ToughArmor MB604SPO-B Layout, design and features …
Let’s start with the ToughArmor MB604SPO mounting frame. It is mounted in a PC or server housing instead of a 5.25″ drive. Whether this has to be done with or without screws depends on the respective case.Let’s start with the ToughArmor MB604SPO mounting frame. It is mounted in a PC or server housing instead of a 5.25″ drive. Whether this has to be done with or without screws depends on the respective case. The advantage of the ToughArmor MB604SPO-B is that you can easily insert and use up to four 2.5″ SSDs and/or a slim ODD CD/Blu-ray/DVD ROM drive in the removable frame during operation. There is also an activity LED for each 2.5″ drive on the front next to the respective eject button.
As usual, the fine threaded holes for mounting in the server or PC housing are located on both sides of the ToughArmors.
The five 7-pin SATA data connectors and two SATA power connectors are located on the back of the MB604SPO-B together with a small switch for the 40mm 12V DC fan from Off to Low and High.
A RAID controller is not integrated, but the mainboard or the SATA controller can take care of this if required, as each SATA connection is executed individually.
ToughArmor MB411SPO-1B Layout, design and features …
The Icy Dock ToughArmor MB411SPO-1B is used to install M.2 SATA SSDs in a conventional ODD drive bay. This is particularly interesting for notebooks, but also for flat cases with SlimLine or even Ultra SlimLine DVD drives, if these are not or only rarely used and you would prefer to use the ODD bay for an SSD. The SATA installation cage is ejected by pressing the release button.
The rear has a standard slimline SATA 7-pin data and 6-pin power connector. Incidentally, this is also the main difference between today’s Icy Dock MB411SPO-1B and the former Icy Dock MB411SPO-B, which was connected with a 4-pin FDD power connector. SAS drives or other (few) SATA drives that require a 12-volt power supply cannot be used, as the slimline power connector does not have a 12-volt cable due to its design.
Fortunately, even the MB411SPO-1B removable frame has an activity indicator on the front of the EZ tray. Icy Dock has reached deep into its bag of tricks for this, because the LED is not connected to the EZ tray via contacts, but is transferred from the SATA socket to the front of the EZ tray via a small fiber optic cable. This is a very advantageous solution, as it completely avoids possible loose contacts.
The workmanship is, as usual with the Icy Dock ToughArmor removable frames, very good and since both products are made almost exclusively of metal, they are also extremely stable.
Now we come to the installation …
Icy Dock MB411SPO-1B and Icy Dock MB604SPO-B Installation …