Question 1

You don't HAVE to use RAID do you? It will support 8 drives that are not in an array, correct?

Accepted Answer

It supports drives as JBOD and RAID.  You can mix and match as well.  The device is essentially two 4-port backplanes/port-multipliers.  Each backplane has its own eSATA connector.

The RocketRaid card it comes with gives software RAID through the driver.  I have some drives in a RAID5 configuration via the RocketRaid  and the others are all logical drives which I pass down to a VM currently running a ZFS volume.

Question 2

Will the controller card work in a mac pro computer?

Accepted Answer

I have a Hackintosh Mac Pro and it worked without any problems at all.  Just plugged in the card, attached the RAID tower, turned it on and everything worked great.   I only use it as a JBOD, so can't comment on using the RAID functions, though I've loaded the web-page to control the RAID and it all looks fine.

On startup the controller card takes a minute to run a disk scan.   If you're sitting there at the time you can hit the 'end' key to skip it.  If you're not sitting there then you won't mind it taking an extra minute to start up.  If you don't run the disk scan you won't be able to boot from any of the disks in the tower.

Question 3

Is it possible to run RAID 5 with 8 drives on this?  I see where it should be, but just want to make sure before I purchase this.  I'm worried that due to the Port Multiplier, it will only limit it to 4 drives for each raid 5 configuration.

Accepted Answer

Yes it's possible, but it's generally a bad idea to run a large Raid5 unless you have enterprise hard drives with very low URE. Your risk of losing the entire array is very high during the re-build process should one drive fails in the array. Google Raid 5 URE fail for more info.

Also Raid 5 with cheap controllers like the one that comes with this machine will have poor performance (Raid 5 by nature has bad performance).

The best way to use this 8-bay enclosure is Raid 10 with higher capacity hard drives. Sure the drives will be more expensive since you lose half capacity, but the risk/penalty/dependence on enterprise drives and controller of Raid 5 tends to be more costly.

I currently have this running with 6 x 3TB  in Raid10 and it's been flawless for me.

Question 4

Detail info says TR8M6G accesses 8 drives with only one cable. As in older models there are "2" eSATA ports on rear of enclosure. Does this enclosure require one or two cables to access all 8 drives?

Accepted Answer

Does it come with a 622 or a 642 card? The description and specifications state different cards.

Question 5

Does this support the new 6TB drives from WD?  Blurb here says up to 32TB, implying only 4TB drives are supported, but specs on Sans Digital website (at least in some places) say up to 48TB.

Thanks!

Accepted Answer

I don't know.  I have only used 2 TB hard drives in my SANS Digital TowerRaid.  Have you called the customer service desk at SANS Digital?  I spoke with them once about a problem I was having with the power button and they were very helpful.  If they can't answer it they can forward you to their tech department.

Question 6

Does the controller card come with a low-profile bracket?

Accepted Answer

Hello Newegg Customer, Thank you for contacting us with your question. We apologize that we are unable to provide you with direct technical assistance; however, we recommend visiting our online community forum. www.eggxpert.com. At EggXpert you can chat with someone who may assist you with your question. Hope this information is helpful. Have an Eggcellent Day! Newegg.com

Question 7

Also, another question that I have is this:

Why are there 2 eSATA ports in the back?

Do I need to plug both of them in?
Is it beneficial for me to have both of them plugged in?

Accepted Answer

Two cables to connect two eSATA ports are required for accessing 8 drives. Theoretically you could see up to 2X performance by connecting two eSATA ports.

Model	TR8M6G
Form Factor	Compact Tower
HDD Trays	8 Hot-Swappable 3.5"
RAID Level	RAID 0, 1, 10, 5, 5+spare, Spanning and JBOD (via Bundled RR642 RAID Controller Card)
Maximum Capacity	32TB
Host Interface & Transfer Rate	eSATA (via Port Multiplier) PCIe 2.0 x4 for RR642 RAID Controller
Drive Interface	8 x 3.5" SATA
Cooling Fan	4.7" Ball Bearing Fan
Power Supply	250W (90 ~ 264V)
Status Indicators	Status and Power LEDs
Dimensions (W x H x D) (inches)	5.9 x 13.4 x 13.4
Weight (lbs)	13
Safety Regulations	CE, FCC, UL, RoHS
Limited Warranty	1-Year
Package Contents	TR8M6G (1) Hard Drive Trays (8) Power Cord (1) eSATA Cable (2) RR642 Dual-Port eSATA 6GBps PCIe 2.0 x4 RAID Controller (1) Screws (1 set) Quick Installation Manual & CD (1)

Brand	SANS DIGITAL
Series	TowerRAID
Model	TR8M6G

Drive	SATA 6Gb/s
External I/O	eSATA 6Gbps (via Port Multiplier)
RAID Levels	RAID 0, 1, 10, 5, 5+spare, Spanning and JBOD (via Bundled RR642 RAID Controller Card)

Dimensions	5.9"W x 13.4"H x 13.4"D
Weight	13 lbs.

SANS DIGITAL TowerRAID TR8M6G 8-Bay eSATA 6G Port Multiplier RAID Tower w/ 6G PCIe x4 Card

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Item#: N82E16816111457