(^352) PC Hardware: A Beginner’s Guide
Mounting Rails
There are two methods to mount a device in a drive bay, internal or external. One is the use
of drive rails and the other is mounting the device directly to the walls of the drive bay.
Drive rails These are just about what they sound like: two strips of metal
that are mounted to the sides of the disk drive. With the drive rails attached,
a device is placed into the drive bay with the rails sliding into notches or facets
on the sidewalls of the bay. The device is suspended from the rails, which are
now secured to the walls of the bay.
Sidewall mounting This is now a common feature of most newer cases. It
involves attaching the disk drive to the sidewalls of the drive bay. Screws are
placed through holes in the sidewall that match the standard placement and
spacing of prethreaded holes on the sides of the disk drive. The drive is solidly
attached to the chassis.
A newer feature on system cases is snap-in cages for internal drive bays, like those
shown previously in Figure 15-8. To install a hard disk in an internal cage, you remove
the cage, install the drive, and sna pthe cage and drive assembly back into place. If you
use a cage to install an internal drive, think ahead to the cables and connectors that may
be added later and the process that will be needed to remove the drive for servicing.
System Case Styles
The two basic styles of PC cases are thetower caseand thedesktop case. Figure 15-10 shows
a family of PC cases from Enlight Corporation that includes both tower and desktop
styles. The tall, thin cases are the tower style, and the flat, boxy one is the deskto pcase
style. At one time, the two styles were very much alike and, in fact, the tower came about
when people trying to save space turned their desktop PCs on their sides. Today, these
case styles are very distinctive because of their internal designs, the way the case is at-
tached, and the features each supports.Tower versus Deskto p.
Which case style is right for a particular setting really depends on how it is to be used
and the setting itself. Tower cases are designed to sit on the floor or large shelves. Desk-
tops are designed to sit on desks, which is why they are called desktops. A tower case
does free u pdeskto ps pace, but if the s pace on the floor is limited, it can be in the way,
get kicked, or worse. Deskto pcases are a lot smaller then they were when the demand
for nondeskto punits first grew.
The two case styles really aren’t interchangeable, despite the claims of the vendors
selling conversion kits. Turning a deskto pPC on its side changes the orientation of the
removable media drives, namely the CD-ROM, DVD, and other such drives. If you wish
to move from a deskto pto a tower, or vice versa, it is recommended that you purchase
the appropriate case and convert the PC into the new case.