Question 1

Does the device stay powered on always?
I need something reliable. The last enclosure I had from some other vendor went into some sleep mode after some time (and there is no way to change this). This causes I/O issues on my machine.

Accepted Answer

This does not got to sleep.  I have mine powered 24X7X365 and never had any problems with it not being ready to go.  Be sure to connect it and your computer to a UPS.  I bought a eSata to SATA bracket for my computer and connected it directly to one of my spare SATA ports, then plugged the enclosure into the eSATA port.

Question 2

I'm curious if this requires enterprise level drives, or if it'll take standard drives?

Accepted Answer

If you use it in JBOD mode, it will take any drives.  I'm using 6TB WD Red and 8TB Seagate drives and a 2TB old Seagate.  My box came configured in JBOD mode (the switch setting is actually undocumented, I just gave it a try), but if you choose a RAID setting then you may be limited to 4TB (if the box's firmware has any limitations).

Question 3

Is this product capable of performing its RAID operations when plugged into the USB port of something like a wireless router?  Or does this product require using the resources of the host machine (through a driver or some other software) it is connected to in order to function?

Accepted Answer

The DIP switches on back suggest that this unit will build a raid and maintain drive data without a host machine (most raided enclosures do, I'm pretty sure).  Not sure about the USB-to-router aspect; you'll have to check your router to determine if it supports data transfer with more devices than printers attached to the usb port.  You might test that with a usb dongle drive, first.  If it works with that, it should work with this.

Question 4

Will it work with drives larger than 18T?

Accepted Answer

No, the maximum capacity per bay is 18TB, so it will not work with drives larger than 18TB.

Question 5

does this unit support 4 disks in RAID 5 with a Hot Spare?

Accepted Answer

Yes, this unit supports multiple RAID modes including RAID 5.

Question 6

Does this unit support 4 disks in RAID 5 with a hot spare?

Accepted Answer

Yes, the unit supports RAID 5 which allows for RAID setups including configurations with a hot spare.

Question 7

Where do you find a manual for this?

Accepted Answer

The user manual is included in the package contents.

Questions & Answers