It has been some time since our last review of an iStar product, the T5F-SS SATA Hard Drive Rack. That product allowed you to install a 3½" SATA hard drive into an external 5¼" drive bay so that the drive could be accessed and hot-swapped from outside the computer case. The product we have for review today, the BPU-2535v2, provides a similar type function, allowing you to install up to two 2½" SATA hard drives or solid state drives into an external 3½" drive bay. Like the T5F-SS the drive slots are hot-swappable and feature key locks to prevent someone from walking off with your data.


With the growing popularity of SSDs and their frequent use in desktop machines, which are not traditionally setup for 2½" drive mounting, adapters like the BPU-2535 are needed to provide a solid method of installation. The fact that this iStar unit can fit not just one but two 2½" drives into one 3½" bay will be sure to please those enthusiasts who are using dual SSDs in a RAID configuration. In fact the BPU-2535v2-R version of this product provides built-in hardware RAID functionality, although most desktop motherboards these days do have RAID capability onboard.

Continue as we test out the iStar 2½" to 3½" drive adapter.