]

Yeah it was pointed out in another comment as well. I didn't get a chance to test that earlier, will update that information soon in description and pinned comments after I test thanks!

[@Phoeliz]

i'm curious about the enclosure. is the alu plate cut or bent to the shape? if the alu plate is cut, what is the black piece that connects them together?

[@LatticeDensity]

You can do either, I intended to bent it first, then I ended up snapping it into 3 pieces. I am holding them together with the black corner guard pieces (www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CHYJSBQ5) along with some metal glue. Hope this helps.

[@shilezi]

interesting... curious to see how the nas convertion will turn out..

[@LatticeDensity]

Yeah, still waiting on some parts for that build ha ha

[@BiggerbyteNet]

Awesome video! Really look forward to seeing how you turn this into a NAS. Definitely interested in the giveaway :) Subscribed!

[@LatticeDensity]

Thanks! Really appreciate your comment, noted for the giveaway 👍🏼

[@Hamza141]

Would have liked to see the links to the parts used in the description or the comments

[@LatticeDensity]

Yeah, I just pinned a comment with all the parts, thanks!

[@mahade_hasan999]

best of luck🖥️🖥️

[@LatticeDensity]

Thanks!

[@mahade_hasan999]

The giveway is intereating...Hope it gets to whoever needs it.

[@LatticeDensity]

Thanks! Yeah I hope that too 👍🏼

[@liftopiftoc5913]

only ugreen sells good converters and cases here. Others are cheap chinese that heat or imported with 4x price.

[@LatticeDensity]

Yeah, their new NAS lineup is pretty amazing and selling like hotcakes on Kickstarter 😄But even they don't have a 4 bay enclosure though

[@caspersmith7112]

nice waiting for nas

[@LatticeDensity]

I am waiting for some parts 😒

[@remainsmemories626]

3:28 are you REALLY sure? Those usb-ssd adapters work it a different way than thunderbolt ones, USB ones are drive controllers, dedicated to work with PCIE disk drives, while thunderbolt ones are just thunderbolt to PCIE adapters, where any PCIE device can be connected (diy EGPU docks can be built using ones)

[@LatticeDensity]

That is interesting! Now that I think, USB won't be most likely passing PCIE traffic unless it's USB 4.0 enabled. To be honest, I didn't get a chance to test out the USB based ones as I ended up using the Thunderbolt. I have all my NVME to SATA and other expansion cards tied up in other builds, but should be able to test that out soon. I will update my findings here in a pinned comment for correction. Thanks for pointing out, really appreciate it !

[@empedance1933]

Might be worth a shot, I think the sabrent drives can read m.2 SATA drives... Unless those still use a PCIE lane instead or something unusual

[@LatticeDensity]

Yeah I don't have an extra adapter to test right now, but will get one soon and see how it goes. I am actually super interested to find out 😄 These enclosure manufacturers don't share any spec sheets so very difficult to understand on paper.

[@StanisawSwierczynski]

test speed?

[@LatticeDensity]

~400 for SSDs, ~120 for Disk Drives in JBOD setup

[@natarem]

I wouldn't trust that M2 to SATA expansion board to be reliable or fast. In my experience those sorts of things are janky AF. But cool idea.

[@LatticeDensity]

Interesting! I actually haven't had any issues, maybe it's a quality control issue as these aren't to be found from any reputable brands yet 😏

[@saionni]

OK but you cant use RAID

[@LatticeDensity]

Yeah that's true for hardware raid, and it's the same in any enclosure that you can buy. One can always use software raid which is more common these days as hardware raid is controller dependent and can mess things up beyond recovery at times.

[@MinifigNewsguy]

I don’t like thunderbolt…. Clearly you like third rate tech! #deathtousb