# Multiple external HDDs with single eSATA port?



## idyllhands

I got a good deal on a new Gateway PC (a SX2800-03 | CNet Review
It has a reduced profile case, so I cannot fit all of my HDDs in it.  It has an esata port (one of the reasons I picked it up), but I need to be able to hook up 3-4 HDDs.  The only way I know of to support more than one drive on eSATA is via a HDD enclosure.
My questions are:
1) is there any other way to accomplish this?
2) assuming I get an enclosure, will having all of the drives running through a single SATA port create a bandwidth problem and slow the drives down?
3) any advice on good but relatively inexpensive HDD enclosures?
What I really want is one where I can Selectively turn drives off/on, effectively be able to safely and easily isolate out my data drives.


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## Twist86

1. Yes I did it another way but your case is to small to do it my way. Though I will say that is very impressive at how small that PC is.
2. From what I seen that is impossible to do. Every external case I have ever seen that could fit 2-4 drives ALWAYS had 1 sata/esata for each drive making 2-4 not 4 in 1.
3. Inexpensive is not the word to use here. Most I seen that have sata support are around $100 and higher and this is for 2 drives only.

Not a real cheap solution here unless you want to do something like buy 4 of these.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4365888&Sku=M501-2504

My buddy uses 2 of these and he loves them...it is esata to esata then to your PC.

This is a picture of my front panel on my Antec 900 that I made.
Before





After




It is esata connectors but I bought a esata/sata to avoid that issue and it came with one but I needed two. This was my $2 solution


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## tyttebøvs

It is possible to connect multiple drives to a single port, but that means shared bandwidth.


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## idyllhands

Twist86 said:


> This is a picture of my front panel on my Antec 900 that I made.
> Before
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> After
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> 
> It is esata connectors but I bought a esata/sata to avoid that issue and it came with one but I needed two. This was my $2 solution



Hm, maybe I'll have to try that, I'm not afraid of a little case hacking =)


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## Twist86

Yeah I got lucky...no hacking needed for me. Just a bit of thought process and a trip to Lowes.
I just had to bend the "lip" on the bracket straight so it would reach end to end and secure with screws,nuts, and washers so I can remove it later if I get sick of it or w/e. It doesn't budget at all and I tried too 
The front panel came that way its original use was like card reader/floppy. The Antec 900 just keeps impressing me.


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## idyllhands

Just pulled the case open..There's only two SATA ports I can see, one is plugged to the DVD-R...any ideas?  Do they make splitters?


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## Twist86

Well they make PCI cards for the back of the PC aka plugs into PCI slot and provides 1-4 SATA connectors some even provide internal connectors...though I never used them so I can't reply on the quality of them.


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