14 DAY TRIAL // USB 3.0 hub controllers are all well and good, especially when they have such an uncommon shape like the one SilverStone has released just now, but they can't really cover all potential scenarios.
Which is to say, the newly revealed 4-Port USB 3.0 Hub controller is very versatile, and has the advantage of looking interesting to boot (not many devices are hexagonal these days), but it can't do everything an external storage accessory should.
That's why SilverStone has also made a pair of “extremely practical” SATA power cables, plus a pair of external portable storage solutions.
The power cables are called CP06-E2 and CP06-E4. The former has a male SATA connector on one end, for connections to a module power supply unit (PSU), plus a pair of female SATA ports on the other end.
There is very little space between them, which means they are made for 3.5-inch to 2x 2.5-inch converters, and drive cages with little room between HDDs/SSDs.
The CP06-E4 is the same as the CP06-E2, but has four female ports on the other end, not two. Basically, these cables are made for high-end PCs.
That leaves the EP02B and MS07B portable storage devices. The EP02B is simply a SATA power+data backplane. On one end, it has a USB 3.0 port and a DC power input, while the other end has a SATA port. Essentially, the EP02B converts any SATA drive into a USB mass storage device.
As for the MS07B, it is a portable enclosure for 2.5-inch HDDs/SSDs. It is open-ended, which means that you only need to slide in a 2.5-inch SATA drive and dock it in a standard backplane to lock it in place. Again, the USB 3.0 interface is used.
Thus, the MS07B is a way to make some use of old hard drives and solid-state drives that languish in your scrap heap.
