Anyone here using an OWC Thunderbay enclosure?

[WilliamG]

Regarding the loud drives, I did switch my user directory back to the iMac's internal 1TB drive. I hear the same amount of read/write activity but it is so much quieter than the Thunderbay. I cannot emphasize enough just how loud the seek and write noise is with this enclosure and the four 4TB HGST NAS drives. It really does not seem to be head parking.

I might try adding the RAID to the privacy area in Spotlight but that defeats a lot of the purpose of even using the RAID for a user directory.

Seriously considering surrounding the shelf the enclosure sits on under desk with 2" acoustic egg crate foam to silence it/deaden some of the noise.

Wondering if worth the effort. Even though the RAID is benchmarking at 5x faster than the internal HDD, I'm not sure I'm seeing that in real world use. I still have Yosemite and applications on a 128gb SSD attached via Thunderbolt.

E

You may want to just send it back and get different drives. My Seagate 5TB disks x8 (yes, 8) in RAID 5 are astonishingly quiet (picture included). You can barely hear them, and I sit right by them in my movie room. The only sound I hear it the sound of them being "on," which is 100% background noise, and never any whirry/grindy nonsense. And I'm VERY sensitive to these things.

That kind of stuff will drive you mad otherwise, potentially, so path of least resistance might be more ideal for you.

Also, RAID 5 is really, REALLY poor for small random read/random write, so I'd recommend not using it for a user directory anyway. I'm not even kidding when I tell you you can get benchmark results in the 5-10MB/s range of read and write when it comes to lots and lots of small files. Just try copying a large folder of tiny files off your RAID 5 to an external/internal SSD. You'll see how miserably slow it will be. RAID 5 comes into its own with larger files where read/write speeds are excellent.

Yes, I know I need to dust my shelves better. I am man. It's just my nature to be half-arsed about cleaning.

 

[eoren1]

Thanks for the input on RAID5 for user directory.

The drives have been silent since I stopped using it as a user folder.

I may just expand the main volume to allow for more of my user folder data (documents, downloads) to reside on RAID5 and leave the small files on an SSD.

Thoughts on using a 500GB volume for a scratch drive for Photoshop???

 

[WilliamG]

Thanks for the input on RAID5 for user directory.

The drives have been silent since I stopped using it as a user folder.

I may just expand the main volume to allow for more of my user folder data (documents, downloads) to reside on RAID5 and leave the small files on an SSD.

Thoughts on using a 500GB volume for a scratch drive for Photoshop???

No issue with that. You could pick up a Samsung 850 Evo 500GB for reasonably cheap these days if SSD is something you want to do. I have one of those in a Seagate Backup Plus 2.5" Thunderbolt enclosure as my boot drive and it's very fast... ~350MB/s write and ~400MB/s read. Much better than the (quite frankly) very annoying fusion disk. Plus I get the benefit of being able to grab it and use it as a boot disk for my other Macs if this main iMac goes down, without missing a beat.

 

[Msbeezy]

Got my OWC mini and will be adding two more Samsung 840evo (on order) ..have two already in raid0 installed..they run about 700..
Drive is as mentioned..not silent..not extremely loud but I do have replacement fan ordered

Also in same oder got the full size OWC empty case..which I find quite quiet...but I will swap fan along with the mini..currently running 2 4tb WDblacks and 2 2tb Samsung..no raid yet

Will be ordering one more full size empty case for 4 tb Samsung in raid 5

Overall quite good cases...sorta flimsy fronts on larger..key assembly ugly and soon to get black plasti dip..funny but it appears both cases use the same key..



Will post performance values when all are complete

edit:
Well I replaced the fans in the max and mini...huge improvement in the mini..darn near silent...the max had a Zolman which was not that bad to start with and the new NF-B9 does not seem much quieter...so if your unit comes with a Zolman (sp)..I wouldn't bother to swap..

 

[Msbeezy]

I'm happy to report Blackmagic (I know I know it's not the best but I can reference it from previous tests) performance of 1200-1350 ish on the empty 4 840evo 1tb drives in raid0 and yes it's smokin quick..

 

[thetoness]

Got my OWC mini and will be adding two more Samsung 840evo (on order) ..have two already in raid0 installed..they run about 700..
Drive is as mentioned..not silent..not extremely loud but I do have replacement fan ordered

Also in same oder got the full size OWC empty case..which I find quite quiet...but I will swap fan along with the mini..currently running 2 4tb WDblacks and 2 2tb Samsung..no raid yet

Will be ordering one more full size empty case for 4 tb Samsung in raid 5

Overall quite good cases...sorta flimsy fronts on larger..key assembly ugly and soon to get black plasti dip..funny but it appears both cases use the same key..



