Supermicro CSE-M35T1 Mobile Rack (CSE-M35T-1B)

Pros: 1 - Inexpensive
2 - No longer have to figure out which cable is running to what card / drive in a sea of ~20 drives in my Lian-Li 343B case!Cons: Default fans suck. Go purchase some 92mm fans (I picked up Antec ones for my units) and replace them. I saw that some people complained about fan warnings, but at the worst case, if this happens, simply move the appropriate jumper over and it will ignore the 'lack of a fan'. In other words, R(t)FM ;)1 - Inexpensive
2 - No longer have to figure out which cable is running to what card / drive in a sea of ~20 drives in my Lian-Li 343B case! Default fans suck. Go purchase some 92mm fans (I picked up Antec ones for my units) and replace them. I saw that some people complained about fan warnings, but at the worst case, if this happens, simply move the appropriate jumper over and it will ignore the 'lack of a fan'. In other words, R(t)FM ;)

Pros: Works as advertisedCons: Trays do not lock and one of my trays opens a little too easily, But i would purchase it again.Works as advertised Trays do not lock and one of my trays opens a little too easily, But i would purchase it again.

Pros: Supermicro quality is outstanding. Works exactly as expectedCons: none reallySupermicro quality is outstanding. Works exactly as expected none really Pay attention to the dimensions, this unit is deeper than many others and may be hard to fit in some chassis.

Pros: - Easy to install. No case modification was needed (Lian-Li PC-A77B)
- Works as you'd expect
- Keeps drives as cool than my stock drive bays with fans even though there are 5 where just 3 wereCons: None- Easy to install. No case modification was needed (Lian-Li PC-A77B)
- Works as you'd expect
- Keeps drives as cool than my stock drive bays with fans even though there are 5 where just 3 were None I had to call tech support as the HDD activity wires didn't match the connections on my RAID controller (Adaptec 51645). Turns out I didn't need them at all as the SATA cable itself carries the necessary signal.I've got 5 Seagate ES.2 1TB SATA drives and 5 Hitachi Ultrastar 2TB SATA drives in 2 of these enclosures.

Pros: Rock Solid, easy use, looks niceCons: Loud fan, hard to install in non-server casesRock Solid, easy use, looks nice Loud fan, hard to install in non-server cases

Pros: Would be a great idea if it would fit in my case.Cons: I wish I would have read the reviews better, it does not fit in the CM Storm case without bending or grinding tabs off. Lost money due to the restocking fee to RMA it.Would be a great idea if it would fit in my case. I wish I would have read the reviews better, it does not fit in the CM Storm case without bending or grinding tabs off. Lost money due to the restocking fee to RMA it. If you have tabs sticking out to hold normal DVD drives, you will probably have to modify your case for this to fit. I was not willing to do that with my brand new case.

Pros: Fits in the 4U rack-mount chassis I chose.
Easy to install and operate.
Has its' own fan for increased cooling of drives.Cons: Not all Status and Warning Lights per bay might be usable as desired depending on your choice of RAID controller. They work differently depending on whether this is the SCSI, SAS, or SATA version of this enclosure.
Carefully read the instructions for the enclosure and your drive controller to make sure they'll both give you what you want for status/warning/failure/alarm lights.Fits in the 4U rack-mount chassis I chose.
Easy to install and operate.
Has its' own fan for increased cooling of drives. Not all Status and Warning Lights per bay might be usable as desired depending on your choice of RAID controller. They work differently depending on whether this is the SCSI, SAS, or SATA version of this enclosure.
Carefully read the instructions for the enclosure and your drive controller to make sure they'll both give you what you want for status/warning/failure/alarm lights. So far I'm satisfied with the quality and performance of this device.
This is my first attempt at using a hot-swap enclosure and SATA/SAS RAID controller. The hot-swap feature works well and the hot-spare option of my controller card also plays nice with this enclosure.
This enclosure works well for what I wanted out of it other than the warning lights on indivual bays not being able to show me when an individual drive starts having I/O problems when combined with the controller I chose.

