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Thunderbolt enclosure for two 4TB Hitachi drives

k-hawinkler

k-hawinkler

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 14, 2011
260
88
I am looking for Thunderbolt enclosures that can be daisy chained and can accommodate two 4 TB Hitachi Deskstar drives each.

Reliability is more important to me than raw performance.

Intended use is on nMP and 15" rMBP.

Your recommendations with rational please. TIA.
 
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/METB7DK0GB/

Because... it's the only 2-drive Thunderbolt diskless chassis out there? If there's another one I'm not familiar.

owc_mercurypro_dual.jpg
 
analog guy said:
you can find a thread from me on TB enclosures, but that one had embarrassingly slow speeds via TB with RAID0 (2xSSD). USB3 via the same enclosure was faster.
Click to expand...
Perhaps it was slow for SSDs but for HDDs it it blazingly fast. I get 350/360 on BlackMagic from mine over TB (I haven't tried USB yet). That's the fastest I have seen for any 2-drive RAID0 yet (faster by far than the LaCie 2big).
 
danny_w said:
Perhaps it was slow for SSDs but for HDDs it it blazingly fast. I get 350/360 on BlackMagic from mine over TB (I haven't tried USB yet). That's the fastest I have seen for any 2-drive RAID0 yet (faster by far than the LaCie 2big).
Click to expand...

Thanks for all the feedback.

The OWC / Other World Computing Mercury Elite Pro Dual Multi-Interface Performance RAID Enclosure Kit doesn't seem to be currently in stock anywhere if I am not mistaken. But I can wait a few weeks.

I have one question though. If you use it in RAID 1 configuration and one drive goes bad, how do you find out which drive it is?
 
k-hawinkler said:
Thanks for all the feedback.

The OWC / Other World Computing Mercury Elite Pro Dual Multi-Interface Performance RAID Enclosure Kit doesn't seem to be currently in stock anywhere if I am not mistaken. But I can wait a few weeks.

I have one question though. If you use it in RAID 1 configuration and one drive goes bad, how do you find out which drive it is?
Click to expand...
According to the manual it has LEDs for each hdd that light up if the drive is bad.
 
thedeske said:
http://www.caldigit.com/T3/

They use HGST Deskstar for 4TB drives, so just a thought. No bare case available.
Click to expand...
Now THAT would have been the perfect solution for me if they sold it without drives or with mixed size drives. I would put 2 2TB drives in RAID 0 and 1 4TB drive JBOD for backup. Unfortunately when I looked a few weeks ago it was not yet shipping. Do you actually have one of these? How quiet is it?
 
danny_w said:
Now THAT would have been the perfect solution for me if they sold it without drives or with mixed size drives. I would put 2 2TB drives in RAID 0 and 1 4TB drive JBOD for backup. Unfortunately when I looked a few weeks ago it was not yet shipping. Do you actually have one of these? How quiet is it?
Click to expand...

I have an AV PRO with 4tb & one with 2tb. The T3 is built with the same case/tray components. The small fans on the V are quiet. No idea on the T3, but likely it's quality. Cal's raid is hardware and it's good.
 
thedeske said:
I have an AV PRO with 4tb & one with 2tb. The T3 is built with the same case/tray components. The small fans on the V are quiet. No idea on the T3, but likely it's quality. Cal's raid is hardware and it's good.
Click to expand...

Just read a review that said the T3's large fan was quiet for a 3-bay whatever that means and that it uses software RAID only. Still a winner for speed at over 500 MBps in RAID 0 mode. I might consider sending mine back and getting this instead.

EDIT: Nevermind, the warranty on the T3 is only 12 months and the extended 3-year warranty is an extra $150 minimum. Everybody else seems to give 3-year warranties as standard. 12 months seems very sparse considering that they insist on providing the drives.
 
Last edited:
k-hawinkler said:
Thanks for all the feedback.

