Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This is the RAID enclosure I should have bought the first time.
I needed a video storage solution for the iMac that we use as a DVR. My 4 year old 1TB Maxtor gave up the ghost, and the $99 price for WD Caviar Green 1.5 TB drives put a RAID 10 four-drive array in my price range.
My first purchase was a 4-bay Drobo, and found its performance unacceptable. I'm sure it's a wonderful Time Machine backup drive, but it's not anywhere near fast enough for use as DVR storage. I found the term "DAS" just by chance, when researching why the heck the video playback from the Drobo was so choppy.
I discovered that Apple sells this enclosure with 4x 1TB drives in its store, but I already had four drives, so I was very happy that Amazon/Buy sells the empty enclosure.
Setup was easy, just mount plastic rails on the drives using supplied screws, and slide the drives into the enclosure. It has a sturdy steel chassis with a plastic body. The power supply transformer/converter is mounted in a bay underneath the drives, so the power cord is uncomplicated. The USB/FW/eSATA connectors and the power switch are all on the back. The front access door locks to keep curious people from pulling a drive unintentionally. Blue activity LEDs are bright and basic. The setup software did its job quickly, and with 4x 1.5TB drives, I had a 2.75 TB capacity RAID 10 array mounted on my desktop within 30 minutes of opening the box.
I haven't run any benchmarks, but it handles simultaneous recording and playback of 720p and 1080i HDTV easily; the disk activity lights flicker casually and there's never any skipping or hesitation. The large caches on the WD Caviar Green drives probably help.
It's only been up and running a few hours, but I can't be more pleased, especially after the disappointment of my first choice.
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The SmartStor DS4600 features an ultra sleek aesthetic design with Blue LEDs and no power supply fan. The internal power supply has been removed and replaced with an external Power Adapter that snaps into the bottom of the SmartStor DS4600 and is secured by a removable door. The SmartStor DS4600 is one of the quietest 4 Drive Direct Attached Storage Device on the Market today.
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