Do you shoot a lot of raw files? How about full-frame files? Backing these images up can be expensive, especially if you are using external hard drives. My problem was having so many different external drives, all with different plug adapters, cables and configurations. Finding the correct power adapter cable was always a pain - they all seem to be different and for ever tangled into one big mess. Sound familar?

I discovered an easy and very economical way to store my images. I use a device called the Thermaltake BlacX Duet 2.5”/3.5” SATA I/II/III USB 3.0 External Hard Drive Enclosure Docking Station ST0014U-D (Available on Amazon). There are other manufacturers of similar devices and they are availble on sites like Amazon and NewEgg.

 

It is an awesome powered docking station for raw hard drives (the kind installed inside computers). It is hot-swappable (drives can be switched while it is powered on) and can use a regular SATA hard drive and the newer SSD drives. These raw drives are realtively inexpensive compared to fully enclosed external drives. 

I keep it on my desk (with only one power cord 😎). I buy cases for my raw hard drives, label them and keep everything organized and stored.

No more wasted time looking for cable and power adapters! This is a definite time-saver!