I'm currently using a cheap two bay eSata enclosure to add HDD space to my EX490 running WS2012R2 Essentials. Unfortunately the enclosere isn't very good. Ventialtion is inssufficient with both bays filled, causing overheated HDD's, and the thing is also loud.

So now I'm looking for a good 4 or 5 bay enclosure with
- eSata connectivity
- good ventilation
- as quiet as possible

I'm using DriveBender, so I guess the enclosere would need to provide JBOD finctionality, not just RAID options.

Does any of you have tips or experiences with good enclosures?

Thanks,
Bert-Jan

I've done reviews in the past of several different eSATA enclosures, a search or peek back through the Reviews section of the site will show you those.
http://www.mediasmartserver.net/category/reviews/

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Alex Kuretz
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Hi Alex, thanks for the reply. I have read most of the reviews you wrote and some reviews of enclosures on other sites. The issue with these reviews is that none of them specifically adresses Windows Server 2012 Essentials on a MediaSmartServer. For instance; do I need a specific driver to use the eSata port with this OS and the specified enclosure? Does the JBOD option that did work with WHS v1 still work with WS2012 Essentials? I was hoping for someone who has experience with a MSS-WS2012E-enclosure combo. A small target group, I must admit
And I should have been more specific.

There are some stories around the internet from people who bought an enclosure only to find that the OS would detect just one drive. Since the enclosures aren't that cheap I want to be sure it really works before buying one. I'ts not an urgent project though, I still have room for about 5 TB of data before I have to add another drive