Will post performance values when all are complete

edit:
Well I replaced the fans in the max and mini...huge improvement in the mini..darn near silent...the max had a Zolman which was not that bad to start with and the new NF-B9 does not seem much quieter...so if your unit comes with a Zolman (sp)..I wouldn't bother to swap..

Why did you go with the Samsung instead of OWC brand that comes with the mini?

 

[Msbeezy]

I already had 2 of the Evo drives

 

[WilliamG]

edit:
Well I replaced the fans in the max and mini...huge improvement in the mini..darn near silent...the max had a Zolman which was not that bad to start with and the new NF-B9 does not seem much quieter...so if your unit comes with a Zolman (sp)..I wouldn't bother to swap..

I respectfully, vehemently disagree. There's a night and day difference between the NF-B9 with the ULN adapter, and the Zalman fan. Which adapter, if any, were you using with the NF-B9?

 

[Msbeezy]

I respectfully, vehemently disagree. There's a night and day difference between the NF-B9 with the ULN adapter, and the Zalman fan. Which adapter, if any, were you using with the NF-B9?

Hmm..please expand on this adapter..I simply replaced the fan assembly solely

Edit: Following a certain degree of research I consider myself educated on your comment WilliamG..I'll try the blue

 

[WilliamG]

Hmm..please expand on this adapter..I simply replaced the fan assembly solely

Edit: Following a certain degree of research I consider myself educated on your comment WilliamG..I'll try the blue

You didn't use any adapter?! Oh good grief! Yes, use the blue one.

 

[Msbeezy]

You didn't use any adapter?! Oh good grief! Yes, use the blue one.

Yes a big improvement..thanks for this

 

[WilliamG]

Yes a big improvement..thanks for this

Good! It should be essentially inaudible from several inches away. You can still feel the airflow through the front door.

 

[Msbeezy]

Good! It should be essentially inaudible from several inches away. Your can still feel the airflow through the front door.

Yes it's much improved..the hds whirling is actually louder than the fan

 

[thetoness]

I already had 2 of the Evo drives

If you were starting over, without having the EVO drives, would you go with the OWC drives or would you just get the naked TB4 Mini box and populate it with different drives. If so, which ones?

 

[Msbeezy]

If you were starting over, without having the EVO drives, would you go with the OWC drives or would you just get the naked TB4 Mini box and populate it with different drives. If so, which ones?

I don't know much about the OWC ssd's as I've never used them. The Samsungs are slightly faster (on paper) and much cheaper (I have to purchase OWC online in CDN funds plus shipping/exchange and duty)..I would still go with the EVO as I did .. with the 850 pro my second choice..again more $$.
Originally I looked at the Lacie 1TB SSD Little Big Disc TB2 for the speed at +- 1300 but for about $1500 CDN for 1TB I now have 4TB at about the same speed for about $2500 and much more versatile..just my .02 cents

 

[monokakata]

I'm going to piggyback on this one (in which I've already posted) rather than starting a new thread.

On or about the time I installed 10.10.2, my Thunderbay IV stopped sleeping when I put my retina iMac to sleep.

I hasten to say that it cannot be the OWC box's fault, because the GDrive TB drive plugged into the same iMac won't sleep either.

So . . . I'm hoping that somebody among those watching the OWC thread has experienced (and fixed) this. I've done PRAM and SMC resets.

Last night I ejected all the disks in the Thunderbay, and powered it down. Kernel panic.

These are my first TB peripherals, so I have no experience with TB problems. The OWC's on an Apple cable and the GDrive's on the cable that came with the OWC drive.

 

[Msbeezy]

I'm going to piggyback on this one (in which I've already posted) rather than starting a new thread.

On or about the time I installed 10.10.2, my Thunderbay IV stopped sleeping when I put my retina iMac to sleep.

I hasten to say that it cannot be the OWC box's fault, because the GDrive TB drive plugged into the same iMac won't sleep either.

So . . . I'm hoping that somebody among those watching the OWC thread has experienced (and fixed) this. I've done PRAM and SMC resets.

Last night I ejected all the disks in the Thunderbay, and powered it down. Kernel panic.

These are my first TB peripherals, so I have no experience with TB problems. The OWC's on an Apple cable and the GDrive's on the cable that came with the OWC drive.

I also experience plenty of kernel panics..when unplugging boxes or turning off power..Apple issue I suspect

 

[hfg]

I'm going to piggyback on this one (in which I've already posted) rather than starting a new thread.

On or about the time I installed 10.10.2, my Thunderbay IV stopped sleeping when I put my retina iMac to sleep.

