When you say "boxes" do you mean old PC cases? If so, these will not do as you intend. External cases have a controller which interfaces with the hard drive just as a motherboard does. The firewire or USB just ports data from one place to another. But, if you have enough parts to make an entire old computer you can network it with your laptop and use it just for storage. Otherwise, you will need enclosures for your drives. There are "server" type externals as well but these get pricy.
hey, im trying to use some of my old parts (prolly mostly 40g hard drives) to give me more storage/free up the main one, ive been reasearching some online and see single enclosures and one double enclosure to put my old hds in, i also have some old pc boxes(not right word i know) laying around,and was wondering if i could make a box with like 3-4 hard drives in it, i know id need a power source, got some of those laying around too, ill need some way to connect it, id like it to be at least fast enough to have this thing hooked up to my laptop(box probaly stashed under the desk with a couple cooling fans)and be able to have my itunes library on the box and be able to listen to it, is this possible?(firewire?) i dont have lotsa cash but have a bunch of parts, i know they make cables to connect to ide from firewire, can i use one of those to fasten up multiple drives simultaneously? thanks alot, i dont know if trading is allowed on here but i have a bunch of 386/486(vintage lol...) parts i would trade for one of those cables, also looking for a firewire/usb2.0 card, i dont know if someone on here could manufacture a cable to do what i need if they dont exist, im open to suggestions, thanks alot!

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