Icy Box FlexCage MB973SP 2B Trayless 3-in-2 SATA Backplane

Rating: 7.5.

It's a self-evident truth that our requirement for storage will never stop increasing. While the cloud promises plenty for the future, up and download speeds will need to increase several fold before we can do away with local storage. That leaves NAS and internal drives. Icy Box offers a handy solution for those who want direct drive access.

Most enthusiasts reading this will have upgraded and migrated many, many times over the years. Each time, you set up your new system, install your apps and port your data across as best you can. Finally, you try to make good use of your old drives.

Companies like Synology provide excellent systems for the external storage of important/archive data, but what if you want to keep your old drives inside your new system? And what if you have more drives than bays?

The Icy Box Trayless range of hard drive cages is one solution to this problem and we are going to be exploring the more advanced of the 3 models available, the Icy Box MB973SP 2B FlexCage.

They are made from aluminum and rigid plastic, and this kind of product is available for around £100 at the time of writing.

For further control, you can turn each drive on and off using one of 3 small, child-proof buttons on the front of the Icy Box FlexCage.

Here are the key features:-

• Fits 3 x 35” SATA III HDD into 2 x 5.25” Device Bays.
• Supports SATA 3 (6 Gb/s) hard drives.
• Compact and space saving design to fit multiple drives.
• Designed for consumers & enthusiasts gaming / media computer cases and servers.
• Tray-less design for genuine plug & play and hot swap use.
• Front and rear ventilation slots.
• 80mm cooling fan for maximum air flow.
• 3 speed fan control, including auto setting featuring Smart Cooling Technology.
• Lightweight aluminium body construction for durability and heat dissipation.
• Fan is replaceable with aftermarket fans that use standard 2-pin or 3-pin connectors.
• SuperSpeed USB 3.0 hub built into front of device for performance and easy access.
• Individual power switches and LEDs for each drive.
• Active Power Technology+ – cooling fan and drive only powers up when the child proof power buttons are pressed.
• Flex Fit Design – accommodates different 5.25” tab lengths for different type of cases.
• Multi-locking door latches to prevent accidental drive ejection.
• Two 4 pin to 15 pin adapter cable included for 15 pin SATA power ports.
• ICY DOCK 3 year warranty equivalent to hard drive manufacturer warranty to ensure maximum reliability and long life.

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