I'm looking at a StarTech SATA drive dock and wondering whether a hot-swap drive can be inserted while it's still mounted in its caddy or tray. I'd prefer not to remove the tray each time, especially if the drive could be stored vertically. Has anyone tried this, or does the tray interfere with the dock's dimensions?
2 Answers
The tray-mounted drive won’t fit properly in this dock, so I use a separate adapter for drives that are still installed in their caddies. It’s less tidy than a vertical setup, but it avoids taking the tray off every time.
Usually not. If the caddy extends even slightly from the sides or bottom of the drive, it won’t slide into the dock. You’ll generally need to remove the tray first.
That makes the dock less convenient than using a simple SATA-to-USB cable adapter for quick swaps.
I was hoping the vertical arrangement would look cleaner, but using a separate adapter may be the more practical option.