Does anybody know if the Pegasus2 R5 is configurable for two pairs of RAID 0 (that is, four drives with two separate RAID 0 pairs) ?
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Drobo or promise 2?
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I don't know if anybody is still wondering about relative noise levels, but I can attest that the CalDigit T3 is probably the quietest and least objectionable (to me at least) of all the units that I have tried. I would rate their noise levels as follows:
WD MyBook (silent - no fans)
CalDigit T3 (Quietest w/fan)
OWC Mercury Elite Pro Duo (smaller fan so higher pitched)
G-Technology G-Drive (loud drive access)
Drobo 5D (very low steady hum + loud drive access)
OWC Mercury Elite Pro Qx2 (might have been a bad fan but REALLY loud!)
I have been wondering how the Promise Pegasus2 R4 compares to the above. I just got the Drobo and expect that I will keep it but the R4 is the same price so I should compare it, but quiet is important to me, and the Drobo is about as loud as I can tolerate.
WD MyBook (silent - no fans)
CalDigit T3 (Quietest w/fan)
OWC Mercury Elite Pro Duo (smaller fan so higher pitched)
G-Technology G-Drive (loud drive access)
Drobo 5D (very low steady hum + loud drive access)
OWC Mercury Elite Pro Qx2 (might have been a bad fan but REALLY loud!)
I have been wondering how the Promise Pegasus2 R4 compares to the above. I just got the Drobo and expect that I will keep it but the R4 is the same price so I should compare it, but quiet is important to me, and the Drobo is about as loud as I can tolerate.
My Drobo Gen2 is louder than my Pegasus 2 R4. - both have 4 x 2TB 7200 rpm drives in them.
Pegasus 2 has a mild hum, about the same as my dell i7 xps sitting idle.
I can't hear my nMP at all ( even though it is closest to my ears), is the quietest of the 4 devices.
Pegasus 2 has a mild hum, about the same as my dell i7 xps sitting idle.
I can't hear my nMP at all ( even though it is closest to my ears), is the quietest of the 4 devices.
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Thank you for the comparison. I think the Drobo Gen 2 and 5D are probably similar. Unfortunately Apple says 1-2 months delivery for the Pegasus2 R4.
CalDigit external drives
I have been using CalDigit storage for years now. Many of my drives here at the university running 24/7 RAID 1 for YEARS without problem. I personally have owned VRs and others without a problem ever.
When you call them you talk with the guys that actually build them and test them before they send them out. In my opinion the best stuff you can buy. If they state a DB level on a fan believe it.
These are the guys that used to build G drives until they wanted to build something better.
CalDigit every time. Going to buy a T3 for my nMacPro
And NO, I do not work for them.
I have been using CalDigit storage for years now. Many of my drives here at the university running 24/7 RAID 1 for YEARS without problem. I personally have owned VRs and others without a problem ever.
When you call them you talk with the guys that actually build them and test them before they send them out. In my opinion the best stuff you can buy. If they state a DB level on a fan believe it. These are the guys that used to build G drives until they wanted to build something better.
CalDigit every time. Going to buy a T3 for my nMacPro
And NO, I do not work for them.
Drobo just announced a 3rd Gen 4-drive unit. It has USB3, a built-in backup battery, choice of 1 or 2 drive redundancy, faster processor (4X faster rebuild) and Time Machine customizations. Best of all, you can migrate your drives from earlier Gen without rebuilding.
Yes it is. The configuration utility allows you to setup multiple RAID volumes. So 2 pairs of RAID 0, 2 pairs of RAID 1, one of each, or a 3 disk RAID 5 and a separate disk in JBOD...they are all possibilities.
I have a Drobo 5D connected to my nMP. I haven't noticed any noise, but there is a fair amount of ambient noise here. I did have one problem with it. At first, it would randomly disconnect from the nMP when connected with thunderbolt. About a month ago, Drobo came out with a firmware upgrade that seems to have corrected this. Overall, I'm happy with my Drobo.
I retuned my Drobo 5D and ordered a Pegasus2 R4 from the Apple Store (they say 1 month delivery). The Drobo worked very well and was pretty quiet (louder than the CalDigit T3 but much quieter than the OWC Qx2, hoping the R4 is in between the 2) but the speeds just kept bugging me. I hated to return the Drobo in a way since i got a very good deal on it, but ultimately the speedier system won out.
I also considered an Areca 5026 but just could not justify the extra expense, plus the reports that I have read say that it is louder than the others. Of course I have a long time to wait so I could still order the Areca if someone here thinks it is worth the extra $150. Is the Areca as configurable as the R4 (doesn't have to be all 1 RAID unit)? IOW can you configure it as 2 RAID 0 arrays, or 1 RAID1 and 2 JBOD?
I also considered an Areca 5026 but just could not justify the extra expense, plus the reports that I have read say that it is louder than the others. Of course I have a long time to wait so I could still order the Areca if someone here thinks it is worth the extra $150. Is the Areca as configurable as the R4 (doesn't have to be all 1 RAID unit)? IOW can you configure it as 2 RAID 0 arrays, or 1 RAID1 and 2 JBOD?
Be very careful with Drobo. I've seen way too many people have a bad experience with them. Whilst good reviews will outweigh bad, the ratio of Drobo bad reviews to their competitors are high (my opinion, can't back that up with figures).
I can think of two high profile photographers (one US, one UK) who have abandoned Drobo after losing a significant amount of data (yup, even big time pro's don't understand the necessity of backing up).....do a search for 'Drobo lost my data' and check my own Web site (http://www.chno.co.uk) for a case study.
The other negative on Drobo kit is performance - because of the way they work read/write rates will not be comparable with a regular RAID5 array.
In terms of TB2 devices, these will start to appear late Q2/Q3 of this year as the components become available to manufacturers. I know some of them already have prototypes working and are it's just a matter of time.
I can think of two high profile photographers (one US, one UK) who have abandoned Drobo after losing a significant amount of data (yup, even big time pro's don't understand the necessity of backing up).....do a search for 'Drobo lost my data' and check my own Web site (http://www.chno.co.uk) for a case study.
The other negative on Drobo kit is performance - because of the way they work read/write rates will not be comparable with a regular RAID5 array.
In terms of TB2 devices, these will start to appear late Q2/Q3 of this year as the components become available to manufacturers. I know some of them already have prototypes working and are it's just a matter of time.
Well wonder of wonders my Promise R4 diskless already shipped from Apple and is supposed to be here tomorrow. It says signature required but they sent it UPS so I expect they will just leave it on the front porch like they always do (UPS has a habit of leaving things without even ringing or knocking).