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COMMUNITY : FORUMS : BURNING QUESTIONS


Is it insane or is it possible? IDE + USB connection

One thing about being older is that you stop being afraid to ask "stupid" questions. So: Is it possible to connect ribbon cables to USB cables - this in an effort to get cheapo backup hard drive space. I am imagining a bank of old hard drives becoming a ridiculous chain of space. Be nice, now.

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29
westfw says: Oct 16, 2008. 2:58 PM
My plan for cheap huge backup:
At that point you've spent about $150, and you've got a 7-bay USB disk assembly plus a bunch of extra power supplies. That's pretty good considering the price that multi-drive external cases normally sell for.
Of course it's "dumb" - fully populate it with leftover (or new) disk drives and plug it into your USB port, and you'll see 7 separate drives. But I think I can live with that...
4
brandegor (author) in reply to westfwOct 17, 2008. 6:25 AM
You, my friend, get it! Of course it's ridiculous - that's the point ... I have the hub, the pc case and power supply, so I just need the newegg adapters and off we go. I'll do it up as an instructable and see how many fires I can start. Thanks, westw. You rock.
29
westfw in reply to brandegorOct 17, 2008. 7:44 AM
For added flexibility, put some of the adaptors on Removeable disk trays and top the box off with a SATA bare-drive dock

I used newegg for the examples, cause they seem to have everything and they're pretty reputable, but the components are available elsewhere. I got a
universal adaptor at Microcenter and trays from Computer Geeks
4
brandegor (author) in reply to westfwOct 19, 2008. 6:36 AM
Thanks again, nice person. This should make a fun instructable. A-Z.
its a lion says: Oct 17, 2008. 7:57 AM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812232002
Maybe that?
4
brandegor (author) says: Oct 16, 2008. 1:17 PM
Yep - been pricing them all day. Cheap being the key ...
3
NachoMahma says: Oct 16, 2008. 12:09 PM
. You can't just splice a couple of cables together. Most of the external USB drive enclosures that I've seen have a circuit board that translates IDE <-> USB.
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