Pros: Love this drive Bay you will not find one made any better then this one .Cons: NoneLove this drive Bay you will not find one made any better then this one . None Keeps 5 Seagate 1.5 TB 7200 rpm Drives at 91 Degrees 24 / 7

Pros: Installed well, trays slides well. Connected to the MB SATA headers and activity lights works.Cons: None so far.Installed well, trays slides well. Connected to the MB SATA headers and activity lights works. None so far. It is a real advantage to be able to upgrade and replace drives in the computer from the front. I have mine in a rack and the extra price I paid for this product makes up for having to pull stations from the rack.

Bought this unit after reading many reviews and wasn t disappointed. Solid structure. Had to replace the loud fan with a quieter one and had to fabricate rails to fit my Antec Server, but this was all expected. Another great product from supermicro

Pros: I bought 2 along with a SCSI version for my new computer. They work great, have 5 SATA plugs and work with no issues. Has a fan on the back and stays relatively coolCons: The hot swappable drive chassis are a bit weak, but ok for home use. I didn't like that they needed 2 power plugs.I bought 2 along with a SCSI version for my new computer. They work great, have 5 SATA plugs and work with no issues. Has a fan on the back and stays relatively cool The hot swappable drive chassis are a bit weak, but ok for home use. I didn't like that they needed 2 power plugs.

Pros: I have 3 of these, and I'm really happy with them. They make it a lot easier to replace drives, and they let you fit more drives into a smaller space. In addition, they provide delayed spin-up for your SATA devices. It's undocumented in the manual, but drives don't start spinning until they're scanned by the BIOS, while the same drives start spinning at power-on if they're not in the enclosure. That saves me ~30A of 12V power, which means that I can get by with a 750W power supply instead of needing 1k or something crazy like that for a 18-drive system.Cons: It's a pain to fit into any case with shelves for 5.25" devices. I've had to dremel off a couple to make it fit. That's not supermicro's fault, though.I have 3 of these, and I'm really happy with them. They make it a lot easier to replace drives, and they let you fit more drives into a smaller space. In addition, they provide delayed spin-up for your SATA devices. It's undocumented in the manual, but drives don't start spinning until they're scanned by the BIOS, while the same drives start spinning at power-on if they're not in the enclosure. That saves me ~30A of 12V power, which means that I can get by with a 750W power supply instead of needing 1k or something crazy like that for a 18-drive system. It's a pain to fit into any case with shelves for 5.25" devices. I've had to dremel off a couple to make it fit. That's not supermicro's fault, though.

Pros: fits 5 hdd in 3 5.25 spaces. hot plug with supported sata chipset. 80mm fan and front vents. hdd trays seem sturdy enough, as good as my ibm hot swap sata trays.Cons: fan blocks access to sata plugs, but is removable. like most inexpensive racks like this, does not have activity lights for standard sata drives unless sata card has activity plugs.fits 5 hdd in 3 5.25 spaces. hot plug with supported sata chipset. 80mm fan and front vents. hdd trays seem sturdy enough, as good as my ibm hot swap sata trays. fan blocks access to sata plugs, but is removable. like most inexpensive racks like this, does not have activity lights for standard sata drives unless sata card has activity plugs. easy way to jam 10 drives in a 4u rack for cheap.

Pros: My system has two RAID arrays and a single drive (7 drives total)
5 of them are in this bay, a four drive RAID array and a 74GB Raptor which I use as a swapfile and when I need to boot into WinXP32
The drive bay makes maintaining a RAID array easy without opening the case.
Lots of drives fit in a small space.Cons: I worried about heat, but does not seem to be an issue.
The fan is loud!My system has two RAID arrays and a single drive (7 drives total)
5 of them are in this bay, a four drive RAID array and a 74GB Raptor which I use as a swapfile and when I need to boot into WinXP32
The drive bay makes maintaining a RAID array easy without opening the case.
Lots of drives fit in a small space. I worried about heat, but does not seem to be an issue.
The fan is loud! Other than the loud fan, this is a great way to turn any decent sized tower into a flexible server.

