OWC ThunderBay 8 RAID 5 Edition 8 Bay External Drive
Amazon.com
$899.99
OWC ThunderBay 8 RAID 5 Edition 8 Bay External Drive Price comparison
OWC ThunderBay 8 RAID 5 Edition 8 Bay External Drive Price History
Statistics
| Current Price | $899.99 | May 17, 2024 |
| Highest Price | $899.99 | January 22, 2024 |
| Lowest Price | $899.99 | January 22, 2024 |
Last price changes
| $899.99 | January 22, 2024 |
OWC ThunderBay 8 RAID 5 Edition 8 Bay External Drive Description
Introducing OWC ThunderBay 8 RAID 5 Edition 8-Bay External Drive
OWC ThunderBay 8 RAID 5 Edition 8-Bay External Drive is designed for high-load applications and data management tasks. It can handle up to 8 simultaneous drives for a maximum of 96TB of total storage, depending on the drive configuration. Dual Thunderbolt 3 ports provide maximum data throughput and performance, while a security slot keeps your drive safe and secure. With a RAID enabled configuration, you can take advantage of extra backups, redundancy, and faster speeds by adding one or two extra drives. This drive features soft-touch control buttons for quick setting changes and silent fan operation for quiet data management.
Instantly Upgrade Your Data Operations
The OWC ThunderBay 8 RAID 5 Edition 8-Bay External Drive lets you get the most out of your data operations. It allows you to simultaneously load data on multiple drives and access them with one RAID enabled connection. Data can also be written and read in 8 different drive slots, giving you the highest throughput and lowest latency out of any 8-bay drive. With fast speeds, maximum storage, and a RAID enabled configuration, you can instantly upgrade your data operations and have your files ready in no time.
Maximum Expansion and Connectivity
The OWC ThunderBay 8 RAID 5 Edition 8-Bay External Drive doubles as an effective, reliable, and secure storage solution, and an external expansion hub. Through two Thunderbolt 3 ports, you can bridge peripherals such as monitors and storage solutions through the same interface for which the drive is connected. Furthermore, with the option to customize how many drives you connect, you can expand per your needs.
Features and Specifications
The OWC ThunderBay 8 RAID 5 Edition 8-Bay External Drive is designed to get the most out of every drive connection:
• 8 x 3.5″/2.5″ drive bays
• 4x faster I/O data transfer
• Dual Thunderbolt 3 ports (40Gbps)
• RAID 5 capabilities
• Soft-touch buttons for quick setting changes
• Security slot for drive safety and security
• SATA 6.0/3.0 HDD & SSD compatible
• Silent fan operation
• Up to 96TB of total storage
Product Benefits
The OWC ThunderBay 8 RAID 5 Edition 8-Bay External Drive offers high-load performance for data operations, with easy, simple, and secure storage and expansion possible. With the powerful connectivity of two Thunderbolt 3 ports, you can get the absolute most out of your data operations and expand your storage with ease. The OWC ThunderBay 8 RAID 5 Edition 8-Bay External Drive is the perfect storage solution for anyone looking to stay at the forefront of data management.
Features of OWC ThunderBay 8 RAID 5 Edition 8-Bay External Drive:
• RAID 5-enabled configuration for maximum backup, redundancy, and speed
• Dual Thunderbolt 3 ports with up to 40Gbps throughput
• Up to 96TB of total storage
• Secure slot for drive safety and security
• Soft-touch buttons for quick setting changes
• Silent fans for quiet operation
• SATA 6.0/3.0 HDD & SSD compatible
• Immediate data access with simultaneous loading of data on multiple drives
• Finest throughput and lowest latency of any 8-bay drive
OWC ThunderBay 8 RAID 5 Edition 8 Bay External Drive Specification
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OWC ThunderBay 8 RAID 5 Edition 8 Bay External Drive Videos
OWC ThunderBay 8 RAID 5 Edition 8 Bay External Drive Reviews (12)
12 reviews
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Mark A Smith –
Plugged it in and it worked with no issues. Installed SoftRaid with no issues on a 24 inch IMac. I don’t hear the fan noises others have mentioned
Yosemite –
Recently, I replaced my DROBO 5D and DROBO 5N2 with an OWC ThunderBay 4 and an OWC ThunderBay 8, both equipped with Dual Thunderbolt 3 Ports. The reason behind this switch was the recent announcement of DROBO’s bankruptcy and my previous experiences with their 5 series. In my experience, the DROBO 5 series has had issues with enclosures, power supplies, firmware, and overall reliability. Thus, I thoroughly researched various NAS and DAS brands and ultimately chose the OWC Thunderbolt 3 series for its exceptional build quality and performance. As someone who has had a positive experience with their Thunderbolt docks, this was a significant factor in my decision-making process. My previous experience with DROBO reinforced the importance of keeping data safety simple. The OWC enclosures provide me with the necessary RAID features in a simple and efficient manner. So far, everything has been working well, and I hope it continues to be that way.
Adrien Carlyle –
I bought this unit to test compatibility before committing to a purchase. I’m using this to replace a Synology and needed to be sure it would work with my setup.
The enclosure is great. SATA controllers were detected by ESXi 7.0u3 without issue, and works with passthrough to a guest VM. This unit uses JMicron Sata controllers which is different than the 4 bay variant which uses ASMedia.
I decided to send this back and purchase an empty one since I’ll be using this with a VM running TrueNAS which will handle RAID. I really wish OWC would have listed/allowed the purchase of an empty DIY enclosure directly in Canada via Amazon.
Downgrading review to 2 stars: I returned this item and it was received by Amazon on Nov 17. They state that a refund will be issued within 7 days of receipt, it has been 14 and I’m being told for a 2nd time by support to wait another 3-5 days for the refund to process.
Amazon Kunde –
Ich habe dieses Raid System fast ein Jahr in Betrieb gehabt und habe mich nun entschlossen, eine Rezension zu verfassen. Das wichtigste zuerst: Ich kann vom Kauf nur abraten. Wer wissen will warum, liest hier weiter.
Zuerst mal das Positive: Die Hardware ist massiv und sauber gebaut. Alles ist aus Metall. Das ist sehr schwer und wirkt sehr hochwertig. Ähnlich einer Kitchen Aid Küchenmaschine ist dies die typisch amerikanisch massive Bauart. Nicht kleckern sondern klotzen. Man hat also beim Auspacken erstmal ein gutes Gefühl.
Nun zu den weniger guten Aspekten: Das Gehäuse wird über Thunderbolt zusammen mit dem Mac ein- und ausgeschalten. Das Ausschalten geht ziemlich hart, die Festplatten (WD Red Plus) machen ordentliche Geräusche. Bei einem anderen NAS habe ich das nicht, obwohl die gleichen Platten zum Einsatz kommen.
Apropos Geräusche: Der Lüfter lässt sich nicht in der Drehzahl regeln. Er bläst mit allem was er kann. Nicht angenehm. Keine Temperatursteuerung. Das sollte bei dem Preis schon drin sein. Schade! Die Festplatten selbst machen die typischen Geräusche beim Schreiben und Lesen. Allerdings sind die HDD Träger nicht gedämpft. daher werden alle Vibrationen 1:1 an das Gehäuse weitergegeben. Ganz schön laut.
Benutzung: Die mitgelieferte Software “SoftRAID” ermöglicht es, ein RAID5 zu erstellen. Leider kein RAID6. RAID 0,1 und 10 kann ein Mac ja von Haus aus.
Allerdings hat man nur die Wahl zwischen dem veralteten und unsicheren HFS+, ExFAT oder APFS. Von letzterem Rät OWC sogar offiziell ab, das es für SSDs konzipiert ist und bei einem RAID mit drehenden HDDs im Laufe der Zeit immer komplexer wird und das System stark verlangsamt. ExFAT ist für RAIDs ebenfalls ungeeignet.
Bleibt also das betagte und unsichere HFS+. Damit habe ich es fast ein Jahr genutzt. Das System ist in der Zeit zweimal gecrasht, da eine Festplatte mit I/O Fehlern gemeldet wurde. Es war nicht möglich, das System mit einer neuen Platte wieder neu aufzubauen, obwohl dies so angepriesen wurde und auch eine Grundsätzliche Funktion eines RAID ist. Wiederherstellung des RAID ist jeweils fehlgeschlagen! die HFS+ Partition war zerstört.
Dank regelmäßiger Backups habe ich keinen Datenverlust erlitten.
