It is 3,5 " and would fit in one of my 5,25" slots. I've seen
pictures
where it shows that it is to be in "the middle" with some space to
the
left and right. I've found inf. on how to mount is approx as a scsi
harddisk.

Does anyone know what a front panel fitting for mounting it is
called?
Should there be any fans on the both sides? Is there any particular
name
for a complete mounting kit with front?

Best regards

Thomas Nitsch

On 2008-06-20, Thomas-n <thomas@tnitsch.com> wrote:
> It is 3,5 " and would fit in one of my 5,25" slots. I've seen pictures
> where it shows that it is to be in "the middle" with some space to
> the left and right. I've found inf. on how to mount is approx as a scsi
> harddisk.
>
> Does anyone know what a front panel fitting for mounting it is called?
> Should there be any fans on the both sides? Is there any particular
> name for a complete mounting kit with front?

I'm not too familiar with that particular drive, but the form factor
it seems to be (3.5" wide by 1.6" tall or so; aka a 3.5" `half height'
device) isn't that uncommon. Unfortunately the mounting kits that
you'll see at CompUSA are mostly for 3.5" low-profile (~0.75") devices
like floppies and Zip drives and won't take a half-height device.

Typically you get the mounting rails with the drive from the mfr., or
at least that's what I've always done. If you can't get them from
Sony or if it's prohibitively expensive, you may be able to use rails
for some other brand of DAT (assuming the mounting holes on the drive
are in the same place, which you'd want to check on).

My recollection isn't that great but I think that the rails came with
"plugs" that took up the space on either side of the DAT in the 5.25"
half-height bay. There weren't any fans or anything in the rails;
they were purely mechanical -- just there to take up the space and
hold the drive in place, basically.

As for what you could use as search terms, I'd start with "DAT
mounting bracket" (since DAT/DDS drives are probably the most common
half-height 3.5" devices that get mounted internally but need
front-panel access) and go from there. A quick search pulled up
brackets for a few other drives (which might or might not work,
depending on where the Sony's screw holes are):

<http://pc.pcconnection.com/1/1/10670...ntum-certance-
seagate-dat-mounting-bracket-2-required-mtgs.html>

That's really all you're talking about -- some bent pieces of sheet
metal to hold the drive in the center of the bay.

Hope this helps.

-Kadin.