ok din pala kung ganyan ang setup anu..sir Clon how much yung docking bay na may esata? problema ko kase sa bahay e yung mga external WD harddisks e ang daming kelangang power outlets, hassle naman kung tanggal balik yung mga cords nya while selecting movies to watch. mag shift na rin siguro ako sa internal bays
I shifted to internals on dock when I realized how many outlets I needed as my external drives (I have 6 Buffalo externals) started to build-up. It's not necessary to power up all HDDs but limited pa rin ang power sockets especially if you want to line up those externals nicely somewhere on your HT or PC cabinet). Tapos file management is really slow via USB 2.0 - can't compare with eSATA performance talaga. However, I still use externals when traveling (isa lang naman kailangan).
Kung OC ka, simply store the internals (in their anti-static bags) somewhere not visible and just bring out the HDD(s) you need. I actually keep those carton box HDD holders in a small wooden cabinet next to the PC.
I dont know kung magkano yung dock with eSATA in Manila. I saw one sa Octagon (black & white color, yung mataas ang sides - note how low my docks are) but it should be more reasonably priced sa CD-R King if available.
The SATA-eSATA adapter is not expensive and very easy to install in a desktop - assuming meron kang spare slots and SATA connectors sa MOBO. I installed 2 of those sa main desktop (2 x 2eSATA) para if I have to do heavy file management, I can possibly connect 4 docks max via eSATA in addition to the internally connected drives and some externals that I can connect via USB2.0. Mas practical yon sa akin instead na maximizing my internally installed HDDs (which would be 4) dahil having a lot of HDDs inside the PC would burden your power supply unit and produce more heat within the case unnecessarily... sayang kuryente especially if you like to keep the PC running practically 24/7. Either way, matagal nga lang ang boot-up ng PC kung maraming connected HDDs both via eSATA and USB 2.0 but it works well.
Pero cool syempre ang NAS if you can afford it.