Eine weitere Überraschung kam mit dem Upgrade auf das neueste MacOS Ventura: SoftRAID 6 war nicht mehr funktionsfähig. Ich wurde zu einem Upgrade auf SoftRAID 7 gezwungen. Der Hersteller bietet dies nur noch im Abo an, was bei so einer teuren Hardware ein absolutes No-Go ist.
Ich müsste also dauerhaft zahlen, um die Kernfunktion des Gehäuses (RAID) weiter nutzen zu können.
Fazit: Abo-Zwang, schlechte Leistung und Datenverlust. Das Gehäuse ist eine Mogelpackung, die Software bunte Kirmes, die kein Versprechen hält.
Amazon war zum Glück so kulant, das Gehäuse zurück zu nehmen, nachdem es per Software vom Hersteller unbrauchbar gemacht wurde.
Morris –
I’m replacing old Drobo units with this hardware. It’s great to have something that’s not proprietary RAID-wise.
A. L. –
Really love the simplicity of getting it up and running. Just put your drives in with the included screws, plug in the power and thunderbolt 3 cable and you’re set! It acts like a JBOD enclosure which is exactly what I wanted.
However, it is fairly loud coming at around 42dB when it’s just sitting there at your desk. You can DEFINITELY hear it along with some slight higher pitched vibration coming from the single exhaust fan at the back. It’s already irritating me.
A fan upgrade is a MUST when getting this enclosure, I highly recommend a Noctua NF-A9 FLX with the ultra low noise adapter, it SIGNIFICANTLY lowers the amount of noise compared to the stock fan. Although this will mean you have to spend even more money on top of this already expensive enclosure which will put people off.
This thing’s heavy too, coming in at a whopping 7.3KG without drives. It’s built like a tank though.
Another thing I wished it had were filters, I came up with a DIY solution by using electrical tape to stick some Silverstone ultra fine mesh 120mm filters on the front mesh panel, and at the rear exhaust (removing the grille). I won’t be worried about dust anymore.
Really had a hard time finding reputable thunderbolt 3 JBOD enclosures, but despite the shortcomings, I’m going to keep this as there’s really nothing out there that’s much better. Just be prepared to spend a bit more one some extras to actually tolerate the noise and keep dust from getting into the enclosure.
Richard McDonald –
Drobo died, no support, no way to buy another one, so dropped 4K, YEP, 4K on this TB-8 w/eight 18TB drives for 144 TB. Darth Cylinder Mac and drive seem to be working well, but for 4K, they had better. Customer SVC at OWC has been superb. Will follow up in a year to report function.
Paul Martin –
This was the fourth enclosure I bought from OWC. The other two have been problem free, but this one is unreliable to the point of lunacy.
TLDR: this product constantly crashes my whole system and has killed three different Western Digital HDD.
I added this enclosure to archive video footage. It started out just locking up, but as it crashed more and more often, it became incapable of operating, limiting data to read only and then not even that.
Support was hard to contact, slow and mostly, unhelpful. They blamed the entire incident on not letting the software do its thing in Apple Security preferences (which was set up correctly according to their support tech). Eventually, they said I should back up my data and do a clean install and create new volumes. I have almost 25tb of data. The tech’s solution? Just buy another enclosure to back up to.
This isn’t an isolated incident either. I purchased this because a friend recommended it. He had exactly the same issues.
Save your money and get something else.
Amazon Customer –
It delivers enough throughput to power 6 different movies streaming to TV’s in our home.
Benjamin Mendez –
I have been using for 6 months with a PC for video editing and motion graphics projects:
-Fast transfer speeds
-Solid build
-Louder than it should be
-Only works with super short cord
-Impossible to distance from sound
-Crashes PC, but avoidable if ejected before restart
-Tech support is not helpful for PC users
-Not satisfied
“photopicturetaker” –
Well manufactured easy to install and very quiet
Steve Rogers –
I bought this to replace a Drobo, which I was totally happy with, but they seem to be tanking, so I’m getting off that boat before it sinks. The hardware seems really well done, and the SoftRaid software seems . . . adequate. Time will tell how that works out. The documentation is OK, but it can take quite a bit of study to figure out what you actually need to do in any specific case. It’s not entirely “plug and play”.