4-Drive External Enclosure

[MikeF]

Anyone have a favorite 4-drive external enclosure? The only requirements would be USB 3 and JBOD. I'm just trying to declutter the desk where the mini sits and am tired of all the cables going to multiple drives...

[SKYLANE]

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/MRP1UF8U3EP/

I picked up the drive enclosure from OWC a little over a year ago, maybe more... really like it. I put four 3TB drives in, selected the RAID config that recognized 9TB our of the 12TB that was there. Have not had one hiccup. I use it to back up files and serve as file server to my MacMini in the entertainment center - lots of movies on it.

[onthedownlow]

Drobo?

[Zoidberg]

onthedownlow wrote:
Drobo?

Almost universally I have read poor reports about Drobos; not necessarily magazine reviews or the like, but users on a few boards here and there. It looks like such a good idea, but not real-world.

I have a couple of OWC Guardian Maximus 2-drive RAIDs which have been bulletproof for a few years. I would imagine their more-than-two kits are just as sound and reliable.

[onthedownlow]

Zoidberg wrote:
[quote=onthedownlow]
Drobo?

Almost universally I have read poor reports about Drobos; not necessarily magazine reviews or the like, but users on a few boards here and there. It looks like such a good idea, but not real-world.

I have a couple of OWC Guardian Maximus 2-drive RAIDs which have been bulletproof for a few years. I would imagine their more-than-two kits are just as sound and reliable.
Sure. I probably have around 25 of these, various models up to the Business/Elite - I would disagree with 90% of that, likely. Perfect? No. Would I like to see a couple other features implemented? Sure.

Most are running critical date and apps.

The models have consistently been better and better, and the current models (and even 'last Gen') are pretty solid with USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt. Tack in an mSATA for an accelerator drive (bottom of the current and last models) and the performance is even better.

Don't get me wrong, I have other 'RAID' solutions and gear running, as well, but the Drobo's have performed so nicely that I don't mind adding more to the stable.

For simple/home use, they are as easy as it gets.

[mattkime]

Any particular reason for the 4 drive requirement? how much do you need to store?

[jdc]

How much storage?

Do you already have drives?

[Lew Zealand]

Mediasonic ProBox, $99. Low end USB3/eSATAp 4 drive box. With 4 drives in it RAIDed using Disk Utility I get 220MB/sec Read and 225MB/sec Write. Internal connections are apparently SATA-II in this older enclosure as my 5TB Seagates individually get about 180 MB/sec R&W using the USB connection but my recent SSD only got about 120 MB/sec R&W (it doesn't negotiate the SATAII properly so dumbs all the way down to SATA-I).

There is a newer version which states SATA-III compatibility, I suppose that should mean a higher top throughput but who knows. I have 3 of the older ProBoxes, BTW. Hardware redundancy!

[onthedownlow]

Lew Zealand wrote:
Mediasonic ProBox, $99. Low end USB3/eSATAp 4 drive box. With 4 drives in it RAIDed using Disk Utility I get 220MB/sec Read and 225MB/sec Write. Internal connections are apparently SATA-II in this older enclosure as my 5TB Seagates individually get about 180 MB/sec R&W using the USB connection but my recent SSD only got about 120 MB/sec R&W (it doesn't negotiate the SATAII properly so dumbs all the way down to SATA-I).

There is a newer version which states SATA-III compatibility, I suppose that should mean a higher top throughput but who knows. I have 3 of the older ProBoxes, BTW. Hardware redundancy!

Oh yea, that is a great recommendation (especially for the price-conscious).

I would even go so far as to say spend ~$50 more and get the ProRAID model though. I suppose it all depends on what you want to do with the drives and interact with them.

[ka jowct]

Oyen Digital: