Speccing a cloning/imaging/data recovery machine

[mrapoc]

At the moment I have an old Dell running Parted Magic. 2x Internal SATA2 and USB 2.0 ports.

Looking for something more efficient and quicker at moving data. First thing that hits me, USB 3 or eSata? Do I trust those hotswap bays - not likely.

I already have a USB 3 dual caddy. But USB isn't that trusted when it comes to data recovery (ddrescue) or testing hard drives for errors does it? You would be better off with direct sata (or even eSata?)

Could keep this machine and bung a PCIe card in there. Any thoughts?

 

[Larry Sabo]

If you go with a PCIe host adapter, I would suggest it have a NEC chipset. My DFL USB 3.0 data recovery gear was not compatible with other than the NEC chip D720202 chipsets, though this may speak more to the design of the DFL product than the adapter's compatibility with whatever you are going to connect to it. I also added a PCI eSATA adapter and installed an eSATA connector plate to which I routed unused MB SATA ports. My system is an old Dell E520 with a quad core 2.4GHz CPU and it is very fast.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

We have an old Dell Precision T3400 that a client was throwing out. We keep the side panel off.
6x onboard SATA ports...so lots of flexibility.

 

[Altster]

We have an old Dell Precision T3400 that a client was throwing out. We keep the side panel off.
6x onboard SATA ports...so lots of flexibility.

I use a DELL Precision T3400 for this very same reason. Most of the time to use for cloning and backing up data to an external drive. When it isn't in use it sits on the floor and because it's so heavy no one messes with it.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

When it isn't in use it sits on the floor and because it's so heavy no one messes with it.

When ours isn't in use...it still stays up on the counter....yeah those are heavy. So heavy I don't want to life it up or down to the floor. You can drive a truck over those cases without denting them!

 

[Markverhyden]

Since you are short on SATA on the MB just get a PCI/PCIe sata card. Don't be shy about spending a little extra money to get something good, like LSI. You can use a server grade card, many of which let you configure JBOD with stand alone disks. There are plenty of options out there on eBay.

 

[mrapoc]

OK. So not worth faffing with USB 3, just use SATA3 ... It's an Optiplex 360 I picked up from the school I teach part time at - could be plenty more soon as their refresh cycle is coming up.

Thanks guys

 

[Yusuke92]

So anything with a good enough CPU and internal SATA connections are the best for data recovery? An external HDD Dock would be limited by the USB speeds I'm guessing right?

 

[Larry Sabo]

An external HDD Dock would be limited by the USB speeds I'm guessing right?

Not if you use one with an eSATA connection.

 

[lcoughey]

It depends on the condition of the drive from which you are trying to recover.

 

[Yusuke92]

Oh ok it also depends on the size of the drive as well. I'm sure there are quite a few different kinds of set ups on all the different variables that go into setting up a data recovery machine thanks for the help guys. I appreciate it

 

[lcoughey]

Oh ok it also depends on the size of the drive as well. I'm sure there are quite a few different kinds of set ups on all the different variables that go into setting up a data recovery machine thanks for the help guys. I appreciate it

I don't think the size of the drive matters, with the exception of the BIOS being limited to various capacity restrictions. Perhaps you can outline the types of data recovery issues you encounter and then we can advise on what you might need. There are data recovery resources in the resource section of this forum, if that helps too.

 

[Yusuke92]

That sounds good I just want to have something decent while I learn data recovery skills before I try to recover a customers data

 

[coffee]

I have a six core AMD with 8 gigs ram and Linux Mint. Inside I have a eSATA PCIe 1x card and I run a 4 bay external SATA box to clone drives. The external box I have is this:

https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-eSATA-Drive-Docking-Station/dp/B004I6OCRO/ref=cm_cr_dp_asin_lnk

Does a good job. I have not stressed it with 2 clones running at the same time (4 drives) but does a good job. I am thinking though of getting an other computer into the shop to exclusively do cloning on. Want to take the weight off my main computer.

coffee