DIY portable hard drive. How to build your own external hard drive

Have you purchased a new, fast solid state drive (SSD) and your old one is sitting around? Give it a new task and use it as an external data storage device. To do this, you only need a case with a SATA controller; it is available for both 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch models. The latter require a power supply, while compact drives have enough power supply via a USB port.

Labor intensity: average, costs: 600 rubles.

2 Mini NAS on the router

In all home network do you need access to the same data? To do this, you don't need expensive and bulky network attached storage (NAS) - a USB drive can do this task if it's connected to your router. Newer devices are equipped with a corresponding port.

First you need to format the USB drive from Windows OS in file system NTFS and then just connect it to the router. Moreover, the latter must have a USB port and support the corresponding functionality. Now, typing 192.168.1.1 (or similar) into your browser's address bar will take you to the router's user interface.

Go to the USB Settings | General access to the data storage device" (for TP-Link routers, for other devices the names of menu items may differ) and make sure that the disc starts.

To access data on your home network, you will only need to type an address like “\\192.168.1.1\Volume1” in Windows Explorer. A permanent connection is achieved by right-clicking on the folder to which you plan to allow access and selecting “Map network drive.”

Labor intensity: low, costs: no

3 Flash drive instead of password

A small USB flash drive also has practical applications. For example, when you log into Windows, you can unlock your computer without entering a password. To do this, you will need the Rohos Logon Key tool (1450 rubles), Predator (650 rubles) or the free USBLogon (http://www.rohos.ru/products/rohos-logon-free/).

After installation, you need to select the connected USB drive and configure security settings. After entering Windows password The flash drive is ready for use. Unfortunately, working with USBLogon is complicated by the German-language interface, but even without knowledge of German it is easy to understand.

Labor intensity: average, costs: no

4 Flash drive for emergencies

If your computer no longer works the way it should, here comes the help Bootable USB flash drive. The Sardu tool (http://www.sarducd.it/) installs up to 20 different antivirus programs, and in addition, provides various versions of Linux and other software for providing “first aid”.

> Preparation: in the left sidebar the selected software is listed by category. Check the boxes next to the required programs. We recommend choosing several antiviruses and a version of Linux (for example, Ubuntu).

> Creating a flash drive: On the right sidebar, click on the USB drive symbol. You can start creating bootable flash drive.

> Emergency use: To use a bootable flash drive in the event of an “accident”, you need to change the boot sequence from drives in BIOS Setup.

In this case, you should set the boot priority from USB to HDD. Then select the required program from the list. Don't forget to undo changes to the BIOS after "repairing" your computer.

Photo: manufacturing companies, racum/Flickr.com

One of the most simple ways giving your laptop more hard drive space or backing up all your important files without burning them to a CD or DVD is to build your own external HDD. This hard drive can be connected to any computer via a free USB port. You can easily and quickly transfer large files between computers, and also have a backup option in case something happens to your computer. This external hard The disk will work on computers running Windows control 2000/XP, OS X or Linux.

Steps

You must purchase an internal hard drive (now called HDD). The first step is to determine one of the standard physical dimensions for any hard drive. If you already have a spare HDD for this project, skip to step 2. There are basically 3 HDD sizes: 1.8", 2.5" and 3.5. 1.8" 2.5" - standard sizes for hard drives laptop. The laptop HDD can be powered by a USB cable, so there is no need for an adapter alternating current. Laptop hard drives, however, are more expensive than PC internal HDDs, so if you're not concerned about size or a different power cord, a desktop HDD may be the method to go.

Select and purchase a compatible chassis. Take into account the physical size of your hard drive, as well as its interface (ATA100, ATA133, Serial ATA150, Serial ATA II, etc.). Determine the type of connection that meets the needs of all computers that will be connected. USB2.0 is currently good standard, and it will work on any computer or laptop with free USB access. FireWire (IEEE1394) is even faster, but it is not yet common on all computers. Be sure to also compare fan noise levels (if it has a fan and whether the noise level is displayed). For a hard drive that will be running when your computer is on, a fan is a good thing to most likely have while hard disks, used primarily for backup purposes, will usually not be needed. Also check to see if there is a power switch on 3.5" cases. Without one, you will need to unplug the adapter to turn off the drive. For backup purposes this is not a big deal, but some people using their drive for secondary storage may find this annoying. when to connect and disconnect it every time you start and shut down your computers.

Unfold your case and hard drive.

Follow the instructions on how to properly open the case.

Install the hard drive with the Master setting (or Master/No Slave, if available). This jumper is located between the Molex power connector (4 large round pins) and the ATA/SATA connector. You will see 2 rows of four or five small pins and a small clamp (jumper) connected to the 2nd one. Pull out the jumper with a tool such as tweezers or a pencil and place it in the Master position if it is not already there. The diagram of the various jumpers is usually located right on the top label of the hard drive.

Connect your Molex case's power connector and ATA/SATA ribbon cable to your HDD. While it would be very difficult to accidentally plug them in reverse, take a moment to make sure the ribbon cable and power connector are properly aligned before inserting them.

Screw the hard drive to the case. 4 or more screws were supplied with the case. There will be 4 holes, 2 on each side of the HDD, and corresponding holes inside the case.

Take one last look at the inside before closing it. Make sure you don't forget to connect anything. Read your instructions (you read them too, right? :) And make sure you cover all the steps. You'll be upset opening it over and over again because you forgot to change the jumper to Master or something.

Close the case.

Connect the power cable (if necessary) and USB or FireWire cable to the drive.

USB and FireWire are plug-and-play, meaning you don't have to turn off your computer before connecting the drive. Connect the other ends of these cables to the computer and the surge protector (you are using a surge protector, right? :).

Turn on your computer if you haven't already. Open My Computer (or Computer for Windows Vista or Windows 7). These icons are most likely located on your desktop, but can also be found in the Start menu.

You should see the new device under "Devices with Removable Storage".

Right-click on it and select Format (about halfway down the list).

Format the drive with using NTFS for use on Windows (ext3 - for Linux) as a file system. For reading and writing on both Linux and Windows, use FAT32. You can give it a volume label if you want. Example: External, Secondary, Backup ( Backup) and so on. Be sure to check that Quick Format is not selected. This will allow any bad sectors to be identified and “fenced off” from any data that will be stored in the future. .

Wait for the formatting process to complete. This may take longer for larger disks.

1. Good job! You have successfully created your own external hard drive.

   • This article can also be easily applied to the process of adding a Zip Disk, CD ROM/Burner or DVD ROM/Burner. CD/DVD ROM"s/Burners will only be supported by 5.25" enclosures. This case size is special because it also supports hard drives. The zip drive is 3.5" in size, so you'll need a panel (sometimes supplied with the case, but otherwise only costs a few dollars) to fill the void around the smaller drive and secure it to the case. The drives mentioned here are all may use different ribbon cables and power connector sizes, so make sure your case is compatible with the equipment you'll be inserting.
   • If your new drive has both USB and FireWire, use only one (the fastest one compatible with your computer(s)). If you are using USB, connect the cable to the USB High Speed ​​(2.0) connector on your computer. If you don't have a High Speed ​​connector, or use it incorrectly, then it will only mean that you will transfer data more slowly between the drive and the computer.

   Warnings

   • Never strain the ribbon cable! There should be some resistance when inserting it, but if it doesn't go in, the pins may not be lined up correctly. If you decide to bend the contacts (hopefully not too many of them), it will take time to straighten them out using a pair of pliers.
   • Hard drives are very easy to damage if dropped on a hard surface. The read/write heads can "crawl" into the platter(s) and cause physical damage to the platter, rendering that space on the drive useless, as well as making the overall device quite damaged for use.
   • Keep drive movement to a minimum while it is turned on. This once again leads to unnecessary vibrations.
   • Formatting the drive as ext3 will make it unreadable on a Windows system, and formatting it as NTFS will make it "read-only" (you can't copy files to it) in Linux systems without corresponding software. FAT32 (called VFAT in Linux) will be read-write on both operating systems.
   • You should always use all 4 screws when adding a hard drive to any computer or case, and secure them tightly. High speed spinning of the hard drive and vibration can occur if the drive does not meet safety requirements. These vibrations can cause an annoying buzzing noise and even damage the drive over time.
   • Remember that when the hard drive is outside the case, it is not protected from static discharge. So try to keep it away from static discharge and their causes.
   • Make sure that your case does not have a hard drive power limit (no more than a certain number of gigabytes (GB)), or that this limit does not conflict with the power of your drive. Unfortunately, some older cases may have somewhat of a lower limit (say 132GB) and don't advertise it. Be careful! And if you try to use a larger HDD, format it to this limit or below, or you will most likely encounter sector read errors or something :(
   • Drivers are required when connecting an external hard drive (with via USB) on Windows 98 (and 98 SE)
   • Be sure to use the "Remove Hardware" icon on the taskbar before removing the drive from the USB port. Failure to do so may result in the drive not working properly.

