SilverStone Raven RVS01

Installation:

Installing any SATA 2.5-inch drive into this enclosure is really quite effortless. Simply flip the lid on the Raven RVS01, slide out the two brackets that secure in the HDD or SSD from the sides, and then lay the drive down into its enclosure. It is that easy. The drive installed here was an OCZ Agility SATA 2.0 120GB SSD.

Linux Compatibility:

Using this tool-less, faux leather enclosure with Ubuntu 9.04 and the Linux 2.6.28 kernel probed to be no problem, regardless of whether it was using the USB 2.0 or eSATA connector. The enclosure and drive worked just fine and everything had performed as expected. For what it's worth, the disk enclosure appeared to be built by Sunplus Technology Co with a part ID of 0x0c25, vendor ID of 0x04fc.

Conclusion:

Usually there is not too much to say about a simple 2.5-inch disk enclosure, but for the SilverStone Raven RVS01 there are a few unique benefits. Beginning with the exterior, it is finished off in faux leather, which is unlike any disk enclosure we have reviewed in the past. The faux leather plus the plastic makes for a very lightweight enclosure while still having a very elegant appearance. This drive also comes apart quite easily, which is quite nice with how easy the drive can actually be accessed. For those like us that swap out hardware quite heavily, this tool-free experience is extremely pleasant. Others may or may not appreciate this benefit, although if you drop the drive it should remain within the enclosure, especially if housed within the included carrying bag. Lastly, there is both USB 2.0 and eSATA support, which makes the connectivity options very nice. At the end of the day, this is yet another very nice SilverStone product.