Thoughts on Areca RAID...

[cpaulPHL]

NOT compatible with Corning optical thunderbolt cable

Well, I spoke too soon. I have a case open with Areca support, but it appears that the unit is NOT compatible with the Corning Optical thunderbolt cables.

The issue is that the Areca has no power button - it relies on a signal from the Thunderbolt connection when the host powers on. With the optical Thunderbolt cable, this signal is not passed, and there is no way to power on the array.

Based on many good reviews, I bought the Areca 8050T2 (Thunderbolt2 version). Unlike the Thunderbolt1 cabinet, the T2 is not being discounted right now, but I felt the investment was worth it for the performance. Boy am I pleased!

Outfitted with 8 x4TB Western Digital enterprise-class drives (7200rpm), formatted for RAID5, I'm actually getting BETTER speeds from the Areca array than the built-in PCIe SSD in my new 8-core MacPro (2013 version) - 1035 MB/s write and 975 MB/s read. For comparison, the built-in PCIe SSD gets 935MB/s write and 925 MB/s read. That's REALLY impressive especially given RAID5.

If you're a fan of pretty light shows, the Areca won't disappoint either - especially during its (minute and a half) startup sequence. On the other hand, the LEDs are very bright which may be distracting to some people.

My only complaints are with the fan noise. I guess I've been spoiled for too long from the built-in fans in my prior 2009 MacPro. Starting up, the Areca sounds like a wind tunnel, but after its startup is complete, the fan noise drops to acceptable levels. But any workload raises the fan level to a noticeable (but not harsh) level.

But this brings up a final point that is critical for any RAID enclosure - power failure. Areca offers an optional battery backup unit for the 8050 (part number ARC-6120BA-T021) that you can order from their website for $150 (sometimes discounted). It doesn't keep the unit powered on, but it does protect the write cache for up to 72 hours. Without this backup, if you lose power during a critical write operation, it is possible to lose all data in certain striped RAID configurations (this is true of ANY RAID controller).

One final note - the Firmware Update does not work with Safari, although every other configuration does. I ended up successfully updating the firmware with Firefox.

 

[dpavid]

Well, I spoke too soon. I have a case open with Areca support, but it appears that the unit is NOT compatible with the Corning Optical thunderbolt cables.

The issue is that the Areca has no power button - it relies on a signal from the Thunderbolt connection when the host powers on. With the optical Thunderbolt cable, this signal is not passed, and there is no way to power on the array.

But it still works flawless with the standard 2.0m apple thunderbolt cable?

 

[Alrescha]

The issue is that the Areca has no power button

On the original 8050, the reset button can be used to power the unit on and off manually. Is this functionality gone in the T2?

 

[cpaulPHL]

you MUST install the Areca MRAID driver / utility

After working with Areca support, the Corning Optical Thunderbolt cable is now working. It turns out that I had neglected to install the Areca driver / utility on my new 2013 MacPro. After downloading and installing, the unit works beautifully with the optical thunderbolt cable.

But it still works flawless with the standard 2.0m apple thunderbolt cable?

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Thanks for the tip! I didn't realize this functionality existed - but the Reset button can be held down for 3 seconds to manually start the unit, just like the older 8050.

On the original 8050, the reset button can be used to power the unit on and off manually. Is this functionality gone in the T2?

 

[dpavid]

After working with Areca support, the Corning Optical Thunderbolt cable is now working. It turns out that I had neglected to install the Areca driver / utility on my new 2013 MacPro. After downloading and installing, the unit works beautifully with the optical thunderbolt cable.



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Thanks for the tip! I didn't realize this functionality existed - but the Reset button can be held down for 3 seconds to manually start the unit, just like the older 8050.

Great to know. Thank you.

 

[orpheus1120]

Guys, let's say all the 8 bays of the 8050t2 are populated, and I wish to expand the existing RAID volume by daisy-chaining another 8050t2 to the first, would it work?

The logic applies to 5 additional 8050t2 daisy-chained to the first assuming the first 8050t2 is directly connected to an nMP.

 

[dpavid]

Guys, let's say all the 8 bays of the 8050t2 are populated, and I wish to expand the existing RAID volume by daisy-chaining another 8050t2 to the first, would it work?

The logic applies to 5 additional 8050t2 daisy-chained to the first assuming the first 8050t2 is directly connected to an nMP.

I not sure but I got a response from ARECA very fast with my concerns. Less than 24 hours.

 

[benji405]

help with Areca 8050T2

Hi all- I've been using the Areca 8050T2 since May 2014. Have WesternDigital 4TB REs in the first five bays set up in RAID 6 and WesternDigital 2TB Caviar Black drives in the remaining three bays, 6, 7, and 8.

