Question 1

Hoping to RAID 5 this via 4x4TB using a USB 3.0 connection.  Will store music and videos in this enclosure, but constant access is not needed.

Essentially would like to treat this like a large USB 3.0 external hard drive.  Can I treat it as such:

1) "Eject" the drive via USB 3.0 from my computer when I don't need it.
2) Turn off the power to the enclosure when I'm not using it, even if my PC is still on?

Accepted Answer

I have mine in RAID 5 with 4x4TB hard drives and a USB 3.0 connection, too. I use it like I would an external hard drive, exactly as you describe, and store pictures, videos, music, documents, and more on it. To answer your questions directly:
1) Yes, you can eject it just like you would any external hard drive or thumb drive. (It is usually a good idea to go to the little icon in the system tray before simply unplugging it, but you don't necessarily have to).
2) Yes, you can turn it off when not in use. It also automatically detects when it has been ejected or unplugged from a computer and will shut itself down within about 30-45 seconds.

Question 2

Is this product compatible with Windows 10?

Accepted Answer

Do you mean for specific win10 backup purposes, or are you asking simply if win10 will recognize the RAID as configured?

If the former, I'm not sure as I do a backup route alternate to win10's built-in (but my guess is probably yes).

If the latter, then yes.  I use win10 with this and the OS recognizes the RAID as I've configurated it.

Question 3

Would I be able to use this type of system connected to my p.c. lap top for I now run two external desk top drives and don't have any room left on my desk for another drive?

Accepted Answer

Yes, it connects via USB like any external hard drive.  The main thing to understand is that all the drives you insert into this enclosure will appear as a single drive letter to Windows.  It is not possible for it to be recognized as separate drives, one as D: and the other as E:, for example.  The enclosure configures the Raid level at the press of a button when you insert the drives and turn it on.  For maximum performance and space utilization, the drives should be the same size, ideally the exact same make and model.

Question 4

Is there a way to configure this so you can have 3 disks in Raid 5 and the 4th as a hot spare?

Accepted Answer

Sorry, this doesn't have a full function disk management console. You might as well put in 4 drives and the OS driver can send out e-mail alerts that a drive has failed, then replace the failed/failing drive.

If you really want this feature in a small RAID array, you might want to go to the small Synology or QNAP RAID arrays. I actually use this as a backup to a QNAP TS-453mini alternating physically with a a Synology DS-212+ where the QNAP and Synology are on my primary sharing devices on a Gbit network.  The QNAP and Synology are RAID-5 and hybrid RAID respectively. This Mediasonic HFR2-SU3S2 is setup as RAID-10 since that is the fastest write performance of the RAID options.

Question 5

Can time machine on my macbook use this as a backup drive?

Accepted Answer

Yes, either the USB 3.0 or the eSATA interface allows Mac to use it for TimeMachine. Although some eSATA bridges do not wake properly after sleep. But I had no problems with USB 3.0 interface on Mac Mini as Time Machine + External drive on JBOD mode.

Question 6

Can you create two Raid 1 arrays?  i.e. 2x2tb drives and 2x2tb drives?  and then when this is connected it would show up as two volumes

Accepted Answer

At a minimum it's going to want to span all the drives in jbod mode.  You are limited to the button presets.  You can do Raid 10 and span both the raid 1's, which will appear to Windows as a single drive, but you can't set it up to see two raid one drives in Windows.

Question 7

Is the Raid set up on the box, or does in need a PC to do it, or can it be set up and then used as an external for the Xbox 1?

I'm planning on using this in RAID 0 (striping) with 4x 1tb hard drives which would be a lot cheaper and possibly around the same speed as a single SSD.

Accepted Answer

The enclosure includes a raid controller which means that you don't need a PC for setup.  A PC would recognize this enclosure as just another external hard drive.  I do not know if you can expect the same behavior from an Xbox.  In addition, if you are looking for a speed boost, you need to consider the type of cable that will be used to connect the enclosure to the Xbox.  If you are using a USB 2.0 cable, your speed will be limited by the USB 2.0 cable and not the hard drives.  In other words, you will need at least a USB 3.0 or eSATA connection to make use of the theoretical speed of a Raid 0 setup.

Question 8

Is this hot swappable, or is it able to show the drives separately to be used with storage spaces?  If I wan to upgrade / replace 1 drive do I have to completely rebuild the array?

Accepted Answer

A) If possible, always have a full working backup somewhere else when working with an Array.
B) depending on what type of RAID you are using, you may be able to pop a drive out and put a new one in of equal or greater size. (this is usually applicable for RAID 5).
C) If you are using RAID 5, and you take out one drive (bad or not) and replace it, you should then be able to use the data from the other drives to rebuild the data on the new drive.  Just depends on what RAID software you use

Question 9

The documentation says that this drive can be spun down and turned off in sync with the PC/MAC it is connected to. How reliable is this and can the RAID be disconnected and turned off separately like any other external HDD?

Accepted Answer

Yes, it is very good about spinning down and going into a 'standby' mode when not actively being used, then, when I access the drive, there will be a moment delay and you will hear it spin up to become available. I have mine setup with a Raid 5, so it appears as a single hard drive in OSX and behaves exactly like one as well. I can manually eject it and then unplug it from the computer, etc.

I have two of these Raids with a mid-2012 Retina Macbook Pro running OS X 10.10.

Question 10

Linux is not listed, but has anyone tested compatibility?

Accepted Answer

Mine is connected to a (Linux Openelec) Raspberry Pi with 4x3TB WD Red drives in RAID-5 format. Worked perfectly first time and still working 2 years later on. It is connected via USB so cannot say any other Linux/interface will work as well as it did for me. Thanks!

Questions & Answers