If you have an extra hard drive and want to use it for additional storage as an external hard drive, you have to get it a case. External hard drive cases are primarily used to protect your hard drive from the elements especially considering that you will be using it outside of your CPU's enclosed environment. Before buying a hard drive case, there are a few things you should be aware of in order to choose the right one for your drive. First, you have to determine if the drive you have lying around is from a desktop or a laptop. This simple detail is important because you need to have a case that will fit your hard drive's size.
Next, you should know how fast the drive's rotation speed is. Usually, you can find this on the drive itself or you can search for this value online. This is important because the higher the rotation number, the more cooling is required. Also, if you have a faster drive, you might need additional power for it to work. If this is the case, you might need to plug it into a wall outlet instead of a USB port. Therefore, you have to find a case that will support this option.
You should also know whether your drive uses the SATA interface or the PATA interface. As you may already be aware of, these two connection interfaces are very different and you do not want to end up buying something which is not of any use to you. Although there are some cases that offer both interfaces, they are generally more expensive than one which only supports a particular interface.
Connectivity is also another issue you need to be conscious of. Check to see if the computer you want to run the drive on uses USB ports or FireWire ports for connecting to the drive. USB is typically the more common and popular option in terms of connectivity. Nevertheless, if you have to transfer a large amount of data, a FireWire connection is an excellent option. To get the best of both worlds, find a case that has these two options.
Cooling is an important factor to consider when choosing an external case. The heat that is generated by a drive can actually damage the drive if it goes beyond what it can sufficiently tolerate. To avoid damaging your drive, buy a case that has a cooling fan to keep your drive safe. Baseline values for a drive needing cooling fans are those that spin faster than 5,400 rpm for a 3.5 inch drive and 4,200 rpm for a 2.5 inch drive. These are a few of the things that you should know before buying an external hard drive case. If you keep these things in mind, you should end up making the right choice when you go to purchase an external case.