I thought I would update an old series of posts I had about hard disk drive selectors. The previous solutions I had covered were all for IDE drives. Although you could buy adapters for them to work with SATA drives it isn’t worth the effort in my opinion. Indus Technologies does make SATA selectors that allow up to 4 drives, but they are quite expensive (their cheapest model is $179.95). Rumor is that they had a patent on IDE HDD selectors and that killed the RomTec Trios and the Trios II, as well as the Combox (which seems to have finally sold out on eBay). I’m not sure if they hold any patents that would prevent anyone from legally making any SATA selector products or not.
I was able to find a device called the SATA Switch also known as the SW-SATA2X4.

SATA Switch SW-SATA2X4
Here are some of it’s features:
- Uses a 3½” bay
- Supports SATA II (thus is SATA I compatible)
- Supports up to 4 drives
- Controls the drives by only powering the one selected
- LED to show which drive is selected
- Can be locked with a key to prevent someone changing drives
- Costs only $89.99
I haven’t been able to figure out the original manufacturer of this device, but it’s being sold on a number of sites.
I’ve also come across a guide on how to make your own SATA HDD Switch. The author also sells this homemade device for $29.95 and has another version that supports switching between 2 sets of RAID 0 or RAID 1 drives for $32.95. It doesn’t have LEDs or a button to press, it works with a toggle switch (although you might want a shield for it so you don’t accidentally bump into it).
(HDD) Hard Disk Drive Selectors
- NickLock – (HDD) Hard Disk Drive Selectors Part 1
- Romtec Trios – (HDD) Hard Disk Drive Selectors Part 2
- Romtec Trios II – (HDD) Hard Disk Drive Selectors Part 3
- Combox – (HDD) Hard Disk Drive Selectors Part 4
- Alternatives and Summary – (HDD) Hard Disk Drive Selectors Part 5
- SATA Switches – (HDD) Hard Disk Drive Selectors Part 6