Drive docking stations

Docking station

— a special type of drive cases for external use, designed primarily for stationary use.

The main difference between “docks” and ordinary external drive cases is that in this case, instead of full-fledged drive compartments, only connection sockets are provided – in the form of recesses with connectors. Thus, drives are installed on the docking station as on a stand, and with this installation they remain almost completely open. The main advantage of this design is the maximum simplicity and speed of replacement; so it makes sense to use docks in cases where you have to frequently change the installed HDD/SSD. One example of such an application is professional diagnostics of internal drives: instead of each time placing the next “patient” directly into the housing or into a traditional external drive case, it is easier to use the dock.

Also note that docking stations often have several slots for drives at once, and individual slots can be reconfigured for different form factors (for more details, see “Slots for drives”).