Vantec NexStar HX, 3.5" SATA III Hard Drive Enclosure USB 3.0 With Fan (NST-387S3-BK)

Slight problem, the fan is a BIT loud but the speed (and noise) can be adjusted, which makes it ok. I used a 6TB on an enclosure with no fan and the disk stopped working until it cooled down. So a fan is a high plus.

Short version: I bought this to house a 16TB Seagate Exos series drive and it is working for me. Long version: Upon opening the box and removing the enclosure from the packaging, I noted a lot of rattle inside. Once disassembled I discovered that the rattle was due to the plastic fan blades, and one of its mounting screws, swimming freely inside the interior of the enclosure. Ugh. I was tempted to immediately send it back, but since putting the parts in their proper places was pretty simple, I gave it a second chance. The interior frame is metal (unlike some competitors) which helps with heat dissipation, and it can be solidly mounted using 4 supplied screws. Unfortunately the frame rattles inside the sleeve. This is because the inner frame is held in place by a lengthwise tongue and groove arrangement which has considerable play. You don't notice this until the weight of the drive is a factor, then it rattles from side to side when the case is moved. Ugh. Another simple remedy; I stuck thin strips of black cloth electrical tape onto both metal tongues. Then it fit snugly without rattle. Why is this important? Vibration is not good for drives; it can lead to soft errors an worse. Especially a big heavy Enterprise-class drive. Once powered up (as the product listing warns, the enclosure looks 100% dead until a drive is attached and the USB cable plugged into a working computer) the drive is instantly recognized at full capacity. The fan kept the drive cool (even at minimal fan speed) throughout a day-long extended S.M.A.R.T self-test. It's been in use since then, without problems. Other observations: The blue activity light is tiny and shines through a tiny window in the front faceplace rendering it almost invisible. Also, the SATA-USB bridge interface chipset is a much-maligned JMicron variety; however; I haven't noticed any anomalies.

The first one I received either was DOA or died soon after it arrived so they sent me another one (just received, thanks, Amazon!) and the new one works so far. Did some tests with it using hdtach from a laptop and was getting about 265MB/s for the "long" test. I bought this specifically to work with a new Synology NAS but I had seen an earlier review about the NAS not mounting the external drive at power up, but I just tested it, and it was fine (powered up NAS, and could see the USB drive in DSM). This was with a DS220j and DSM 7.1.1. I had noticed the rattling others had mentioned, so before I slid the drive into the case, I stuck one of these to the "top" of the drive: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B09LVX3JKQ. I had to put it on the end of the drive because that part is slightly lower than the rest of the top of the drive, but when it slid into the case it was "good" tight, and now, no more rattling! Hopefully it'll continue to work. I've had Vantec enclosures before (a lot) and they've always been solid, so I was kind of surprised about the loose fit and the rattling, but it was easily fixed. Took 1 star off due to the 1st one being dead and due to the rattling.

Buena calidad del producto, me recomendaron la marca y salio excelente

Of the many, many enclosures out there, this one seems about perfect. A lot of aluminum, instead of plastic, REALLY helps to disperse heat. The adjustable fan (0-full) is good, and truly reduces the heat meaningfully, even at the bare minimum setting. I've had Vantec enclosures in the past, and this one is a winner. If Vantec support reads these reviews: make another version of this, probably a couple of bucks more, that uses a thermostat to turn the fan and off. Last thing; this is working fine with a Seagate EXOS 18TB HDD. Note: I bought a cheaper, all plastic, no fan, enclosure a few weeks ago. Heat was awful, an absolute HDD destroyer. Do yourself a favour and do NOT buy those enclosures.