I'm planning to build a PC that will also serve as a media server for movies, music, and some archived videos. Storage has become a major concern, and I mostly seem to be finding 3.5-inch hard drives. Are 2.5-inch drives still available, and do I need a special case or enclosure to use 3.5-inch drives? I'm mainly interested in an affordable, practical setup rather than a fancy-looking case.
4 Answers
Look for functional airflow-focused cases instead of compact showcase cases. Manufacturers usually list the number of internal 3.5-inch and 2.5-inch bays in the specifications, so it’s easy to compare them before buying. A case with four or more 3.5-inch bays should give you plenty of room for a basic media server and future expansion.
2.5-inch drives haven’t disappeared: 2.5-inch SATA SSDs are common, and some smaller laptop-style hard drives are still sold. They’re just less attractive for bulk media storage. A 2.5-inch SSD can work well for the operating system or applications, while large 3.5-inch HDDs are generally the economical option for movies, music, backups, and archives.
Both sizes are still available. For a media server, though, 3.5-inch hard drives are usually the better choice because they offer much more storage for the money. Most practical PC cases have at least one or two internal 3.5-inch mounting bays, and larger cases can support several more. You only need a separate enclosure if the case doesn’t have enough drive space.
A desktop NAS-style setup can use several 3.5-inch HDDs along with one or two SATA SSDs. Used or refurbished enterprise drives can sometimes provide good capacity for less money, but check their health, power requirements, noise, and warranty before relying on them for important files. Whichever drives you choose, keep a separate backup of anything you cannot replace.
That makes sense. I’m mostly looking for inexpensive capacity, so I’ll focus on cases with multiple 3.5-inch bays instead of trying to build around 2.5-inch drives.