Drive bay
Standardized bays for adding drives and accessories to computers.
Last updated
Chris Whippet · CC BY-SA 2.0
The dimensions of 5.25-inch and 3.5-inch drive bays are specified in SFF standards incorporated into EIA-741 and EIA-740, respectively.[1][2] The width of a 2.5-inch bay is 2¾ inches, its depth is 3.955 inches, and its height can be between 5 mm and ¾ inch.[3]
Quick Facts
- Common form factors
- 5.25-inch
- 3.5-inch
- 2.5-inch
- rarely 1.8-inch
- Most common bay today
- 3.5-inch
Facts from the source article.
How it changed
Early drive bays followed the SFF-8501 specification for 5.25-inch floppy drives, later standardized as EIA-741.[1] The 3.5-inch bay dimensions were later standardized in SFF-8300 and SFF-8301, incorporated into EIA-740.[2] Higher-capacity 2.5-inch drives, such as the Velociraptor and those above 2 TB, use a 15 mm height.[3] The bezel size of 5.25-inch optical drives is also standardized, not just the body size.[1]
Laptop drive bays are typically no taller than 9.5 mm, which is less than the 15 mm maximum specification.[3]
What the maker and period sources say
The SFF-8501 specification v1.1 defines the dimensions of a 5.25-inch floppy drive.[1] The SFF-8301 specification v1.4 defines the dimensions of a 3.5-inch drive.[2] According to the WD VelociRaptor Workstation Hard Drives datasheet, 2.5-inch drives can have a height between 7 mm and 15 mm.[3] Laptop makers predominantly choose 9.51 mm tall drives, as stated in the WD VelociRaptor datasheet.[3]
The WD VelociRaptor datasheet specifies that 2.5-inch VelociRaptor drives and certain models with over 2 TB capacity are 15 mm tall.[3]
References
- Wikipedia, "Drive bay" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: SFF-8501 Specification v1.1 SFF Committee. p. 1 Retrieved on 2008-04-13 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Drive bay" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: SFF-8301 Specification v1.4 SFF Committee. p. 1 Retrieved on 2008-04-13 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Drive bay" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: datasheet: WD VelociRaptor Workstation Hard Drives (2.5-inch version), Page 2 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Drive bay (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Drive bay (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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