I’ve generally used enclosures made by Vantec. I know, from other people’s comments, that not all of their models are that reliable, but the ones I’ve used have been good.
The ones I’m currently using are:
NexStar HX. Aluminum enclosure with a cooling fan. Supports high capacity drives (currently documented up to 16TB). USB 3.0 with UASP (SCSI-over-USB).
This is the model I am using for my Time Machine volume and what I currently recommend.
NexStar TX. Aluminum enclosure (no fan). Supports high capacity drives (currently up to 16 TB). USB 3.0 with UASP.
I am using these for my CCC clone drives (which are only powered when I’m actively making a backup). I was previously using them for Time Machine as well, but the drive started acting flaky (probably due to overheating) after running in this enclosure for a month or two. Which is why I now recommend enclosures with fans.
Prior to these, I used to use:
NexStar 3 NST-360UFS (now discontinued). Aluminum enclosure (no fan). Supports drives up to 4TB (older revisions only supported drives up to 2 and 3TB). USB 2.0, FireWire 400 and eSATA connectivity. Other models of NexStar 3 support different capacities, internal and external interface types.
I used these back when I had Macs with FireWire ports. Not recommended today unless you plan on using it with a similarly old Mac, since USB 3 is much faster. Also, they don’t have fans, which could lead to overheating, depending on what kind of drive you put in them. (At the time, I was using Seagate Constellation ES 2TB and 3TB drives in these enclosures.)
A variety of FireWire and SCSI enclosures that are definitely no longer sold. And you wouldn’t want to use them anyway unless you have old drives and old computers to use them with, because they were designed for PATA and SCSI drives, and all drives sold today are SATA or SAS.
I’ll check out the NexStar enclosures. I’m currently using NewEgg/Rosewill enclosures with no fan … they seem fine, but I wouldn’t trust them for an always-on Time Machine backup.
As for out-of-date connectors, I still have a drive in an OWC Mercury Express Firewire-800 enclosure. It’s connected via a TB2->FW adapter to my Late 2013 Macbook Pro. I’ve shifted all of the data over to the Rosewill USB-3 enclosures … but haven’t taken the step of trashing the drive and enclosure.
I’ve also got a shelf full of old drives. I’ll discard them eventually.
I did find this tool useful for erasing any IDE/ATA/SATA drives without enclosures:
With a device like this, you can connect a bare drive to a USB port without an enclosure. You can then extract whatever data you require and erase it with your favorite tools.
I typically erase drives using Disk Utiliy’s “secure erase” feature. I choose the second-level of security (in the GUI). This is a 2-pass overwrite - writing random data, followed by zeros. (The fastest version doesn’t overwrite anything).
If you want to muck about with the CLI, you can do it faster and just overwrite the device with a single pass (random data or all-zeros):
> diskutil secureErase
Usage: diskutil secureErase [freespace] level
MountPoint|DiskIdentifier|DeviceNode
"Securely" (BUT SEE "man diskutil" FOR MODERN LIMITATIONS) erases either a
whole disk or a volume's freespace. Level should be one of the following:
0 - Single-pass erase resulting in a zero fill.
1 - Single-pass erase resulting in a random-number fill.
2 - Seven-pass "secure" erase.
3 - Gutmann algorithm 35-pass "secure" erase.
4 - Three-pass "secure" erase.
Ownership of the affected disk is required.
Note: Level 2, 3, or 4 secure erases can take an extremely long time.
FWIW. (From Photographer Tim Grey). -
Western Digital (among others) offers a recycling program through a partner, which involves shredding the storage device and separating the component materials for recycling. You can have your storage devices recycled at no cost to you, including free shipping of the devices. In the case of the Western Digital program, you’ll even get a coupon good for 15% off your next purchase of $50 or more in exchange for recycling your storage devices with the program.
You can get more of the details and initiate the process of recycling your old storage devices here:
