I want to get you guy's impression of this drive array. It is raid0 only but that is what I am wanting for speed; I will have multiple backups as well. I have an i7 mini with internal ssd and want some fast external storage as well. I bought a G-Drive several years ago and have been very pleased with the speed and quality but it is fw800/usb2 only so I want to get something faster. The user reviews have me scared about reliability of this raid setup. Does anybody here have direct experience with one of these? I am not talking about the TB version her but the few/usb3 version. Thanks.
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G-Technology G-Raid
- Thread starter danny_w
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the LaCie 2big is quite similar with a major advantage, the drives are easily replaced since they are in drawers.
The GRaid must be disassembled to replace or change the drives.
Both are available in 8TB configurations. Smaller configs might also be available so check with your reseller or the Apple online store. I've also seen both in the Apple retail stores.
There is no HW RAID controller inside. Both simply present 2 separate drives to the OS. OS X Disk Utility is used to format the drives as JBOD (two separate drives), RAID-0, or RAID-1.
I have both drives. Performance is similar with the G-RAID using Hitachi drives inside, and the 2big using Seagate.
If you have the budget, LaCie also has the 5big, with 5 drives inside and still using Disk Utility to configure the JBOD or RAID modes.
MacMall frequently has refurbs available for the 2big and 5big. Haven't seen any GRAID deals, though.
The GRaid must be disassembled to replace or change the drives.
Both are available in 8TB configurations. Smaller configs might also be available so check with your reseller or the Apple online store. I've also seen both in the Apple retail stores.
There is no HW RAID controller inside. Both simply present 2 separate drives to the OS. OS X Disk Utility is used to format the drives as JBOD (two separate drives), RAID-0, or RAID-1.
I have both drives. Performance is similar with the G-RAID using Hitachi drives inside, and the 2big using Seagate.
If you have the budget, LaCie also has the 5big, with 5 drives inside and still using Disk Utility to configure the JBOD or RAID modes.
MacMall frequently has refurbs available for the 2big and 5big. Haven't seen any GRAID deals, though.
What about reliability of both drives and controllers? Have you had any issues with either one? G-tech definitely gives the impression that they do hardware raid since they say that the Graid supports raid0 only so that is somewhat misleading. However since I already have a Gdrive it would be nice to get the Graid to match.
EDIT: according to G-tech forums the G-RAID is hardware raid 0 and appears as one disk to OS X.
EDIT: according to G-tech forums the G-RAID is hardware raid 0 and appears as one disk to OS X.
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My bad, had drive confused with another I had.
In any case, the drives are inside, and with the HW RAID controller, you lose flexibility in configuration, limited to RAID-0 only.
I think you will really like that drive. I got the non-TB 4GB version which has hardware raid 0 (I don't think the TB version has it). I think the non-TB G-RAID gets a lot of bad reviews mostly from people that expected it to have raid 1 but never read the description and then they blame the drive.
Well my new G-Raid arrived today and I am bummed! When it (rarely) mounts at all I might be able to copy a few small files to it, but copying a folder causes the system to hang and the disk to eject (using USB3.0, I can't get FW800 to mount at all). Right now it has gotten into a state where it won't mount at all. Thsi is going back tomorrow for a refund and I will probably get either a JBOD box and bare drives or a NewerTech Guardian Maximus; I'd get the OWC Mercury Elite Pro Dual except that it has not been updated to USB 3.0 yet, and FW800 can't take advantage of the speeds. I see that OWC now has a Mercury Elite Pro Dual w/Thunderbolt; has anybody here tried this yet? If so what is the transfer speed in Raid 0 mode?
BTW how is BuyDig for returns?
BTW how is BuyDig for returns?
I just ordered the OWC Mercury Elite Pro Dual w/Thunderbolt (4TB) and will run it on Raid 0 mode. I know it's pricey but thunderbolt is the future, and I didn't want to give G-Tech another try after the G-Raid arrived DOA. I'll probably use my old 3TB G-Drive for a backup for now at least.
It is possible that this is a problem with the USB 3.0 cable.
The Thunderbolt version supports also USB 3.0, AFAIK.
