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I bought a new 2.5" hard drive that i put into a 1u server. I first screwed it into the hot swappable mount with screws then plugged it in. The hot swappable mount (image attached) came with a little rubber rectangle thing with one adhesive side.

I'm new to server hardware and building them. But I couldn't find any use for this? Does anyone know what they are used for? I was thinking it might go between the HD and the swappable mount to stop vibration or something however it doesn't fit there.

Rubber bit:

enter image description here

enter image description here

johhny B
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1 Answers1

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It's a spacer for especially thin drives.

@blaughw adds that 2.5" spec allows for a thickness between 7 and 15 mm. So everything in the lower range of that would need a spacer.

mzhaase
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  • Ahh cool thanks, I thought by not using this I was doing something wrong... Cheers mzhaase – johhny B Mar 01 '17 at 09:25
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    You might want to keep it around, they are not always included. Especially external HDD cases are a good use case. – mzhaase Mar 01 '17 at 09:31
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    @mzhaaze I agree. Keep it. I've never been able to find a place I could buy them from when I needed one. I had to resort to cutting pieces from a mouse-pad. That works too but looks a bit shoddy :-) – Tonny Mar 01 '17 at 10:34
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    The 2.5" drive spec allows for thicknesses from 7mm to 15mm. In my experience, most are 7mm or 9.5mm, hence the use of a spacer. Personally I have never seen a 15mm height drive, but apparently Velociraptors used this form factor. – blaughw Mar 01 '17 at 18:42
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    @blaughw Yes, they were particularly thick, but aren't really considered a 2.5" drive since it had to stay in it's heatsink, which made it a 3.5" drive. – SnakeDoc Mar 01 '17 at 19:43
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    @blaughw [This](https://www.shop.bt.com/products/seagate-4tb-barracuda-2-5--sata-6gb-s-128mb-5400rpm-hard-drive-st4000lm024-CGZ9.html) Drive is 15mm, if you look at the spec at the bottom (description says 7mm) – Roshan Bhumbra Mar 01 '17 at 20:40
  • @blaughw AIUI 15KRPM SAS server drives are often 15mm 2.5 inch. – Peter Green Mar 07 '17 at 12:55