Greetings, dear friends! Advanced users who are new to computer technology love to experiment. Sometimes from the outside it may seem that they are suffering from outright nonsense - for example, they assemble a computer in a homemade case in the form of a pentagram and hang it on the wall, or try to overclock something that cannot be overclocked by immersing an ancient slow piece of hardware in a bath of liquid nitrogen.

Today I will tell you where all this can begin. So, the topic of the publication is how to make a hard drive external storage and whether you need it.

Why is this necessary?

There are several reasons why you may need to make a portable hard drive yourself:

• Desire to save money: often buying a working stationary hard drive complete with a pocket is cheaper than an external HDD;
• There is an ownerless hard drive lying around the farm that I want to find a useful use for;
• You need to copy a large amount of data from one computer to another, but there is no way to do this using local network or the Internet;
• A 3.5” hard drive from a desktop computer must be connected to a laptop, which in most cases is physically impossible - the thickness is not suitable;
• You need to take a hard drive with important data on a business trip or vacation.

Whatever the reason, the main thing is that you can make a “fat” USB drive quickly: if you have experience, the procedure will take no more than 15 minutes, including setup.

Assembling the device

Before you “shamanize” a new portable hard drive from an old hard drive, you will need the following components:

• The hard drive itself;
• Screwdriver (usually Phillips);
• Boxing;
• Suitable USB cable.

Boxing (as well as “pocket” or “controller”) is a special device adapted for our task. There are two standard sizes - 2.5 or 3.5 inches, for existing types of hard drives. Please note that when using some models, you need to unscrew 4 screws from the back wall of the hard drive, otherwise it will not fit into the slot.

As you know, modern hard drives have 2 connectors - power and data interface (and if you don’t know, then read my publication about connectors on hard drives for computer). As a rule, pockets are designed to SATA drives different generations. I haven’t come across IDE devices yet (I doubt that they still exist in principle).

When installing a hard drive, its interfaces are connected to the corresponding slots on the pocket, which are enclosed in a single block. A USB cable is connected to the same unit, transmitting power and data from the computer.

Most models of boxes do not need to be disassembled: just open the lid and place the hard drive there. You may need to secure the hard drive in your pocket with screws. In any case, when installing the hard drive, you should hear a characteristic click, which certifies that everything is connected correctly.

Connection and setup

Don’t rush to use the resulting gadget as quickly as possible: it needs to be configured. After connecting the controller to your computer, do the following:

• Launch Disk Management (type Win+R and copy diskmgmt.msc to the line that opens;
• Find your now external hard drive in the list of devices, right-click on it and select create a new volume;
• When you launch the corresponding Wizard, select the appropriate volume parameters - drive letter, number of logical partitions, their sizes, and so on.
• Complete the procedure by clicking the “Finish” button.

But before that, you still need to set the following parameters for the new drive;

• File system – NTFS;
• The volume label is the name you specify;
• Cluster size is default;
• Formatting is fast.

After such manipulations, all data from the disk will be deleted. If you have it stored there important information, then you know what to do.

• Gembird EE2‐U3S‐2 hdd 2.5 usb 3.0 ;
• AgeStar 3UB3O8 HDD 3.5 usb 3.0 .

Introduction.
Most laptop owners sooner or later face the problem of running out of space. As a rule, laptops with screen sizes up to 15 inches inclusive do not have a free second slot for a 2.5-inch device. Therefore, owners are forced to think about either replacing the laptop itself or replacing its hard drive. After replacing the hard drive, there is always an old drive left, which can easily be turned into an external one USB drive for data transfer.
Naturally, you can purchase a mobile 2.5-inch hard drive and turn it into an external drive. Fortunately, the cost of external drives allows this. For example, at the time of writing, for a 250 GB mobile hard drive they are asking $40, and for a 500 GB device from WD they are asking only $45.
We decide on the type of hard drive.
To be fair, it should be noted that an ordinary desktop 3.5-inch hard drive can also be turned into an external drive - you just can’t call it mobile. If you have an unused 2.5 or 3.5 inch hard drive, then first of all you need to decide on the type of its interface.
Today on the market there are the following types of interface: IDE (ATA) and various SATA options. As a rule, all SATA interfaces are backward compatible with each other, and we will not dwell on their variations. The situation is completely different between IDE and SATA interfaces, which are absolutely incompatible with each other and have different connectors.