The fan doesn't even turn on now but it did the first time; it is just dead. And yes the OWC has both thunderbolt and USB which is slightly faster according to the only review that I have found. I just today ordered a 4TB version.
OWC Mercury Elite Pro Dual Thunderbolt
Just received my drive this evening, but it is far too cold to try right now after having been on a UPS truck all day. I'll let it warm up and maybe hook it up quickly in the morning before heading to work. Unfortunately I already noticed a silver spot about 1/2" long on the black top edge where the finish has already come off.
Just received my drive this evening, but it is far too cold to try right now after having been on a UPS truck all day. I'll let it warm up and maybe hook it up quickly in the morning before heading to work. Unfortunately I already noticed a silver spot about 1/2" long on the black top edge where the finish has already come off.
G-Raid
I've had a 8TB thunderbolt G-Raid for about 4 months now and its been fairly smooth. I got it of ebay from a local dude who bought it used it for a month and then sold it to me. With a little help from my brother, I reformatted it to raid 0. I tried setting it up myself but ran into a mounting issue and which it showed two drives and had issue unmounting. But since then its speeds have been excellent when moving files two and from the drive. (and yes by default it showed both 4TB drives as one device and then after reformatting to Raid 0 it showed as one drive again) It does lag a bit when my computer is waking from sleep while the G-Raid is on and connected. By lag I mean it takes about 5-30 seconds for it to wake up and show me whats on it. Other than that it just takes about 10-30 seconds to dismount. All in all, its better than the firewire drives I had before.
I've had a 8TB thunderbolt G-Raid for about 4 months now and its been fairly smooth. I got it of ebay from a local dude who bought it used it for a month and then sold it to me. With a little help from my brother, I reformatted it to raid 0. I tried setting it up myself but ran into a mounting issue and which it showed two drives and had issue unmounting. But since then its speeds have been excellent when moving files two and from the drive. (and yes by default it showed both 4TB drives as one device and then after reformatting to Raid 0 it showed as one drive again) It does lag a bit when my computer is waking from sleep while the G-Raid is on and connected. By lag I mean it takes about 5-30 seconds for it to wake up and show me whats on it. Other than that it just takes about 10-30 seconds to dismount. All in all, its better than the firewire drives I had before.
I found that GRaid is a terrible company that doesn't stand behind their products...
I had a GRaid 4TB drive that failed. Within the first year. On their website (which I think has been changed) they said that they're replace the drives, all I needed to do was send them back. I prepared to do this. After everything was ready, their customer service, who I'd been in contact with, told me that they would NOT replace the drives, as I'd violated the seal on the drive, and now was SOL.
I told them during the emails what I thought I was supposed to do (send in the bare drives) and they were not helpful.
I still have the enclosure, and filled it with quality drives at my expense. Can't remember what drives they used, but they were bottom shelf.
There are many better options. Go with someone else
I had a GRaid 4TB drive that failed. Within the first year. On their website (which I think has been changed) they said that they're replace the drives, all I needed to do was send them back. I prepared to do this. After everything was ready, their customer service, who I'd been in contact with, told me that they would NOT replace the drives, as I'd violated the seal on the drive, and now was SOL.
I told them during the emails what I thought I was supposed to do (send in the bare drives) and they were not helpful.
I still have the enclosure, and filled it with quality drives at my expense. Can't remember what drives they used, but they were bottom shelf.
There are many better options. Go with someone else
I can't remember at this point what brand/model they were, but I checked, and they were not known for their reliability. That said, I gave the company every chance to make it right, and would have settled for even paying for half of the drive replacement, but they were unyielding, and actually rude (I was calm the entire interaction).
I think with all the other competitors out there, it'd not be too hard to find a more reasonable solution than G-Tech.
Amazon has reviews stating early drive failure if you care to look there, too.
The drives? Yes they are. Has nothing to do with the controller in the box or the fact that no drive is flawless in any circumstance, or more important, "In Any Device"
Likely there are people with Graids that are working well for them and just as many who have a bad experience.
Point - There is no flawless device for everyone and there is no best drive
I've had very good luck with HGST Deskstars. I've also had very good luck with a few others over the years. Doesn't mean it will stick forever.
The only tried and true way to hold your data is have more than 1 of any backup, device, etc.