INTRODUCTION

   One of the many benefits of full tower PC cases are the many 5.25" optical drive bays they have (5 or more) so if you happen to own one there's no doubt you will most probably look for ways to make use of them. Personally i always use at least two in each of my test rigs one to mount a fan controller (two 5.25" bays sometimes) and the other to either mount a DVD-ROM or a Blu-Ray drive. Lately however we've started testing several 5.25" hard drive cages inside which you can mount up to four 3.5/2.5" SATA/SAS drives by making use of just three 5.25" optical drive bays. A few weeks back we tested the BPN-DE340SS hot-swap storage bay adapter by iStarUSA which not only managed to keep the temperatures of the SATA III drive we used for testing at a minimum but surprisingly enough it also improved its read/write data transfer speeds. Well today on our primary test rig we have it's cousin the BPU-340SATA military grade hot-swap drive cage.

   iStarUSA Group has over 20 years of experience in the industrial computers industry. We specialize in OEM/ODM projects and manufacture of industrial power supply, rackmount chassis, enclosed cabinets and racks, data storage, and custom power solutions. Our intrinsic value is driven by one steadfast belief: "To always provide our customers with the best products and superior customer service." This credo has made iStarUSA Group a major contender in the IPC power supply industry. We cover a multitude of vertical markets. Our products are widely used in industrial computing, servers, multimedia production, DVR/Surveillance, and telecommunication industries. In the past eighteen years, iStarUSA Group has provided unsurpassed OEM/ODM products and services with exceptional design flexibility, rapid prototyping, and cost-effective solutions. The ISO 9001 certification ensures our product quality and customer commitment. iStarUSA Group bases its strength on our experience, technology, and strong partnerships. For many years, we have worked closely with major computer component manufacturers and system integrators to ensure our products are highly compatible and extremely stable. We continuously adopt new industrial standards to improve our designs. Our ability to customize products according to customers' specifications has won us a prominent and solid industry reputation. Our experienced design team and project engineers complete OEM projects within deadline and product specs. Being on the cutting edge of technology is a key to the success of iStarUSA Group and that of our customers. We believe an innovative technology leader must be able to incorporate the latest advances into all products to ensure customer satisfaction.

   Much like its cousin the BPU-340SATA hot-swap storage adapter can be used both with four 3.5/2.5" SATA/SAS drives but it also carries a few extra features that can be extremely useful for server environments such as individual on/off buttons for each of the drives, a reset switch for when the temperature alarm goes off, both SATA and Molex power connectors and LED activity indicators placed right next to each drive that double both as power on/off indicators and as temperature alarm indicators (you can choose the temperature threshold between 55/60/65 degrees). Unfortunately unlike the BPN-DE340SS the BPU-340SATA uses aluminum drive trays and so using it takes more time since the drives need to be mounted on them with screws prior to sliding them back in the adapter. Responsible for cooling the 4 drives is an 80mm exhaust fan that features a low/high speed control switch (like the BPN-DE340SS) however it's not removable so cleaning it is not really an easy task (unlike the BPN-DE340SS). Let's take a closer look however and see exactly what you can expect from the BPU-340SS military grade hot-swap drive cage by iStarUSA.