Does your WHS have hot-swap bays? And, do you have any HD’s that you use for backup’s that you then remove for storage elsewhere? How do you store those bare drives once you remove them? Or perhaps, I should ask, how ghetto is your storage method?
The reason I ask is I have this dilemma that I have ignored for quite some time. I have 3 bare drives that I have 3 OS’s on. Windows 2000, Windows XP Home, and Vista Business 32-bit that I use for testing Crystalfontz LCD’s and their associated software CrystalControl2. If I need to do some testing, I simply shut my WHS machine down, pull the WHS boot disk and replace it with one of the other boot disks. Instant presto-chango. OK, I know you virtualization dudes are going to raise your eyebrows and give me the Evil Eye. But since I do not need these OS’s very often (at the moment), I prefer to simply swap out HD’s.
So, what are the ghetto storage solutions? Here is my list:
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- ”I do not have extra HD’s. They are all in use!” Obviously, this is not a ghetto solution, but you can leave now. I’m wasting your time!
- “I don’t have bare drives. Mine are all in external cases.” Again, not a ghetto solution, but OK, you can leave also.
- “Storage? Just throw them on a shelf.” And hope they still work over time!
- “The little anti-static bag they come in.” Kool! A step up from nothing.
- “The original retail box the HD came in” OK, if you bought a retail HD. Actually, I do have a couple that I am currently using. Works, but elegant? Space saving? Not quite.
- “A soft case used to store external HD’s.” Expensive and really not quite that elegant.
- “A hard body case.” Ah, yes. Indestructible! Elegant? Perhaps. Space saving? Not. Expensive? To the max.
For various reasons, the solutions above either did not apply or I did not like.
One of the forums that I peruse is the [H]ardforum. Recently, I came across a post which had a few blurbs about this topic. So off I went searching for HD storage ideas. Using “hard drive case storage” gave me lots and lots of external case hits. This hit also came back. It took me about 10 seconds to decide that the simple case at the top would be perfect, simple but elegant! But 6 bucks (plus shipping)! Forget it, I’m a cheap b**tard! The comment, “You can get plastic storage cases for hard drives, they look like vcr boxes.”, on that [H]ard post gave me an idea, though. I do have a ton of VHS cases around here. Not the “cheap” boxes, the real nice cases that VHS movies came in. So I got a couple out and tried them out.
They worked perfectly! HD’s are almost identical in size to a VHS tape, just a bit shorter. The cases should be naturally anti-static since VHS tapes do not respond well to static, either. And since HD’s are shorter than a VHS tape, there is enough room to drop in one of those little silica gel packets that are shipped with most electronic equipment.
So if you have any old VHS movies laying around gathering dust, it is time to find a better use for them. It worked for me. Simple, but elegant! Of course, you may not have any these cases laying around. My suggestion is to go down to your local movie rental store. I’m sure they a few old VHS movies that they love to unload on you. And probably cheaper than the 6 bucks (plus shipping) alternative above.
To round out the “simple, but elegant” theme, I needed to create a sleeve template to identify these HD’s. I did my usual Internet search, this time for “vhs tape template”. One hit came back giving me the exact dimensions for a VHS box sleeve. I fired up Word and created a perfect template using tables.
Attached to this post is that template. I have also attached a template that I created a loooong time ago for CD/DVD jewel cases, for those who are looking for an elegant method of labeling those CD/DVD backups you may have lying around.
Which now leads me to one question: Did I miss any solutions? Let me know. I might just like your idea better.
July 26th, 2008 at 9:24 am
I never bought VHS videos, I only ever started buying DVDs…
and I never have spare HDDs anyway! (I tend to use them all) (or they wind up in an external case)
At work I couldn’t care less, and just stick em on the shelf.
July 26th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
Nice idea, but… VHS tape is sensitve to magnetic fields but not static discharge. I doubt that VHS cases are anti-static, in fact they may be quite the opposite. Being plastic, they may be prone to creating static charges. If I can find a few VHS cases I will attempt the get a measurement of the case conductance and let you know if it is likely to reduce static.
July 26th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
That would be nice to know. As an enhancement, one could cut out a piece of an anti-static mat from a mobo box. I’ve got several pieces of that stuff around.
July 27th, 2008 at 2:27 am
Video tape is anti-static, as it has a conductive surface.
the VHS cases are just ordinary plastic.
July 27th, 2008 at 8:38 am
HAve a look at the wargaming supply shops http://www.figuresincomfort.net/catalog/index.php/cPath/637_648?osCsid=1fced5838f41def77012c59a317bce74 or http://www.kaiserrushforth.com/krmulticasevpick&pluckuk.html to name two.
The folks have a ‘pick and pluck’ foam tray that you can put disks in (within an anti-static bag) at a fraction of the cost of the ‘professional’ ones.
Andrew
July 27th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
The old boxes used to be anti-static. Nowadays the boxes are just ordinary plastic boxes.
July 27th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
Thanks for heads up. The “old” boxes are what I am using.
August 2nd, 2008 at 1:51 am
How about those transparent plastic clamshell things bulk disks come in? Seagate used to call ‘em “SeaShell” when it was a novel idea, but nowadays everyone uses them. They’re specifically made for protecting hdds, so they’ve got that part covered. And they’re probably somewhat more space saving than vhs cases, even. “But Kim, i threw mine away!” Well, if you’re like me and you like free stuff, then here’s a tip - every shop that builds boxes or performs upgrades are like to have a bin or two full of them.
You got me on the pretty cover sleeves though.
August 2nd, 2008 at 2:37 am
My research into the problem came up with the Wiebetech Case-DB:
http://www.wiebetech.com/products/cases.php
Watch that shipping charge!