PC Hardware in a Nutshell, 3rd Edition

Frame/Carrier-Based Removable Hard Disk Drives

Frame/carrier-based systems are drive-bay adapters that convert a 3.5-inch hard disk drive into a removable drive. These products comprise a drive carrier into which a standard hard drive is permanently installed, and a receiving frame that installs in a standard 5.25-inch drive bay and accepts the drive carrier. You can purchase additional receiving frames separately if you need to move data between systems. Similarly, you can buy drive carriers separately if you need to use multiple hard drives in one system. Figure 8-1 shows an assembled frame/carrier unit.

Figure 8-1. StorCase Data Express DE-100 frame, with carrier partially inserted

Frame/carrier removable systems are an excellent choice for removable storage. They provide the capacity and performance of a standard hard drive because they use a standard hard drive. There are no compatibility or configuration issues, again because they use standard hard drives, which the computer recognizes as such.