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The figure shows two hard drives with different interfaces. Hard drives have a mobile format of 2.5 inches. On the left is a hard drive with a SATA interface, on the right is a hard drive with an IDE interface.

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In our hands was a 250 GB hard drive from Western Digital Scorpio Blue series with a SATA interface. This drive was used in an Acer laptop for a long time, but its capacity became insufficient, and it was replaced with a more capacious 500 GB solution.

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Despite long-term use, the performance of the hard drive did not cause any complaints, so it was decided to use it as an external mobile drive. To do this, we had to find an external case for it, which is what we did. External case AGESTAR for 2.5 inch mobile hard drive.
Computer hardware stores offer a wide variety of external cases for 2.5-inch hard drives. Their key difference is as follows:
- body material,
- type of external port (interface),
- cost.

As a rule, stores offer various cases with a USB 2.0 interface, a much smaller number of cases with an eSATA interface, and even fewer cases with a combination of USB 2.0&eSATA. Several cases with a modern USB 3.0 interface were found on sale, but their cost exceeded the cost of the hard drive itself, so we did not consider them.

The key difference between USB 2.0 and eSATA interfaces is data transfer speed. Using the USB 2.0 interface allows for maximum compatibility, since these ports are available on all computers. A significant disadvantage of the USB 2.0 interface is its low data transfer speed, which will not allow you to unlock the full speed potential of your hard drive.

The eSATA port is more promising, but it is not widespread and is found only in expensive versions of motherboards, cases and laptops. The eSATA interface allows you to fully unleash the potential of SATA devices.

The material used can also be very different. In a simple case, it is plastic. In more expensive variations, an aluminum case with a leather cover is included.
The cost of external cases also varies. The cheapest option will cost the user $3, expensive versions will cost more than $100.

Buying a $100 case for a hard drive that costs less than $40 when new and is half the price once it's in use is, to say the least, wasteful. Therefore, for testing we were provided with a case costing a symbolic 3 dollars - AgeStar SUB2P1. Equipment and external inspection of AgeStar SUB2P1.

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We didn't expect any miracles from a device that costs three dollars, both in terms of equipment and in terms of performance. The device comes modestly packaged in a package. The front wall of the device is covered with a cardboard listing the key characteristics of the device. This includes support for 2.5-inch mobile hard drives or solid-state drives with a SATA interface, the presence of a USB 2.0 data transfer interface and various color options.
To be fair, it should be noted that our suppliers confirmed that they had not seen any other color for this case other than black.

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After opening the package, we were pleasantly surprised by the fact that the kit included an instruction manual entirely in Russian.

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The case is completely made of plastic. There are paper stickers on the front wall indicating the model, which will be erased in any case, so we recommend immediately removing them from the surface of the device.

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The material used to make the case is soft black plastic, which does not smell of anything and is uniform throughout its structure.

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The covers of the device come off in two different directions, which ensures easy removal and installation of the hard drive in an external case.

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The two sides of the outer case are secured using a plastic latch made from the material of the case. Thanks to the recesses on the walls, the lids are securely fixed and spilling any glass of liquid, or leaving the device in the rain, is unlikely to lead to any problems.

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The device is designed for SATA hard drives, which we have repeatedly emphasized. Inside there are controllers with SATA ports for power and data transfer.

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Mini is soldered on the side wall USB port for data transfer and power supply of the hard drive. There is no additional port to provide power to the drive, which may cause some problems for users. With a weak power supply that underestimates the voltage along the 5 volt line, you often have to deal with problems starting the hard drive. Typically, connecting the drive directly to a port on the motherboard rather than on the case system unit, the use of quality USB cable allows you to forget about this problem.