Pros: Solid construction, good value and looks nice in a black mini-tower Antec case. I was even surprised to see the activity LEDs worked without having to connect the extra cables.Cons: The fan in back is a little loud but it doesn't bother me too much. I have this PC sitting downstairs anyway. The fit is a little tight for my mini-tower case but it saved me lots to not have to get a server case.Solid construction, good value and looks nice in a black mini-tower Antec case. I was even surprised to see the activity LEDs worked without having to connect the extra cables. The fan in back is a little loud but it doesn't bother me too much. I have this PC sitting downstairs anyway. The fit is a little tight for my mini-tower case but it saved me lots to not have to get a server case. I am using 4 Seagate ES.2 750s in a RAID 5 configuration.

Pros: 5-in-3, what's not to like?
Solid Supermicro quality. Great shipping package.Cons: Fan is made for server environments and doesn't have the desktop user in mind. For quiet operation with plenty of airflow replace stock fan with a Scythe KAMA FLEX SA0925FDB12L.5-in-3, what's not to like?
Solid Supermicro quality. Great shipping package. Fan is made for server environments and doesn't have the desktop user in mind. For quiet operation with plenty of airflow replace stock fan with a Scythe KAMA FLEX SA0925FDB12L. Be aware that if your case has ledges to support 5.25" drives, you will have to do some bending to get this to fit. Also be aware that the fan mount sticks out in back, and may get in the way of connecting power to your motherboard. That's easily fixed by mounting this unit into the uppermost 3 bays of your case.If you are looking to purchase a new case, I would advise against putting these into a medium tower if you plan to mount more than one. The fan mount at the back can really get in the way if your case is a med tower.I gave this 5 eggs even though one has to replace the fan. This was intended for server use, and thus the original fan is a good choice and the product shouldn't be rated down because of that.

Pros: I've had one of these for well over a year and recently bought a second. It won't be long before I guy a third. These are easily the best hot-swap bays I've ever used (and I've used quite a few).Cons: Could be cheaper, but you get what you pay for.I've had one of these for well over a year and recently bought a second. It won't be long before I guy a third. These are easily the best hot-swap bays I've ever used (and I've used quite a few). Could be cheaper, but you get what you pay for.

Pros: Modular fan assembly allows different fans to be used. Keeps drives cool even with slower (quieter) fans. Easy to use. 92mm fan (most competing 5-in-3 hot-swap backplanes seem to use 80mm or smaller fans). Can be made quiet with a different fan.Cons: Biggest issue: while the airflow design is generally good, the design does allow for some short-circuiting of air. The ideal situation is for all the airflow that the fan generates to be pulled over and across the hard drives. But if you look at the back of the unit, you can see that some of the air will be pulled through the holes (e.g. for the SATA cables, power cables, etc). Can be remedied with some taping, however.Plastic frame that holds 92mm fan in place isn't as tight as I'd like. Not a big deal.Price seems high for what it is, but reasonable compared to similar products.Modular fan assembly allows different fans to be used. Keeps drives cool even with slower (quieter) fans. Easy to use. 92mm fan (most competing 5-in-3 hot-swap backplanes seem to use 80mm or smaller fans). Can be made quiet with a different fan. Biggest issue: while the airflow design is generally good, the design does allow for some short-circuiting of air. The ideal situation is for all the airflow that the fan generates to be pulled over and across the hard drives. But if you look at the back of the unit, you can see that some of the air will be pulled through the holes (e.g. for the SATA cables, power cables, etc). Can be remedied with some taping, however.

Plastic frame that holds 92mm fan in place isn't as tight as I'd like. Not a big deal.

