One convenience of using a desktop 2.5"/3.5" HDD dock is the ability to use bare HDDs for storage or data recovery. However, wouldn't it be nice to have an internal HDD dock that could be used much like a tape drive? While hot-swappable bays have been around for a long time, the majority rely on the HDD to be enclosed in a suitable caddy or tray, sometimes even proprietary to the company that makes the hot-swap bay or server.
Icy Dock has unveiled its latest 5.25" bay docking station, the MB971SP-B DuoSwap that bare 2.5" and 3.5" HDDs can be slotted directly into, without the need for a tray or screwing anything on to the HDD. The dock can hold a 2.5" HDD and a 3.5" HDD simultaneously and each slot has individual power and eject buttons. The enclosure connects to the motherboard by two SATA cables.
The dock can also handle SATA3 (6Gbps) SSDs and HDDs, offering a significant advantage over USB2 docks and better performance than USB3 such as when using two drives simultaneously. Besides data backup, it could also be used to hold a bootable drive, such as to allow the user to swap between operating systems or slot in a backup HDD in the event that the main OS HDD fails.
This MB971SP-B dock is now available for purchase and costs about US$42+shipping based on NewEgg's price.
