I was in a similar positionen. Ended up with an Envoy 4TB (Timecapsule), 4M2 (Raid0, main data disk 32TB) , a Gemini 2xSata (raid 1, 2x24TB online backup), 2 Mercury Sata (2 24TB for alternate offsite backups) and a 14 port dock, all from OWC bought over five years. I guess I had needed a decent stack of Studiostacks for that.
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OWC StudioStack being released
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Yeah. I have 3 external SSDs, in 1M2, 1M2 80 (because MOAR SPEED!) and Satechi 2.5 and a Mercury Dual (2x SG 16TB Exos). Happy with all of those.
I don't see myself reaching a point in NVME count where the 4M2 is required.
Rather I want 2.5 SATA III SSDs to come down and RAID some in a 4+ bay in the future, but that is a want not a need that will be driven by the market.
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I don't think this device is what OWC announced back in 2022. What was announced back then was a multi-bay M.2 device with (if memory serves) 4 or 5 bays.
What they offer now is the successor to the MiniStack STX with faster speed.
What they offer now is the successor to the MiniStack STX with faster speed.
Yeah. Skip to 5:35. The mini stack studio was originally envisioned with 6 SSDs. Clearly they changed direction. I wonder if they ran into heat problems. It looks like they thought they could just use ambient cooling ... maybe ... not so much.
From the page on their 4M2 (4x NVME chassis):
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Received my order via UPS last night and set it up this morning. Here's some pics of what it looks like in the wild.
I connected the Studiostack to my Mac Mini M4 Pro. The TB cable that comes with it is short, at the moment I have the MacMini sitting on the Studiostack. I plugged in two monitors, another external USB-C drive and three USB A accessories to the Studiostack. Turned everything on and it worked as expected. I bought the 4TB model with no SATA drive. The SSD was preloaded with an OWC utility that can be used to set up the drive along with documentation.
I plan to use the SSD for my photo library and will be installing a SATA drive for time machine backups.
To test the speed, I moved a 20GB folder of video files from the Studiostack to the MacMini hard drive...didn't take long at all.
I connected the Studiostack to my Mac Mini M4 Pro. The TB cable that comes with it is short, at the moment I have the MacMini sitting on the Studiostack. I plugged in two monitors, another external USB-C drive and three USB A accessories to the Studiostack. Turned everything on and it worked as expected. I bought the 4TB model with no SATA drive. The SSD was preloaded with an OWC utility that can be used to set up the drive along with documentation.
I plan to use the SSD for my photo library and will be installing a SATA drive for time machine backups.
To test the speed, I moved a 20GB folder of video files from the Studiostack to the MacMini hard drive...didn't take long at all.
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Thank you @chuck21401 for a peek at the StudioStack. Has anyone else received one yet?
If anyone cares to comment, here are some areas I'd like to know more about:
Noise level -- it's supposed to have a single fan that's "Temperature controlled variable speed". Anyone know what size it is? Usually the bigger, the quieter. OWC nicely documents the temperature ranges and PWM percentages of their USB Express 4M2 device, which maybe can be used to guess RPM (and noise), but there no such specs for the StudioStack. Under "medium" usage, is it audible? Under "heavy"? I know, it's hard to quantify and ambient noise has a big effect, but any comments on the StudioStack's fan noise are welcome.
(I have sent an email to OWC asking about the fan; since it's a holiday period I expect it will take awhile to get a response; that's understandable.)
Status LED visibility -- I'm actually one who likes knowing what the device is doing, so I do appreciate the four status LEDs on the StudioStack. However, it looks like they are on the bottom of the device, facing down! Are they visible in normal room lighting?
If anyone cares to comment, here are some areas I'd like to know more about:
Noise level -- it's supposed to have a single fan that's "Temperature controlled variable speed". Anyone know what size it is? Usually the bigger, the quieter. OWC nicely documents the temperature ranges and PWM percentages of their USB Express 4M2 device, which maybe can be used to guess RPM (and noise), but there no such specs for the StudioStack. Under "medium" usage, is it audible? Under "heavy"? I know, it's hard to quantify and ambient noise has a big effect, but any comments on the StudioStack's fan noise are welcome.
(I have sent an email to OWC asking about the fan; since it's a holiday period I expect it will take awhile to get a response; that's understandable.)
Status LED visibility -- I'm actually one who likes knowing what the device is doing, so I do appreciate the four status LEDs on the StudioStack. However, it looks like they are on the bottom of the device, facing down! Are they visible in normal room lighting?
I didn't even notice the LEDs until this week when I walked past my office with the lights out. Not sure they would be noticeable in normal room lighting.
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The unit it silent most of the time but I have heard the fan when using the Mac Mini after a couple of hours. But I'm also not putting it through the paces. I'm using it to store my photo library and movies...so probably not even medium usage.
Thank you, @chuck21401 ! Regarding the status LEDs, at least I have an idea of what to expect now. I appreciate the feedback on the LEDs and the fan noise.