Per the support I got from Areca, I set up drives 6, 7, and 8 as "pass through disks" via the software manager. Have not any any hiccups or problems until I tried to take one of the pass through disks out to make room for another drive. When I placed the first drive back in it's original bay, the unit is not recognizing it. It's still displaying the RAID setup and the other two pass through disks that I have not yet taken out since I installed and initialized them.

The web manager sees the slot I was using to swap as "free". When doing the swap, I powered down the computer and Areca unit. Also, I plugged in the original pass through disk to a VoyagerQ toaster and was able to access all the contents that way, although don't want to use that as a permanent solution as it's USB3.

Any guidance on this would be helpful.

 

[FireWire2]

Yes, I have the T12-S6.TB2 from DATOptic

http://www.datoptic.com/ec/thunderbolt2-20gb-twelve-6gb-bay-hardware-raid5-6-quiet-tower.html

It uses the same Areca RAID engine but 12x tray-less bay

It has 10x drives as RAID6 and two as PASS THROUGH
I did mute the alarm - just do not want the alarm goes off on me
Set the email notification, so I will know if any error happen to my raid

For the PASS THROUGH drive, i just simple hot swap them out as I need, never turn if off for swap. So far never have any issue

Get great speed and love the tray-less, one you use it, there is no turnning back

 

[wa5655]

Yes, I have the T12-S6.TB2 from DATOptic

http://www.datoptic.com/ec/thunderbolt2-20gb-twelve-6gb-bay-hardware-raid5-6-quiet-tower.html

It uses the same Areca RAID engine but 12x tray-less bay

It has 10x drives as RAID6 and two as PASS THROUGH
I did mute the alarm - just do not want the alarm goes off on me
Set the email notification, so I will know if any error happen to my raid

For the PASS THROUGH drive, i just simple hot swap them out as I need, never turn if off for swap. So far never have any issue

Get great speed and love the tray-less, one you use it, there is no turnning back

How is the build quality and noise level? Do you mind post some pictures and benchmarks? Thanks!

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Yes, I have the T12-S6.TB2 from DATOptic

http://www.datoptic.com/ec/thunderbolt2-20gb-twelve-6gb-bay-hardware-raid5-6-quiet-tower.html

It uses the same Areca RAID engine but 12x tray-less bay

It has 10x drives as RAID6 and two as PASS THROUGH
I did mute the alarm - just do not want the alarm goes off on me
Set the email notification, so I will know if any error happen to my raid

For the PASS THROUGH drive, i just simple hot swap them out as I need, never turn if off for swap. So far never have any issue

Get great speed and love the tray-less, one you use it, there is no turnning back

Does it power up/down/sleep with the main Mac unit? Do it have any issue waking up from sleep? Thanks again!

 

[FireWire2]

T12-s6.tb2

It's a surprisingly quiet for a 12xbay tower.

I do not put my RAID in sleep mode, but I turn it off everyday!
I read in some where in the forum, it's not recommend to do so

So far I have not have any issue with my MAC seeing the RAID, when I come back from lunch

Hope this help!

If you ever buy this.
Login or register - you will save 5~10% off from the list

 

[FireWire2]

Quiet Thunderbolt tower

How is the build quality and noise level? Do you mind post some pictures and benchmarks? Thanks!

Finally I was able to measure the quietness of the box.
My app show 40dB - Looking it up, it is quite as library

Does it power up/down/sleep with the main Mac unit? Do it have any issue waking up from sleep? Thanks again!

I also did turn on energy option my my Mac mini, and the T12 wakes up from sleep without problem

 

[MobiusStrip]

I have two Areca RAID enclosures: an 8050T2, and an ARC-5026.

Historically I've found external RAIDs to be a disappointingly small, janky market. The Arecas are the most reliable I've used, however. Once you have them working, they stay working.

However, getting to this point is not easy. These devices are not plug-&-play with Mac OS, although it seems that way when you hook them up. The Arecas will crash your Mac regularly unless you install Areca's drivers; this has been borne out through experience with two enclosures and multiple fresh OS installations.

I just had to install a new boot drive and did a fresh Catalina installation. And it started crashing in the Areca driver over and over, every half hour or so. I downloaded the latest driver for these units, and after installing the first of them, my machine was bricked. Startup progress stalled 3/4 through, and Safe Mode could not even be invoked. I had to reinstall the OS.

That's just not production-quality software. I also find that Areca's support is spotty. While I have obtained responses, I find that if the solution requires any back-and-forth they'll stop communicating with you.

We'll see what happens this time.