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Sellers of computer components often, as an advantage of this or that external case, talk about the presence of a USB data cable in the kit or offer to purchase it separately if it is not there. We advise our users not to pay attention to this, since a mini-USB-USB cable, as a rule, is available in almost every family and is often supplied with mobile phones. In our case, we successfully used a stale data cable from mobile phone Nokia.

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The next step was to install the hard drive into the case. This is done quite simply - by lightly pressing. The most important thing is to first correctly rotate the hard drive according to the power and SATA data ports located in the case.

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The absence of any protruding elements on the hard drive controller circuit allows you not to worry about its rear surface when transporting and using the device.

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Some users may argue that the plastic case does not provide adequate heat dissipation from the hard drive. Naturally, external cases made of aluminum cope with this task much more effectively. At the same time, we should not forget that mobile hard drives do not have such high power consumption that they suffer from overheating, and in laptops, as a rule, they are not additionally cooled with anything.

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After completing the assembly of the device, the stage of its testing and use begins. The supply of voltage to the device is accompanied by the glow of a blue LED, which also symbolizes the user about the process of data transfer. It should be noted that not everyone will have a smooth start when starting to work with the created external drive. If the hard drive has already been used, has been formatted and partitions have been created on it, you will not have any problems getting started. It works like a regular flash drive using the Plug&Play method. But those users who purchased a new hard drive without formatting and with no partitions will have a problem that will be associated with the absence of a drive letter in the “My Computer” tab.
To do this, you need to create partitions on the hard drive and format it. This can be done through various boot disks, but it’s better not to bother and do it in the Windows operating system itself.

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To do this, you need to go to the "Control Panel" through the "Start" section, then visit the "Administration" section. In this section, select “Computer Management”, where in the “Disk Management” tab you can partition and format the newly connected external drive. After creating partitions and formatting them, you will have access to them through the “My Computer” tab and you will be able to exchange with the drive as with a regular hard drive. Test configuration.
The assembled external drive was tested both on desktop computer, based on a modern Core i7 processor and no less modern motherboard, and on an Acer Aspire 7730 laptop based on a Core 2 Duo processor. It should be noted that the performance level at two various systems turned out to be comparable.

1. Data reading speed was tested in the HD Tach 3.0.4.0 program

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It's nice to note that the external drive we assembled shows much more high level performance than the WD My Passport Essential external hard drive we previously tested. The maximum data transfer speed was 34.3 Mb/s, and the average latency was about 17.9 ms.

2. Data reading speed in HD Tune 4.5.

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In the second synthetic dough we received data similar to the previous ones, which also turned out to be slightly better than that of the official external hard drive WD My Passport Essential.

3. Write speed of 64 MB files in HD Tune 4.5.

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Testing that is closer to practice is somewhat more valuable, by recording files of 64 MB in size. In this test, we received quite expected results, which were also limited only by the capabilities of the USB 2.0 interface.
Separately, I would like to note that throughout the entire testing, the temperature of the hard drive did not exceed 35 degrees Celsius, while a similar hard drive installed in the laptop had a temperature of about 43 degrees. Therefore, worrying about the operating conditions of the hard drive in this case on the part of users will be unnecessary.

4. Download speed operating system Windows 7.

During practical testing of the loading speed of the operating system image Windows systems 7 we received results similar to other external drives with a USB 2.0 interface.

5. Assessing the drive's performance in Windows environment 7.

We tested the performance of the external drive we assembled using the Windows 7 operating system. command line you need to call the command: “winsat disk -drive g -ran -write -count 10”, where “g” is the letter of the drive being tested in the system.

From the test results it is clear that the drive we assembled received a much higher rating than the factory solution WD My Passport Essential. Conclusion.
Based on the materials in this article, it is clear that any mobile hard drive can be turned into a good external drive without any hassle. Especially for testing, we asked for the cheapest external case, costing $3. Three dollars allows you to get an excellent external drive from a mobile hard drive, at least for data storage. Not to mention the fact that the same external case makes it easier to recover data from the hard drive of “dead” laptops.

Despite the fact that many people criticize AgeStar's products for their low quality, after many years of using them I have only a positive impression of them. First of all, it is at an affordable price. Defects occur in all manufacturers, although AgeStar has a slightly higher rate than Thermaltake. But the latter has no analogue to the presented external case for three dollars and with a 6-month warranty. We award AgeStar products with a gold medal of honor for their optimal performance/price ratio.