G-tech G-raid 4 TB Thunderbolt drive

[Thymen]

I am considering a G-tech G-raid 4 TB Thunderbolt drive (2 discs in RAID 0), because I am tired of waiting for affordable external multibay Thunderbolt enclosures.

I currently have a 2 TB G-drive (single-disc) FW800 drive for all my photography data, basically the internal drive of my iMac is used for applications only. I plan on using the Thunderbolt drive as boot, application and data drive. In RAID 0 this should give a substantial increase in responsiveness of my system.

I like the G-Tech units, built like a tank, and they contain very good quality HDD's.

I searched for info on the internet, found some positive reviews, but I am not fully convinced yet. And, theory and reality may not agree with each other. So I wonder if anyone here already uses a G-Raid Thunderbolt drive, and if so, what is your opinion?

Regards,

Thymen

 

[lrd]

Have you looked at the OWC SSD PCIe card/Thunderbolt enclosure? SSD running at faster bus speeds than SATA3. Your machine would scream. 240GB running at ridiculous speeds for $800.

 

[CrimsonRequiem]

Have you looked at the OWC SSD PCIe card/Thunderbolt enclosure? SSD running at faster bus speeds than SATA3. Your machine would scream. 240GB running at ridiculous speeds for $800.

800$ for only 240GB of Space? With that amount of money you can get two or three 4TB drives.

 

[Thymen]

I am not looking for top performance, as with a RAID 0 SSD setup. The available size of the disks is too small, and also it is way too expensive. Fast, yes... but screaming fast start-up of an application, followed by slow datafile read/write is not what I desire.

At the moment my entire application/data size is about 1.2 TB, not counting the work-related data that is on a NAS. 2 TB or more in SSD? No way...

My most favourite setup would be an external, 4-bay enclosure with Thunderbolt and USB 3.0, with four 2 TB disks in RAID 10. That is the best of both worlds. Discs at about €100 each (WD RED), and an enclosure such as the Mercury Elite at €280 would mean an investment of €680 for 4 TB of fast, reliable, platform-independent storage. An investment I can justify and feel comfortable with in making. If only those darned Thunderbolt/USB 3.0 enclosures would surface...

Alternative is the 2 x 2 TB G-Raid drive in RAID 0, currently at €550, and my FW800 drive for Time Machine. And that is what I hope some of you have experience with. Because on paper it looks good, but I prefer hands-on, real-life experience.

Thymen

 

[CrimsonRequiem]

I am not looking for top performance, as with a RAID 0 SSD setup. The available size of the disks is too small, and also it is way too expensive. Fast, yes... but screaming fast start-up of an application, followed by slow datafile read/write is not what I desire.

At the moment my entire application/data size is about 1.2 TB, not counting the work-related data that is on a NAS. 2 TB or more in SSD? No way...

My most favourite setup would be an external, 4-bay enclosure with Thunderbolt and USB 3.0, with four 2 TB disks in RAID 10. That is the best of both worlds. Discs at about €100 each (WD RED), and an enclosure such as the Mercury Elite at €280 would mean an investment of €680 for 4 TB of fast, reliable, platform-independent storage. An investment I can justify and feel comfortable with in making. If only those darned Thunderbolt/USB 3.0 enclosures would surface...

Alternative is the 2 x 2 TB G-Raid drive in RAID 0, currently at €550, and my FW800 drive for Time Machine. And that is what I hope some of you have experience with. Because on paper it looks good, but I prefer hands-on, real-life experience.

Thymen

I have a drobo 5D sitting in my studio. Been so busy I haven't even opened the box yet! Planning on doing a review and setup video. Stay tuned. Probably do it later when I get back from the Windows Store. >_>"""

 

[JohnCL]

I have a drobo 5D sitting in my studio. Been so busy I haven't even opened the box yet! Planning on doing a review and setup video. Stay tuned. Probably do it later when I get back from the Windows Store. >_>"""

Great choice! I just purchased and installed a Drobo Mini this week. I put 4 750GB WD Black 2.5" drives in it, and an mSATA SSD for the hot data cache. Did you get a SSD for your 5D?