A Closer Look & Installation

A Closer Look

The enclosure itself looks just like the integral LAN (reviewed here). The design is stackable, so you can mix and match the enclosures but keep a common look. It is made out of aluminum and does not need a fan.


The front of the integral ESATA is completely clean and uses the integral logo as a power and HDD access light. When powered on, it lights up blue and switches to red when the hard drive is being used. The back holds all the usual connections (from left to right): USB 2.0, ESATA, switch between USB and ESATA, power connector and power switch. All these are clearly labeled.

Installation

The installation of the Akasa integral is the same for all its models of that name. So if you already own one of these, setting up a second one should be a breeze. It is good to see that Akasa keeps it consistent in many aspects. The data cables for both IDE and SATA are connected right of the bat. While unplugging the IDE poses no problem, the SATA is much harder to detach. I was not able to unplug it, as I was afraid to apply the necessary force to take it off.
You can use the drive with SATA and IDE drives. The power connector can be unplugged so that you can use which ever you need. the SATA power connector is a bit long, as it is located further away than the 12V Molex variant.

The chip of the PCB is located on the bottom. I took it apart to see what chip it was using. The label on the controller was so bad that I could not decipher the manufacturer, let alone the model used.
Installing the hard drive is quite easy, but not screw-less. It is just like installing a drive inside a normal computer case: connect the cables and fasten four screws to secure the drive in place. After that just slide it into place and secure the cover by the two outside screws and you are done.