The OWC / Other World Computing Mercury Elite Pro Dual Multi-Interface Performance RAID Enclosure Kit doesn't seem to be currently in stock anywhere if I am not mistaken. But I can wait a few weeks.

I have one question though. If you use it in RAID 1 configuration and one drive goes bad, how do you find out which drive it is?
Click to expand...

i have one sitting here (the 0GB version). i was planning to return it. got it, plugged in 2 SSDs and ran my tests. decided i am going to keep the R4 or Sonnet enclosure.

so, back to OWC it goes. however, if it helps you out i can send it to you directly.
 
danny_w said:
Perhaps it was slow for SSDs but for HDDs it it blazingly fast. I get 350/360 on BlackMagic from mine over TB (I haven't tried USB yet). That's the fastest I have seen for any 2-drive RAID0 yet (faster by far than the LaCie 2big).
Click to expand...

Danny,

This video contradicts your claim, and actually shows the 2big being much faster.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spFL22T75Ng

What drives did you use to test the LaCie? Or perhaps you are referring to an older LaCie 2big Triple interface that had USB2.0 and FireWire. On that latter, older version, I would agree.

LaCie has several variations of the 2big:
- USB 3.0 only
- Thunderbolt only
- USB 3.0 + FireWire
- USB 2.0 + FireWire

It's been around for several years in various configurations.

The Thunderbolt configuration is the newest.
 
Last edited:
analog guy said:
i have one sitting here (the 0GB version). i was planning to return it. got it, plugged in 2 SSDs and ran my tests. decided i am going to keep the R4 or Sonnet enclosure.

so, back to OWC it goes. however, if it helps you out i can send it to you directly.
Click to expand...


Thanks, but I think I'll wait and see what else does come up.

My nMP is supposed to arrive in March.
I have several Firmtek eSATA enclosures that I already have two Thunderbolt converters for http://firmtek.stores.yahoo.net/ttpwq6g.html.

A performance test can be found here: http://macperformanceguide.com/Thunderbolt-FirmTek-Q6G.html

With my question here I am trying to narrow down which Thunderbolt enclosure to get for my daughter's new 15" rMBP.

Thanks again for your kind offer.
 
Last edited:
g4cube said:
Danny,

This video contradicts your claim, and actually shows the 2big being much faster.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spFL22T75Ng

What drives did you use to test the LaCie? Or perhaps you are referring to an older LaCie 2big Triple interface that had USB2.0 and FireWire. On that latter, older version, I would agree.

LaCie has several variations of the 2big:
- USB 3.0 only
- Thunderbolt only
- USB 3.0 + FireWire
- USB 2.0 + FireWire

It's been around for several years in various configurations.

The Thunderbolt configuration is the newest.
Click to expand...
I was going from reviews that I had seen (sorry I don't remember where from at the moment) and from LaCie's own claims (Shocking speeds up to 327MB/s); I do not have one and so have not tested it myself. I do like the host swappable drive bays but don't like the size or looks of the unit. I do see that LaCie has a refurb unit on their website right now for only $270 right now (4TB) which is a real steal except for the 180-day warranty.
 
LaCie's specs were likely when the unit first shipped. Since then, they are likely using newer drives which may be faster, or the specs are conservative. The limitation is not the chassis, but rather the drives that are installed.

In any case, the OP was looking for a chassis, so with that special on the LaCie website, it's worth considering at a lower cost. Even includes a Thunderbolt cable.
 
g4cube said:
LaCie's specs were likely when the unit first shipped. Since then, they are likely using newer drives which may be faster, or the specs are conservative. The limitation is not the chassis, but rather the drives that are installed.

In any case, the OP was looking for a chassis, so with that special on the LaCie website, it's worth considering at a lower cost. Even includes a Thunderbolt cable.
Click to expand...
Yes that is a good deal OP. That is cheaper than any empty enclosure on the market and you get 2 free drives with it! I would snap that up in a second if I were you.
 
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