Icy Dock FatCage MB155SP-B SATA Backplane Module Review

Introduction

When it comes to drive enclosures, both of the internal and external flavour, there is, generally speaking, one name that always pops to mind and this is Icy Dock. For many years now they have been creating enclosures, mounts and backplanes in a whole heap of varieties – some of which we’d never have thought were useful. The backplane that I’ll be looking at today is just one example of a product that I’d look through their catalogue, see and skip past as it doesn’t immediately jump out to me as a product that needs much attention.

For the vast majority of home users, having a server at home is not something that would really shout out as being needed and on the whole, they are not, but with media streaming and file sharing become more common, some users are making the move to build their own. Naturally the obvious path, rather than buying one, is to build a system from common desktop components, using a mid tower chassis to house everything, but many chassis only offer internal drive bays and there can be few at that. For those that are keen on keeping things backed up or who want easy access to their drives without having to open the case, having a backplane is a simple solution that gives flexibility of access whilst adding additional 3.5″ space.

The MS155SP-B that we’re looking at today is a simple, straight to the point backplane. By simply mounting into the optical drive area, this backplane gives five additional drive bays that can be individually removed from the system in a hot-swap manner with ease.

Anyone that has owned an Icy Dock product of this type or have read my past reviews on some of their products will know that they like to keep the packaging and extras down to a minimum, after all there’s no need for a heap of paperwork, leaflets and other non-vital parts that typically ends up staying in the box.