N
NoSp
I'm planning a 19" rack enclosure which will house two SATA drives
connected to a Firewire/USB to SATA bridge board.
The two drives will be used for two completely different purposes, so I
see no reason to have to power them both up at once, wearing them out
unnecessarily. That's why I'm suggested 3 switches for the front panel
of the enclosure:
- main power switch (gives power to the bridge board)
- drive A power (turns on drive A)
- drive B power (turns on drive B)
The main power switch would be an AC switch which would give power to
the power supply. A rocker switch (with a built-in LED) would be fine
for this.
For the drives I was first thinking of a high amperage switch (as I've
been told that hard drives involve a lot of current) for each of them.
The problem with this is that most switches like that are pretty big and
bulky and appearance-wise that's not good.
So the next solution would perhaps be a "soft switch" solution where I'd
be using a small and elegant tacticle switch or something, which in turn
would control a relay for the actual on/off power switching for the
drive in question.
I would probably need some sort of electronic circuitry for this, which
would turn the relay on when pressed the first time, and off when
pressed the second time. I assume the best solution would be to have
nothing happen when I first turn on the AC switch, but that would mean
having to press it every time, even if the drive had previously been
turned on the last time I used it (unless some sort of memory circuit
could be constructed).
A third solution (also involving relays) could be having locking
two-position switches. That way I could just leave the drive A or B
switches in whichever position I wanted.
Any thoughts/comments?
I see that the SATA power connector is pretty complex. Which pin(s)
would I need to switch on/off through the relay in order to safely have
it turned on or off?
connected to a Firewire/USB to SATA bridge board.
The two drives will be used for two completely different purposes, so I
see no reason to have to power them both up at once, wearing them out
unnecessarily. That's why I'm suggested 3 switches for the front panel
of the enclosure:
- main power switch (gives power to the bridge board)
- drive A power (turns on drive A)
- drive B power (turns on drive B)
The main power switch would be an AC switch which would give power to
the power supply. A rocker switch (with a built-in LED) would be fine
for this.
For the drives I was first thinking of a high amperage switch (as I've
been told that hard drives involve a lot of current) for each of them.
The problem with this is that most switches like that are pretty big and
bulky and appearance-wise that's not good.
So the next solution would perhaps be a "soft switch" solution where I'd
be using a small and elegant tacticle switch or something, which in turn
would control a relay for the actual on/off power switching for the
drive in question.
I would probably need some sort of electronic circuitry for this, which
would turn the relay on when pressed the first time, and off when
pressed the second time. I assume the best solution would be to have
nothing happen when I first turn on the AC switch, but that would mean
having to press it every time, even if the drive had previously been
turned on the last time I used it (unless some sort of memory circuit
could be constructed).
A third solution (also involving relays) could be having locking
two-position switches. That way I could just leave the drive A or B
switches in whichever position I wanted.
Any thoughts/comments?
I see that the SATA power connector is pretty complex. Which pin(s)
would I need to switch on/off through the relay in order to safely have
it turned on or off?
