Docking station vs disk enclosure reddit / selfhosted ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rafa130397 · 2023-10-24 15:23 Hey! Basically, I want to expand my storage and tidy it up (atm I have more or less like 5 disks, external and internal ones). While researching, I saw two things that may be appropiate: docking stations and disk enclosures However, I am having some trouble understanding the difference (at least for my use case) My use case is basically I have a server running ubuntu with all of my servers dockerized and just want to expand my storage and make it look nicer. No RAID, no anything. I came across two options: [https://sabrent.com/collections/docking-station/products/ds- sc4b](https://sabrent.com/collections/docking-station/products/ds- sc4b) and [https://www.terra-master.com/global/d4-300.html](https://www.terra- master.com/global/d4-300.html) Questions: Which one do you think is better for my use case? What's the difference between docking stations and disk enclosures? Are there any differences for my use case? Do you know another device that may be better or have you had any bad experience with the aforementioned devices? Thanks! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ovizii · 2023-10-24 15:43 Those two products look like they are the same kind of product. I think the terms you are struggling with are just due to bad marketing. One box attaches to your system via USB 3.2 Type-C port with 10Gbps transfer speed while the other one uses USB3.1 (5Gbps) Type-C with 5Gbps transfer speed. Apart from that, both offer you a bunch of disks, no RAID or anything like that. The sabrent solution is twice as fast but does not state anything about the maximum size of HDs it supports while terramaster states: total storage capacity up to 80TB (20TB x 4) ​ Btw. I just bought the terramaster solution you linked to during Amazon Prime day, and it cost me half the price of the sabrent solution. I also didn't need the higher speed, so I am quite happy with the product. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rafa130397 · 2023-10-24 15:47 Hey! Thanks for the response! I have some follow up questions. When you say they don’t offer RAID, what do you mean? Isn’t RAID software? Can’t I just installed/set it up later? Also, about the speeds, is that the total speed? Is it on a per drive basis? Will it make a difference for storing movies and streaming them over plex? Also, how much did you get that unit for? Thanks again! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Joniator · 2023-10-24 16:07 It will report as one device to your computer, if the controller doesn't support raid, you can not fix that by software raid. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rafa130397 · 2023-10-24 16:13 What you mean is that if (for example) I have 4 drives, and this doesn't support raid, then my drives will show as for individual drives? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- jwink3101 · 2023-10-24 17:06 > you can not fix that by software raid. I am just trying to learn. Why not? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- TheOnlyMisty · 2023-10-24 17:36 I have the Sabrent 5-Bay and it's literally just 5HDDs available by USB, no raid, little overhead (aside from the USB). All disks show as individual disks on Trurnas (will be similar for another OS) and then you can decide if you want to software raid them or use them individually. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- AndyFromMN · 2023-10-24 18:11 I have the 5-Bay Sabrent. Something I found out when I was out of town on a trip. If there's a total power failure, like power outage at home and battery backups drained, when power is restored you have to manually press the power button for each drive to turn them back on. Based on that I'd look at another enclosure if you go that route. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- kmisterk · 2023-10-24 20:29 ## Post Removed Hey, Rafa130397! Thanks for your submission on selfhosted. Your post has been removed due to a violation of the purpose of the subreddit: **Self Hosting** ## Not Self-Hosted When it comes to posts regarding applications in this subreddit, they must feature a self-hosted tool, or a tool that *can be* self-hosted, or some kind of related information, help request, or otherwise related to a tool that is something that one can self-host. If you believe this post *is in fact* relevant to /r/selfhosted, feel free to [message the mods](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to= /r/selfhosted&subject=Removed For Not Being Self- Hosted&message=[Removed Post](https://www.reddit.com/r/selfhosted/comments/17ffdjh/-/\)) with your concerns.