Moving on to the IB-366StU3+B, the consistent graphical design will once again clue you in to the manufactures. The pack itself is of course larger than that of the 116StU3, but the distinctive white with blue band is still present. Once again the product you're buying is clearly visible, and Icy Box have ensured that the main features including compatible disk sizes (3.5" only in this case) and the interface types on drive and PC end. Icy Box have also ensured that there is plenty of space around the enclosure itself, so there's little chance of the aluminium exterior being scratched.

Technical Specifications



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Unlike the IB-116StU3-B the IB-366StU3+B is a true enclosure, surrounding the whole of the drive and providing some measure of protection when on the move. The enclosure's chassis is a sturdy 2mm thick aluminium alloy with a hard-wearing textured finish; not quite the brush aluminium you might be expecting from the specification but slightly more resistant to fingerprints. When in use the chassis may sit on the provided stand - an arc of plastic with rubber feet which will provide some level of noise dampening during operation - or lay flat if you're comfortable with the vibration.

Fronting the enclosure is a plastic door with eject button and blue/red LED at the top. When the button is pressed the door swings open hinged from the bottom, revealing a tray and tongue mechanism. At the other end of the tray is the SATA power and data connection, while a large spring and spring-loaded metal bar is intended to aid extraction from the enclosure.

At the rear are the connectivity points for USB 3.0, 12V DC power and a fairly stealthy on/off power switch. Note the USB 3.0 type B socket, a design that is backwards compatible with USB 2.0; thank goodness they've avoided the much more fragile micro-USB 3.0 connection. Once again Icy Box have supplied a true USB 3.0 cable rather than utilising a cheaper alternative or requiring an additional purchase from the end-user. A 12V, 2A transformer is integrated into the UK 3-pin plug, and will reduce the space taken up both in the desk and in any travel satchels.

An eSATA blanking plate indicates that the backplate on this model is also reused by other enclosure designs, but it's not a factor with the IB-366StU3+B. At the top and bottom are ventilation holes, which should help to keep normally quite toasty mechanical drives cool. The fanless design is entirely passive, and so heat diffusion from quite warm 3.5" drives will be an important factor in assessing value.

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Inserting and extracting drives from the IB-366StU3+B is extremely simple and, as mentioned, toolless. Upon opening the door you're presented with guide rails at the top and bottom which fit a standard one inch thick 3.5" HDD snugly. The backplane connectors are at the top-right, and you will want to ensure that the drive is in the correct orientation. Once the drive is 90% inside the enclosure you will feel the resistance of the spring, at which point you press firmly on the top and close the door firmly. The guide rails and spring-loaded mechanism inside ensures that everything remains tight.

The status LED is solid blue when powered on, and purple when the HDD is in operation. Unlike the larger IB-3662 reviewed later there is no indication of the drive being in sleep/low power mode, but it's less of an importance in single-bay caddies. As an indicator of activity and power state it's adequate, no more no less.

During operation we found that the stand did a fair job of reducing vibration from the drive, whilst the enclosure gripped the drive tight enough to eliminate any movement within the chassis. The dampening through the stand wasn't quite enough to eliminate resonating effects fully - the particular drive we used interacts with the test station's desk quite aggressively - but it does do a much more creditable role than many other enclosures we have used.

Despite the challenging noise characteristics of our 3.5" mechanical drive the IB-366 did sterling work to ensure that all we heard was the odd whir and click; furthermore whilst the drive was in sleep mode the enclosure was totally silent. Similarly the exterior of the drive never became uncomfortably or dangerously hot even during long operation, indicating a very cool balance of heat extraction through the perforation at the rear and the chassis as a whole.

UASP

The IB-366StU3+B supports the USB Attached SCSI Protocol (UASP) specification, which addresses some of the failings of the older USB bulk-order transport (BOT) definition. Chief among the improvements are the enabling of out-of-order completion and NCQ over USB, reducing USB overheads both in terms of bandwidth and CPU processing. Icy Box claim that this allows the enclosure to reach transfer speeds of 400MB/s with an SSD, although you will typically need a 2.5" to 3.5" form factor converter to allow such a drive to be inserted into the enclosure securely.

UASP is most useful for situations where you are utilising the external drive as a true workhorse drive rather than sequential file transfer. Benchmarks show that the performance of the enclosure and drive will scale with queue depth; that doesn't happen with standard USB BOT protocols.

Unfortunately, to make use of UASP both the USB device and the host USB controller need to be compatible, which in terms of motherboards only began to be phased in at the Z68 era. Hardware support for UASP is not universal even in modern generations due to licensing costs, making it necessary to check with your motherboard vendor for compatibility. At the driver level Windows 8 supports UASP natively, whilst we believe Windows 7 still requires third party support from the motherboard/USB host device manufacturer.

Some motherboard manufacturers have propriety technologies which accelerate the speed of the drive when performing more demanding tasks, but they are generally inferior to UASP. However they have the benefit of working with almost all USB 3.0 storage devices. They're good in a pinch, but obviously not ideal if you have the potential for better.

For more information on UASP we recommend the following short guide provided by ASUS, who have pioneered both incorporating UASP into their motherboards and documenting compatible models:

ASUS - What is UASP?

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Overall the enclosure is excellent. UASP enclosures remain a relative rarity, such that users cannot gain maximum use from USB 3.0's potential. The IB-366StU3+B does offer that, but at a price: the greatest benefits can be had only when an SSD is installed, and that mandates a 2.5" form factor. 2.5" to 3.5" form factor converters do exist, but they will typically add another £15-£20 to the solution; a simple tray adapter will not be sufficient due to the spring-loaded docking mechanism.

With the above noted, we still found the build quality to be very good, and the toolless mechanism to be quite robust. You will need to stabilise it with a second hand before inserting and removing the drive, but that's really par for the course. Only the stand is a genuine worry as the support struts are quite vulnerable to being bent out of shape if care isn't taken when packing it away.