Price seems high for what it is, but reasonable compared to similar products. I studied all the available 5-in-3 (and 4-in-3) hot-swap SATA backplanes. This one always seemed like the nicest one, particularly because of the easily-swappable 92mm fan. I put in a quieter 92mm fan, and my drives all stay around 35 degrees Celsius. I bought two of these for the hec

Pros: works great! i recommend it for anyone that needs HDD space and swaps often. i can quickly swap drives or add drives. no more opening the case to do this!!!Cons: the plastic clip for the fan did not hold on the back of the case when i tried to install it. actually, it fit in the slot easily, but it just didn't extend to the width of the slot. kind of hard to explain i guess. either way, a small piece of velcro worked to make sure the clip wouldn't fall out of the slot.keep in mind this could have just been a small defect with the plastic mold i received.works great! i recommend it for anyone that needs HDD space and swaps often. i can quickly swap drives or add drives. no more opening the case to do this!!! the plastic clip for the fan did not hold on the back of the case when i tried to install it. actually, it fit in the slot easily, but it just didn't extend to the width of the slot. kind of hard to explain i guess. either way, a small piece of velcro worked to make sure the clip wouldn't fall out of the slot.keep in mind this could have just been a small defect with the plastic mold i received. yes, the connectors and jumpers are hard to reach, however, once you set the jumpers how you want and plug in the sata connectors, you shouldnt have to get to them again.i did all that before i put it in my case, so it wasn't really a problem for me. i am using this product on a home server and i couldn't be happier with it. the HDD activity lights work i think the extra wiring that came with the unit is for HDD fail detection, but i don't need that right now. if i try to access a drive and it failed i will figure it out pretty quick.

you might want this feature if this is for a work environment, however, i don't need it right now.

Pros: The unit I received doesn't need the activity LEDs to be hooked up to the controller card to function. The cage is solidly built from sheet steel. The drive carriers are made of steel aluminum and plastic.Cons: Fail LEDs aren't even mounted on the SATA version of this board, I pulled the backplane to check.The unit I received doesn't need the activity LEDs to be hooked up to the controller card to function. The cage is solidly built from sheet steel. The drive carriers are made of steel aluminum and plastic. Fail LEDs aren't even mounted on the SATA version of this board, I pulled the backplane to check. The fan is a little on the noisy side, to be expected for server equipment. Also, when inserting drives, don't push them completely in. You have to push them most the way in, and let the locking lever bring them in the rest of the way. Otherwise the locking lever gets stuck in the unlocked position.

Pros: This is one of the two full-height 5.25" racks that I could find that accept 5 3.5" HDDs. Most of the others only accept 4 drives. It's constructed surprisingly well for the price. I've had no issues with either of the two I've purchased.Cons: The provided fan is robust, but it's extremely loud. Also, the drive activity lights don't work with all SATA drives. With my Western Digital and Maxtor drives the lights worked properly, but not with my Hitachi drives.This is one of the two full-height 5.25" racks that I could find that accept 5 3.5" HDDs. Most of the others only accept 4 drives. It's constructed surprisingly well for the price. I've had no issues with either of the two I've purchased. The provided fan is robust, but it's extremely loud. Also, the drive activity lights don't work with all SATA drives. With my Western Digital and Maxtor drives the lights worked properly, but not with my Hitachi drives. It would be nice if the drive fail lights worked on the SATA version of the rack. Also, if anyone from Supermicro is reading this, how about putting a larger, quieter fan on the unit (or maybe the same size, but quieter)?

Pros: Seems to work fine, supports staggered spinup with newer SATA drives that need the "floating pin 11" setup. Cooling is pretty good, drives stay around 35C in use.Cons: The SATA version has no fault LEDs regardless of what the specs say. This is too bad since my controller has both fault and activity led outputs so it would have been nice to be able to use those. The fan is definitely too loud to be around people, so plan on putting it in a dedicated server room.Seems to work fine, supports staggered spinup with newer SATA drives that need the "floating pin 11" setup. Cooling is pretty good, drives stay around 35C in use. The SATA version has no fault LEDs regardless of what the specs say. This is too bad since my controller has both fault and activity led outputs so it would have been nice to be able to use those. The fan is definitely too loud to be around people, so plan on putting it in a dedicated server room.

