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Some comments on Install 2.5" drive in 3.5" bay appear relevant but are not quite what I am asking.

I am aware that the SATA interface on 3.5 and 2.5" drives is identical, and I am aware that the positioning of the interface on the drive is standardised - which is necessary for drive alignment in caddies etc, but does anyone know, looking from the rear of the drive - if the positioning of the interface from the bottom left is identical in 2.5 and 3.5" drives I initially assumed that it was as this appears to be the case to the naked eye, but on closer inspection I wonder if the 2.5" drive is about 1mm to the right, which makes sense if the designers thought about putting this in an enclosure?

I ask this question because I need to upgrade some 3.5" SATA drives to 2.5" drives on a server I'll never see - and while I know the motherboard Supermicro [ X10DRi ], I can't establish what chassis the motherboard is in (but as it has 8 drives it must be at least 2u) - and as the cost of "remote hands" is fairly high, I need to make sure the solution will work first time and as easily as possible.

davidgo
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  • I'm not near my giant stack of 3.5" drives or my SATA USB cradle atm, but iirc I can stick a 2.5" drive into either of its 3.5" slots by guiding it in one corner. So I suspect the answer is "yes". – MiG Mar 03 '22 at 09:24
  • Hope you can either get them to send some photos on beforehand though, or identify the exact type of chassis... Things can go wrong if the remote hands lack sufficient creativity and skill :) – MiG Mar 03 '22 at 09:26
  • @MiG - the problem is "Yes I can guide it in and there is a 1mm gap, or yes I can guide it in and there is no gap. I too have a SATA USB cradle - however I don't think server caddies have the same level of play in them! – davidgo Mar 03 '22 at 09:28
  • Problem is those photos will cost me US$125 - and delay my procedure by a week. It must be possible to find a generic solution which will work in all cases (indeed I suspect that getting a plastic intel server chassis converter will work (they came with my intel servers) but I'm not certain, nor do I know where I would buy one by itself. Also, if Supermicro are bottom mounting drives this kind of chassis would not work) – davidgo Mar 03 '22 at 09:32
  • I'm aware, just trying to help. If I'm near my drives (and cradle) I'll have a look. – MiG Mar 03 '22 at 09:47
  • Using a set of (unfortunately cheap, chunky plastic) Vernier calipers, it seems to me that - at least the horizontal positioning of the connector from the left edge is idential. – davidgo Mar 03 '22 at 09:57

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Not sure if I got your question right, but I can assure you the connectors do indeed match up perfectly. Here’s a photo:

enter image description here
(Click for larger image)

Both drives are sitting flush on my table. For reference, I used my laser level.

To mount a 2.5″ drive in a 3.5″ slot/caddy, you only need a bracket on one side. Problems could arise with the screw holes, they are at slightly different offsets from the bottom of the drive. Because 2.5″ drives are relatively light, it should be fine to use screws only on one side—unfortunately it would have to be the bracket side.

Daniel B
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    I would be leary of using screws only on one side of a 2.5" mechanical drive, as rotational forces will result in instability, leading to vibration and eventually head and/or platter damage from the head. – JW0914 Mar 03 '22 at 10:29
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    Yhank you for this. Subsequent to posting also found a handful of mounts which position the 2.5" drive in the center, slightly rasied, with a female to male connector which "positions" the connector where it needs to be - this further supports our measurements and solves the mkunting priblem. (They are a little more expensive then regular brackets, but wont break the bank) – davidgo Mar 03 '22 at 17:52