Price : Too low to display
Sans Digital 4-Bay eSATA RAID 0/1/10/5/JBOD Tower Storage Enclosure with 6G PCIe Card TR4M+ (Silver)
This review is from : TowerRAID TR4M+B - 4 Bay eSATA RAID 0/1/10/5/JBOD Performance Tower w/ 6G PCIe Card (Black)
DOES THE BASICS WELL ENOUGH . First off, I am NOT using the RAID functionality. I am also using the esata card that came with the unit to minimise issues.
THE GOOD:-
1. The drives appear just like a 'regular' drive under MY COMPUTER. No issues with formatting or recognition. I have 4 separate drives of varying capacities installed (2TB, 3TB, 1.5TB, 2TB) in the unit. I have seen other reviewers frequently complain about not 'seeing' all the drives, with other SANS DIGITAL enclosures. By using the esata card that came with the unit... I think you will minimise problems. Note that the unit supports 3TB Hard Drives....no problems so far.
2. Copying files to and from this thing is just as fast (maybe slightly faster) as copying files to your 'regular' internal hard drives. I was pleasantly surprised. First time using ESATA and I can say it works well with this unit !
3. I had several separate external USB2 enclosures before this... It is such a joy to have eliminated all that 'clutter' and just have ONE enclosure, with ONE power card and ONE 'esata data cable'. Love this above all else !
THE BAD:-
It seems to work well enough, but there are some relatively minor issues.
1. Even with the built in fan, the drives do seem a bit hot (47C) under use, as compared to my regular 'internal drives'. You must install the included RAID MANAGEMENT software to get temperature readings as well as SMART info etc.
2. The enclosure 'casing' itself, can be a pain to remove.....it seems to fit too snugly in some areas. The power receptacle at the back also seems a bit too 'loose' for my liking. Neither issue is serious, but I expected better.
3. You must set the 'drive spindown time' via the included RAID management software to get the drives to go to 'sleep' after a specified time.....normally windows 7 does this ...but NOT with the drives in the enclosure. This helps to reduce temps, wear, and power consumption.
4. The ESATA card has its own BIOS screen that pops-up when you turn on the computer, and takes a full 35 seconds before it goes away..... guess its doing something...but way tooo loonnng !!! This almost doubles my boot time. The site does have an alternate BIOS that supposedly removes this nuisance (for those of us NOT using RAID)...but I have been unable to get it too work...... tried with bootable CD-ROM...but either hangs or reports 'unable to find eprom loader'.
5. Tech Support seems to be lacking... emailed them earlier on before I bought the unit, to clarify some things... but did not get a response to my detailed queries. Fortunately the unit works as expected, so things worked out.
THINGS TO NOTE:-
USB3 will most liklely 'kill esata'.... but from what I read..there are still 'teething probs'. This will be sorted out in a few more months...and USB3 enclosures are still somewhat scare. Like I said before, I was pleasantly surprised by the performance of ESATA.
MY MODIFICATION (be careful...might void warranty)
I was so concerned about the drive temps, that I ended up removing the metal 'faceplate' at the front of the enclosure and attaching a case fan (92mm) there.
Its fairly easy to remove...just bend back some metal clips (be careful with the fingers) and gently pry off the metal facing from the 'grid-like' plastic frame underneath.
Luckily the plastic frame under the metal faceplate gave me some good mounting points to attach the fan with those 'plastic wire-ties'. Brought the temps down a good bit (47C to under 40C). I am using a spare adapter from an old USB HDD enclosure, to supply the fan with 12V, just cut all the ends off, strip the wires, connect, twist, insulate with some tape, and voila ! Most fans have an arrow indicating the direction its blades are supposed to spin....after you do your 'surgery' with the ends and the wires...please make sure it spins correctly !)
THE VERDICT:-
All in all...not too bad......
Would I purchase another unit like this ??? Yes.
Would I recommend it to my friends ?? Yes.
Like I said, have not used the RAID functionality.... but if your needs are similar, and you will be using them as separate disks (JBOD) ..then feel free and go ahead !!
.
DOES THE BASICS WELL ENOUGH . First off, I am NOT using the RAID functionality. I am also using the esata card that came with the unit to minimise issues.
THE GOOD:-
1. The drives appear just like a 'regular' drive under MY COMPUTER. No issues with formatting or recognition. I have 4 separate drives of varying capacities installed (2TB, 3TB, 1.5TB, 2TB) in the unit. I have seen other reviewers frequently complain about not 'seeing' all the drives, with other SANS DIGITAL enclosures. By using the esata card that came with the unit... I think you will minimise problems. Note that the unit supports 3TB Hard Drives....no problems so far.
2. Copying files to and from this thing is just as fast (maybe slightly faster) as copying files to your 'regular' internal hard drives. I was pleasantly surprised. First time using ESATA and I can say it works well with this unit !
3. I had several separate external USB2 enclosures before this... It is such a joy to have eliminated all that 'clutter' and just have ONE enclosure, with ONE power card and ONE 'esata data cable'. Love this above all else !
THE BAD:-
It seems to work well enough, but there are some relatively minor issues.
1. Even with the built in fan, the drives do seem a bit hot (47C) under use, as compared to my regular 'internal drives'. You must install the included RAID MANAGEMENT software to get temperature readings as well as SMART info etc.
2. The enclosure 'casing' itself, can be a pain to remove.....it seems to fit too snugly in some areas. The power receptacle at the back also seems a bit too 'loose' for my liking. Neither issue is serious, but I expected better.
3. You must set the 'drive spindown time' via the included RAID management software to get the drives to go to 'sleep' after a specified time.....normally windows 7 does this ...but NOT with the drives in the enclosure. This helps to reduce temps, wear, and power consumption.
4. The ESATA card has its own BIOS screen that pops-up when you turn on the computer, and takes a full 35 seconds before it goes away..... guess its doing something...but way tooo loonnng !!! This almost doubles my boot time. The site does have an alternate BIOS that supposedly removes this nuisance (for those of us NOT using RAID)...but I have been unable to get it too work...... tried with bootable CD-ROM...but either hangs or reports 'unable to find eprom loader'.
5. Tech Support seems to be lacking... emailed them earlier on before I bought the unit, to clarify some things... but did not get a response to my detailed queries. Fortunately the unit works as expected, so things worked out.
THINGS TO NOTE:-
USB3 will most liklely 'kill esata'.... but from what I read..there are still 'teething probs'. This will be sorted out in a few more months...and USB3 enclosures are still somewhat scare. Like I said before, I was pleasantly surprised by the performance of ESATA.
MY MODIFICATION (be careful...might void warranty)
I was so concerned about the drive temps, that I ended up removing the metal 'faceplate' at the front of the enclosure and attaching a case fan (92mm) there.
Its fairly easy to remove...just bend back some metal clips (be careful with the fingers) and gently pry off the metal facing from the 'grid-like' plastic frame underneath.
Luckily the plastic frame under the metal faceplate gave me some good mounting points to attach the fan with those 'plastic wire-ties'. Brought the temps down a good bit (47C to under 40C). I am using a spare adapter from an old USB HDD enclosure, to supply the fan with 12V, just cut all the ends off, strip the wires, connect, twist, insulate with some tape, and voila ! Most fans have an arrow indicating the direction its blades are supposed to spin....after you do your 'surgery' with the ends and the wires...please make sure it spins correctly !)
THE VERDICT:-
All in all...not too bad......
Would I purchase another unit like this ??? Yes.
Would I recommend it to my friends ?? Yes.
Like I said, have not used the RAID functionality.... but if your needs are similar, and you will be using them as separate disks (JBOD) ..then feel free and go ahead !!
.
Product Image
Feature TowerRAID TR4M+B - 4 Bay eSATA RAID 0/1/10/5/JBOD Performance Tower w/ 6G PCIe Card (Black)
- Drive:SATA 150 & 300
- External I/O:eSATA (via Port Multiplier)RAID Levels
- RAID Levels:RAID 0, 1, 10, 5, 5+spare, Spanning and JBOD (via Bundled RR622 RAID Controller Card)
- 3.5-Inch Drive Bays:4 x Hot-Swappable
- OS Supported:Supports PC, Linux and MAC OS, including Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 and Snow Leopard
- Cooling Fan: 3.15-Inch Ball Bearing Fan
- Maximum Capacity: 12TB
- Power Supply:150W (115V - 230V Switchable)
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Product Details
EAN : 0739410733214UPC : 739410733214
MPN : TR4M+
Brand : Sans Digital
Color : Black
Weight : 7 pounds
Height : 8 inches
Length : 13 inches
Width : 12 inches
Binding : Personal Computers
Manufacturer : Sans Digital
Model : TR4M+B
Publisher : Sans Digital
SKU : TR4M+B
Studio : Sans Digital
Where To Buy
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