Pros: I bought the hottest, fastest SATA drives there are. This thing keeps them ice cold.Cons: Minimal noise.I bought the hottest, fastest SATA drives there are. This thing keeps them ice cold. Minimal noise.

Pros: Had a drive Failure on a RAID50 was so nice to remove and install while system was still spitting out data. Failed in the middle of the night, alarms from device woke me up. Removed drive with failed light on and installed the spare I had on hand. I was able to go back to sleep within 5 minutes and by morning controller card had finnished initialized raid back up no problem, system was not shut down, site all intacked. NICE:)Cons: Best device I have ever bought for a case and computer. Saved time so I could get other things done (Sleep).Had a drive Failure on a RAID50 was so nice to remove and install while system was still spitting out data. Failed in the middle of the night, alarms from device woke me up. Removed drive with failed light on and installed the spare I had on hand. I was able to go back to sleep within 5 minutes and by morning controller card had finnished initialized raid back up no problem, system was not shut down, site all intacked. NICE:) Best device I have ever bought for a case and computer. Saved time so I could get other things done (Sleep). Would have had to shut down ,remove side, remove screws, remove drive, pulled cables, install cables on new drive, installed, put screws back in HD, put sides back on, booted system. I did, pushed release button, removed drive cartridge, installed new cartridge, DONE!!! and went back to sleep.Ahh, Nice zzzzzzzzzzzzz

A drive array is amust andmost of the high end servers come with something similar. Excellent drive with hot swappable option. Has backside cooling to assist in…

Excellent server upgrade from Supermicro. this great product allows you to install multiple hard drives into your server for high capacity and great…

This is an excellent product that fit perfectly in my Antec server case. So far it has been super reliable, but did crash my system when hot-plugging 4 drives…

Pros: Works great. Individual hard drive activity and fault LEDs. Put one in each of your computers for storage exchange.Cons: Not really a con, as the fans are designed this way on purpose to provide adequate cooling...Included Fans are loud and can cause space constraints in some cases, however, fans can be replaced with more quiet ones, or removed entirely if another solution is in place to draw air through the bays.Do not just remove the fans as your drives will get too hot.Works great. Individual hard drive activity and fault LEDs. Put one in each of your computers for storage exchange. Not really a con, as the fans are designed this way on purpose to provide adequate cooling...Included Fans are loud and can cause space constraints in some cases, however, fans can be replaced with more quiet ones, or removed entirely if another solution is in place to draw air through the bays.

Do not just remove the fans as your drives will get too hot. I have seen people say these bays are not "true hot swap" as you "have to reboot for the drives to be recognized".

This functionality has nothing to do with the bays. These bays are hot swap, but your SATA controller must also support hot swapping for live drive exchange.

Most SATA controllers built into motherboard do not offer this feature.

Pros: storage densityCons: 5 individual SATA connections.
no SAS expander.
fan in back is annoying. i disconnected it.storage density 5 individual SATA connections.
no SAS expander.
fan in back is annoying. i disconnected it.

Pros: Easy to install, holds more drives than other cages I have seen in the same amount of space. Looks nice when completely installed in the system. I am using software RAID in Linux so I do not care about the LEDs :-) Airflow is good, I have 5 7200RPM drives inside with no heat issues.Cons: None come to mind.Easy to install, holds more drives than other cages I have seen in the same amount of space. Looks nice when completely installed in the system. I am using software RAID in Linux so I do not care about the LEDs :-) Airflow is good, I have 5 7200RPM drives inside with no heat issues. None come to mind.

LEDs are driven by RAID card, NOT by electronics on the cage. Leads are supplied for a common-positive, individual-negative setup. Newer 3ware cards work this way. Looking at the card, attach the numbered leads to the top row of LED pins. Leftmost is zero. Details at 3ware's website, 3ware.com, article ID 12498.