External Hard Drive Cases - Portable Hard Drive Enclosures

Hard drive is a computer component used for holding data. They are of two types namely; internal hard drive and external hard drive. An internal hard drive is placed inside the computer tower while an external hard drive has to be plugged externally.

Enclosures for Portable Hard Drives
External hard drives are also called portable hard drives, as they can be transferred from one system to another. No special software or settings are required for its installation. It is mainly used for data storage and data backup, but their drawback is that they are not as fast as internal hard drives. Portable hard drive enclosures are of great help as they protect the hard drive, thereby adding to its life. A portable hard drive enclosure makes it easy to transfer large amount of data to any system having USB port or firewire (fastest peripheral device).

A few companies who indulge in the development of external hard drive cases are Ultra, CoolMax, KingWin, Sabrent, Vantec, etc. An external hard drive is placed in a case which is slightly larger than the hard drive and may also contain a cooling fan. They come in different sizes like 2.5 inch, 3.5 inch and 5.25 inch. According to the size of your hard drive, you can choose one of them. The enclosures are available in plastic, aluminum, etc. They are available in variety of shapes and colors.

Some hard drive cases also come with accessories, which can aid your needs. The materials of the external hard drive case should be such that it doesn't have an adverse effect on the hard drive. They are hard, in order to protect the drive from external damages. Most of the cases are made of anti-static plastic so that it has a better grip. The cases are compact and consists of interior straps to hold the hard drive in place. It consists of zippered closure and has a slim design to fit anywhere.

Steps for Making Hard Drive Case
External hard drive case can be made at home too. Below are the steps mentioned for building an external hard drive case:

• Choose the connection that you intend to use for your external hard drive. USB 2.0 is the most opted connection since it is fast and simple.
• Decide upon the enclosure required for your hard drive. The enclosure depends on the hard drive and the way you want to connect your hard drive to the computer.
• Jumper settings indicate the way in which hard drives and other devices are supposed to be attached to a single interface . Fix the jumper settings on your hard drive.
• Many hard drives have two rows of pins next to the hard drive connection. Most of the time there is a diagrammatic representation of the configuration on the hard drive, which can help you in the configuration.
• Place the hard drive in the closure and lock it. Connect the hard drive connections with that on the closure.
• Plug the hard drive to the computer, turn on the power and check if it is working.

Thus, you can make an efficient hard drive case for your external hard drive and carry it from one place to another, without any damage or loss of data.