HDD Multiple External Enclosure

Discussion in 'Buying Tips and Advice' started by locksmack, May 16, 2013.

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  1. locksmack, May 16, 2013

    locksmack macrumors member

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    Mar 6, 2012
    #1
    Hey Guys,

    Long story short, my cat destroyed my 4 year old Windows Home Server (I'm guessing failure of boot HDD, though not 100% sure).

    So I am taking this chance to upgrade to a 2012 Mac Mini with data disks in an external enclosure. I am after one that will house 4 drives.

    I doubt I will ever RAID my drives, but if there is an enclosure that gives the option for not too much more cost, I may consider it. I will probably be connecting with USB3, but again if there is an enclosure that supports Thunderbolt for not too much more, I may consider it too.

    Any suggestions? So far I have been eyeing off the Hotway HF2-SU3S2.

    Cheers.
     
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  2. blueroom, May 16, 2013

    blueroom macrumors 603

    blueroom

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    #2
    Would a 4 bay Synology NAS work for you?
     
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  3. opinio, May 18, 2013

    opinio macrumors 65816

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    #3
    If you have the money... Drobo 5D
     
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  4. Santabean2000, May 18, 2013

    Santabean2000 macrumors 68000

    Santabean2000

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    #4
    Pegasus J4. Done.
     
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  5. elefantrider, May 19, 2013

    elefantrider macrumors member

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    #5
    J4 gets my vote also.

    It is quieter and cheaper than the Drobo, although I do like the click in drive enclosure on the Drobo.
     
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  6. jg321, May 25, 2013

    jg321 macrumors 6502

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    #6
    I still wanna know what the cat did!
     
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  7. flynz4, May 25, 2013

    flynz4 macrumors 68040

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    #7
    With a new mini server... it seems intuitive that a DAS would be better suited. At first order, the Mac Mini Server can provide all of the services of a NAS (plus more), and a DAS provides significant higher performance overall.

    A NAS does have advantages in some cases... but for a server, I think DAS almost always wins.

    I would second looking at the J4. It seems like a nice solution.

    /Jim
     
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  8. Giuly, May 25, 2013

    Giuly macrumors 68040

    Giuly

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    That depends whether you ask for timezone, state o
    #8
    The Pegasus J4 is nice, but it takes 2.5" drives. If it only takes 9.5mm high drives, you're limited to 4TB (if you don't wait for the brand-sparklin' new 1.5TB 7200RPM 9.5mm HGST drive later this month).
    [​IMG]

    Given that you were interested in the HF-SU3S2, you should know that it's technically nothing more than four enclosures and an USB hub in a single enclosure. However, there's also the HFR2-SU3S2, which additionally supports RAID 0/1/3/5/10 and might be worth considering over the bare-bones HF-SU3S2. Other than that it's the same thing.
    [​IMG]
     
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