For those unfamiliar with SATA switches, essentially it is just a switch that is attached to the power cables of your hard drives. That way, before booting your PC, you can choose which hard drives you want for that session. Removes many multi-boot headaches. No more windows updates destroying your GRUB, etc.
This article implies that DIY SATA switches are inherently unsafe, and these reviews say that even the SATA switches on the market can cause these issues:
- fry your drives
- not work properly with SSDs (I've only seen one person claim this and it seemed dubious, allegedly due to the SSDs bleeding signal over the data port despite not having a power source)
- catch on fire (accompanied by 'proof' picture)
- Accidentally hitting the switch while the PC is on (would cutting power to the SSD be any different than a power outage? or is it as catastrophic as is implied?)
Any thoughts? I'd really like to use them since it makes dual-booting a breeze, increases hard drive lifespan, saves power, gives you extra security (for example, your main linux install isn't very secure if you give windows access to it).
The first article seems to *maybe* suggest that if you use a three pole switch rather than a four pole switch, thus leaving the ground cables connected at all times, that it would be safe, but I don't know enough about DIY electronics to know for sure. I've never wired any switches with one than one pole.
I really like the idea but I can't afford to fry hard drives if these things aren't actually safe. If people here have wired their own or bought some and had good results with SSDs i'd love to know.
This article implies that DIY SATA switches are inherently unsafe, and these reviews say that even the SATA switches on the market can cause these issues:
- fry your drives
- not work properly with SSDs (I've only seen one person claim this and it seemed dubious, allegedly due to the SSDs bleeding signal over the data port despite not having a power source)
- catch on fire (accompanied by 'proof' picture)
- Accidentally hitting the switch while the PC is on (would cutting power to the SSD be any different than a power outage? or is it as catastrophic as is implied?)
Any thoughts? I'd really like to use them since it makes dual-booting a breeze, increases hard drive lifespan, saves power, gives you extra security (for example, your main linux install isn't very secure if you give windows access to it).
The first article seems to *maybe* suggest that if you use a three pole switch rather than a four pole switch, thus leaving the ground cables connected at all times, that it would be safe, but I don't know enough about DIY electronics to know for sure. I've never wired any switches with one than one pole.
I really like the idea but I can't afford to fry hard drives if these things aren't actually safe. If people here have wired their own or bought some and had good results with SSDs i'd love to know.
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