How do you build a home-made external hard drive?

I've been browsing the market, looking for a good drive when I came to the idea that I could build my own. Unfortunately, there aren't any clear internet articles that I could find on how to build a drive and what parts would be needed.
So, How do you build an external hard drive? Please reply with the parts needed, places to find them, and assembly directions.

Kappy wrote:
However, for an external drive there's no real benefit to using SATA drives
There are very real benefits to avoiding obsolete IDE/PATA technology.
For example, check newegg.com's selection of HDs in the 500GB & up
category. Score: SATA 37, PATA 7. ....and at 1TB: SATA 9, PATA 0.
While you're at it, compare prices (as best you can). SATA drives are
the same price or less expensive than the few surviving PATAs -- and
there are no PATA equivalents to the latest generation high-performance
SATA drives. The "Great PATA Extinction" started several years ago.
... because the Firewire interface isn't nearly as fast as the drive.
Nonsense. There are only a handful of drives fast enough to saturate
a firewire 800 link -- and then, only when the drive is nearly empty.
AFAIK, there are NO existing high-capacity HDDs (500GB & up) fast
enough to saturate a FW800 link when the drive is half full. Sustained
transfer rates drop by about 50% as the drive fills from the outermost
to the innermost tracks.
BTW, here are two SATA enclosures that feature quick-swap slide-in
drive trays. Assembly is a snap -- no disassembly required, just four
screws to attach the drive to the tray, then slide it in. Extra trays are
$19 each, so you can keep several drives conveniently "on tap."
[Icy Dock MB559UEB-1S USB/FW800 @ $80|http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817198006]
[Icy Dock MB559UEA-1S USB/FW400 @ $45|http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817198004]
[Icy Dock MB559TRAY spare tray @ $19|http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817994038]
BTW #2, a FW800 enclosure works fine on a FW400 link -- all you need
is a cheap 6-pin to 9-pin adapter cable (about $5 from newegg.com).
Looby

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How do you build a home-made external hard drive?

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