Hi all, I have a very simple homeland which consists of just one thinkcentre mini pc. I don’t really need extra storage at this moment, but I think adding another disk for redundancy will be nice.

The problem is, the mini pc only has space for one hard drive. What is the best thing to do in this case? Is the a reliable way to add an (ideally, with space to add more later) extra disk to it? I don’t really want to get something like a Synology as I’m happy with the processing power etc. of this. Some way to expand the storage as directly as possible will be the best.

  • Avid AmoebaEnglish
    4·
    1 year ago

    USB 3 is often more than enough if you’re thinking of using regular spinning disks. I have a ThinkCentre mini with 3x USB 3 ports. I’ve connected 4 external disks to it, 2 of them directly and 2 via a USB 3 hub. It purrs happily without a fault. Just make sure the cables aren’t easy to disconnect accidentally while it’s working. E.g.:

      • Avid AmoebaEnglish
        2·
        1 year ago

        The case is fireproof up to 200°C. Internal ICs will burn much earlier than that and hopefully stop, if the devices were designed competently. Everything in this mix is UL or ETL listed. 🤭

      • Avid AmoebaEnglish
        1·
        1 year ago

        Not bad at all. These are 4 external WD drives. The actual disks are mounted on big ass rubber mounts to the cases. They’re quieter than bare disks in a PC case.

        Rubber: