Hard Drive Brackets: Complete Guide, Plus Tips On How To Use One

By Steve George

April 20, 2016IT Equipment

Regardless of the fact whether you are using a newer or an older desktop/laptop version, if you are using it for work, you probably need an extra drive so you can take your work anywhere. Something that a lot of programmers and graphic designers are looking for is a cheap solution with the option for their projects to be transferred from home to work and vice versa. The solution is pretty simple: hard drive brackets – the most reliable and cheap solution. The reason why is because you can mount your old or buy a new hard disk and use it as external.

hard drive brackets

There are two ways you can use your hard drive brackets: either by using it as an external hard drive or as a extra movable bracket inside your laptop or PC. An external hard drive bracket can be made from various types of materials. These materials usually used are: metal, aluminium, plastic or a combo between the three of them. Generally, external hard drives connect with your computer by a USB 2.0 or 3.0 for PC and FireWalker or Thunderbolt for iMac. Nevertheless, if you have both ports, you will have to decide which port you are going to use.

When you are buying a hard disk so you can attach it to your hard drive bracket, bare in mind that they come in the form of IDE and SATA. SATA is generally the preferred system. The main difference for that is because SATA offers a lot more data cache, better overall transfer rates and Rotations per Minute.

Size matters a lot when choosing the right bracket, because there are two sizes available: 3.5 inch (used for PC) and 2.5 inch (used for laptops). The process of attaching your hard disk to the bracket is easy. The first thing to do is to see which connections are available to you. An USB is your surest way, because the USB interface is available for every computer that is made. Other options are Fireware and Thunderbolt or even a SATA port. After everything is finished, open the enclosure, place the hard drive inside, connect all the cables  and connect it to your computer. As we have dealt with the technical parts of the hard drive brackets, now let’s go through the best benefits from its usage.

  • Upgrading your storage space so that you can store more media or use it as hard drive for your video camera or embedded systems;

  • Creating additional space for your server or workstation, so that overall capacity can be increased;

  • Transferring important data between computers that aren’t connected otherwise;

  • Creating backup hard disk with different power supply from the main computer;

  • Sharing data on a wide network, usually for big IT companies;

  • Recovering data from damaged system.

After gaining the knowledge of how good a hard drive bracket can be for your workstation and home, now you can make an informed decision and be sure that you hit the right technical spot!