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Number   :  4213
Date     :  2003-04-05
Author   :  james sadler
Subject  :  Re: A thought on the Mobil-Rack (disk tray)
Size(KB) :  3


 I also use the mobile racks. Mine are about
30 months old and I have had no problems at all. Mine
are so generic that they are devoid of any clue as to
who made them other than the fact that they were made
in China. But I do agree that USB2 is a better way to
go at this point in time. Perhaps a CD-RW that runs on
external USB2 is the best backup for the average PC
user. Burning to CD-RW disks for frequent backups
while keeping CD-R backups at certain points in the
stream is a good idea to me. By doing it this way a
separate set of backups can easily be kept off site.
And I eagerly await the day when somebody decides to
make pull out drive trays to fit an external USB2
inclosure.
--- Kan Yabumoto  wrote:
> 
> Many months ago, I started to use disk trays
> following
> someone's suggestion in this group (I like the
> "Mobil Rack" brand). I also recommended it to a
> friend of mine and he started to use a disk tray to
> go between his home and his work. With a carefully-
> written backup/sync batch files, he was quite happy
> for some time. But, later he told me that he
> stopped
> using the disk tray. His explanation was that after
> a few months, the connection started to become
> unreliable.
> After all, the Centronics (50-pin) connector is
> probably
> not designed to withstand the very frequent
> in-and-out
> motions. It may be possible that the particular
> connector
> parts that the manufacturer uses is not the best
> kind
> (the whole Mobil Rack sells for $12 or so).
> 
> I thought I was OK because the frequency of In and
> Out
> that I perform is not that many. But even for my
> relatively infrequent swapping operations, I
> sometimes
> get frustrated by finding out that the system does
> not
> boot properly ---- usually, re-seating the tray
> solves
> the problem. I still recommend to people who has
> needs to swap disks from time to time. But, I now
> believe doing it twice a day on a regular basis
> like my friend may eventually wears out the
> contacts.
> 
> 
> For backing up, the USB-disk seems a lot better
> solution than disk tray for a few reasons.
> 
> 1. hot-connection (you can plug in and out without
> a reboot).
> 
> 2. FAST!!! (if your motherboard does not support
> USB 2.0, it is definitely a worthwhile
> investment
> with $20 USB interface card).
> 
> 3. You need not install the tray bay (the
> stationary
> part) to the computer.
> 
> 
> My USB-disk (of 5400 RPM) performs appreciably
> faster
> than my internal IDE disk (of 7200 rpm).
> 
> 
> --------------------------------------------------
> I bought my external USB-enclosure from
> 
> http://www.cooldrives.com/
> 
> I bought a PCI USB-2.0 Interface card for $17.97
> and an external enclosure for $49.95 both of
> which
> are still there at their web site. I'm ready to
> order a few more boxes. Since this outfit's
> phone
> support is pretty bad, I suggest you make your
> on-line order very carefully. For their very
> low-profit margin operation, I can't blame them.
> They shipped the merchandises amazingly fast.
> 
> --------------------------------------------------
> 
> Kan Yabumoto
>
=========================================================
> J. Merrill wrote:
> 
> >
> 
> 
> >The one thing that I
> >might suggest to you is that when you use pull out
> >drive trays you will need more than one backup and
> >more than one backup strategy.
> 
> 
> 
> 


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