I hasten to say that it cannot be the OWC box's fault, because the GDrive TB drive plugged into the same iMac won't sleep either.

So . . . I'm hoping that somebody among those watching the OWC thread has experienced (and fixed) this. I've done PRAM and SMC resets.

Last night I ejected all the disks in the Thunderbay, and powered it down. Kernel panic.

These are my first TB peripherals, so I have no experience with TB problems. The OWC's on an Apple cable and the GDrive's on the cable that came with the OWC drive.

Sorry I don't have the solution for you!

I have a SSD RiMac with the Thunderbay IV attached containing a couple of hard disks (SSD clone, MediaData, and TimeMachine) and my Windows 8 SSD. I have upgraded to 10.10.2 and the Thunderbay IV is sleeping & waking as expected along with the iMac. I have experienced no error messages or Kernel Panics so far.

 

[Msbeezy]

My two enclosures (IV and mini) both appear to be waking/sleeping properly..they just crash my new 5K imac even with discs ejected if I unplug the thunderbolt cable or switch power off the larger thunderbay IV..dunno but no biggie for me as I always leave everything on/running 24/7

 

[hfg]

My two enclosures (IV and mini) both appear to be waking/sleeping properly..they just crash my new 5K imac even with discs ejected if I unplug the thunderbolt cable or switch power off the larger thunderbay IV..dunno but no biggie for me as I always leave everything on/running 24/7

OK ... I just now ejected all 4 logical disks that are in my Thunderbay IV ... waited a moment (the blue light was still on) ... and pulled the Thunderbolt plug on the RiMac end! I'm still here.

Plugged the Thunderbolt cable back into the RiMac and all the drives remounted with no problems ... and no Kernel Panics.

 

[Msbeezy]

Okay I had to try a few things..

Firstly..thunderbay IV is at end of TB loop from thunder bay mini which is fed from iMac..
With all drives ejected I can remove any TB plugs with no issues...it's only (apparently) at this time that when I switch off the thunder bay IV max that I get a KP..and btw the mini does not have an on/off switch so next I will try yanking the power cord on the mini and see what happens,,,

Did not crash..so I have no idea what is going down here but I'd think it's a Yosemite issue..dunno

 

[monokakata]

Thanks, msbreezy and hfg. It's good to know that someone else can duplicate the "turn off Thunderbay get panic" thing.

Last night I plugged the GDrive into my rMBP and put the rMBP to sleep . . . the GDrive slept. But . . . when I tried it again a couple of minutes later, the GDrive wouldn't sleep. I just tried it again, with the same results: first, OK, second, not OK.

Ejected everything in the Thunderbay and moved the connection to the rMBP, without turning the Thunderbay off.

Won't sleep.

Eject everything, turn Thunderbay off.

Panic (I saved the log if anybody wants to see it).

I suppose I could go back to 10.10.1. I have the download saved.

 

[WilliamG]

FYI, there was an update to SoftRAID 5 today, - version 5.0.6. Apparently fixes a critical RAID 5 rebuild bug, and it's recommended everyone update.

Boy do I NOT feel good when those sorts of updates come out...

I suppose, I feel better being on 5.0.6 now.

----------

OK ... I just now ejected all 4 logical disks that are in my Thunderbay IV ... waited a moment (the blue light was still on) ... and pulled the Thunderbolt plug on the RiMac end! I'm still here.

Plugged the Thunderbolt cable back into the RiMac and all the drives remounted with no problems ... and no Kernel Panics.

I'd definitely seen a few kernel panic ejecting external disks with Yosemite 10.10.1/10.10.2. It's not exclusive to the Thunderbays, though, for those that experience issues. I had my 5K iMac kernel panic when removing a Sandisk Extreme 64GB USB 3.0 stick - formatted HFS.

It's been better behaved since the official 10.10.2 update, but I still get a little nervous when ejecting disks from my iMac! That said, my 2012 Mac mini (where I have 2x Thunderbay 4 devices daisy-chained) is running Mavericks 10.9.5, and has never kernel panic crashed yet.

 

[matreya]

Eject everything, turn Thunderbay off.

Panic (I saved the log if anybody wants to see it).

I've noticed the same thing with my Retina iMac and Thunderbay IV. I'm not sure if it's limited to 10.10.2 or not.

 

[WilliamG]

I've noticed the same thing with my Retina iMac and Thunderbay IV. I'm not sure if it's limited to 10.10.2 or not.

If it was like my kernel panics, I remember it referencing something about the file system in the log. Since it also happened the same way with a USB drive, I'm pretty sure it's not OWC's fault.