If this adapter breaks, can I still access my 4-bay HDD enclosure via other interfaces on the enclosure (i.e USB or firewire)? I ask b/c most raid cards can't be read by others raid cards since it's encrypted, so not sure if this adapter encrypts the HDD so that only it can read the HDD. If this adapter breaks, can I still access my 4-bay HDD enclosure via other interfaces on the enclosure (i.e USB or firewire)? I ask b/c most raid cards can't be read by others raid cards since... » Read More If this adapter breaks, can I still access my 4-bay HDD enclosure via other interfaces on the enclosure (i.e USB or firewire)? I ask b/c most raid cards can't be read by others raid cards since it's encrypted, so not sure if this adapter encrypts the HDD so that only it can read the HDD. « Show Less
59319
Yes, as long as the raid was created by the computer and not a third party card.
1636771
This adapter does not encrypt anything. It is no different than a FireWire 400 to FireWire 800 adapter or USB to Mini USB. The functionality is simply to connecting a cable to a machine that does not natively support that cable. I have used this with my G-Raid, which still reads via FireWire 800. So far the adapter itself has not broken and still does it's function without issue.
1733584
You'd need to have a cable that has SAS at both ends as well as a split. The one that I used was SAS on the card end and SATA (x 4 connectors) on the hard drive end. There are only two SAS ports on the RAID card, so you would need to ensure that the cable could handle the split.
1667718
Sorry not sure to answer that, but giving you an idea. I use it to connect my 4 bay eSATA to my laptop USB 2.0 (which doesn't have port multiplier). My laptop can access all four drives on the enclosure. Hope this helps. Toshiba laptop, San Digital Tower Raid TR4M.
1172195
1) I've never seen anything like that -- and I check regularly for USB 3 cards (and also SATA III cards). 2) It is EXTREMELY unlikely ANYONE puts out a card that will do RAID with ESATA (as opposed to internal SATA). RAID is set up under the assumption that all the disks will be treated as a single unit. I don't know of anyone who would be using EXTERNAL drives for RAID. 3) Keep in mind that this is PCIe x ONE, not 4 or 8 or 16. That means it has limited bandwidth. You MIGHT be able to find a PCIe-x1 card that can handle 2-disk MIRRORED RAID (I think that's RAID 10), but with more disks (i.e., striping as opposed to mirroring), an x1 card probably couldn't handle the throughput of modern drives. You could still read and write to the drives, but there would be no speed advantage to using multi-disk striped RAID.
2252527
The card supports a 4-Bay e-Sata enclosure on my MacPro with no problems and 3X the performance of USB 2.0. From what I have read in the comments on Amazon, the card will only support one multiport device per card because the port multiplier only seems to apply to one port. I expect to connect another multi-bay enclosure in the future but it will be one with built-in RAID so that it only presents a one device appearance to the card.
329167
As I understand it, port-multiplier on this unit refers to the fact that they can be daisy chained using the e-sata port to other NAS units. You will probably connect the unit to your computer or router through the USB port, which work perfectly. Even if you don't have enough existing USB ports you can cheaply buy and external USB hub. I have the 2 Bay unit and have it configured as RAID 1. I am very happy with the unit and have had no problems. I am not sure if you are using PC or Mac but on my Mac it took less than 5 minutes to configure the unit and have it ready to use. I would recommend using "red" drives. I bought WD red 2 Terr drives from Ebay. Everything works great. I hope this answers your question and helps. Harry Riley
1303012
If the 2 drives are individual and not set up in a raid, they will be read by this enclosure. Personally I have discontinued external enclosures and gone to bare drives with 2 of the dual docks. Cheaper and much easier stacking bare drives than a bunch of external enclosures cabled up. You can get plastic enclosures to store the hard drives.
178081
If you are using the power adapter that is supplied with the USB hub the hub then is independently powered and the external drives are more than likely being "tricked" into thinking that there is still an active connection between the drives and the PC, therefore the drives will not turn off with the PC. If you unplug the adapter the external drives should then shut down also. Will the drives being on damage the drives? Not really, because there is no actual activity (reading/writing) taking place when the PC is turned off. Does it use a little electricity? Yes, but it would be minimal. Bottom line, if you are concerned about the drives being left on, unplug the power to the hub and they should shut down. If it means anything, I have a PC that I built with 5 Western Digital Black Series 4tb hard drives in RAID 0 and a 2tb external WD My Book attached that run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and they are fine.
1563056
I had compatibility issues when I went to the 4TB, some of the 4TB's want work well with the older 3TB, make sure you check the firmware on your 3TB and 4TB if you need them to run JBOD and RAID should never be mixed. I had 3TB in this device and tried a newer 3TB with a different firmware / version. Didn't work. Never would see the full size of the disk.
894874
Hello fellow Transcend card user: First of all, I am not using my card in a RAID configuration. However, I do believe your assumption is correct. I have an ASUS MoBo and to access the installed RAID functionality of the MoBo, I have to attach the hard drives directly to a specific set of SATA III I/O ports. You may want to check your MoBo manual for such requirements. You may also want to pose this question to your Mobo manufacturer. Further, you may want to consider running your RAID configuration from a USB-3 and/or e-SATA external RAID enclosure. Hope this information can be of some help - Good luck.
2285049
I have eight 4TB drives, totaling to 32 TB's. Haven't tried 5TB drives.Do note that I'm no longer using the included RAID controller though, it had too many issues. I opted for the SANS DIGITAL HA-DAT-4ESPCIE PCI-Express x8 SATA II (3.0Gb/s) Controller Card on Newegg, had no issues with it since.I think the bus supports 64-bit address mapping, so the capacity limitation per drive is most likely a limitation of the controller and not the multiplier that's built into the SAN enclosure.
1191270
I have 3 of these Sabrent drive enclosures and I populated two with 500GBs and one with 1TB. All three worked as I expected. BTW, I only tested them on USB 2.0 connections. I'm still waiting for my "GMYLE® ExpressCard 34mm to USB 3.0 Adapter (Dual Port)" to see if the USB 3.0 connection is any better. I currently do not have a machine with a "native" USB 3.0 interface. I have not tested these units using an SSD.
1170960
In the past RAID has been a hardware supported function. I don't use this in a RAID setup as I only have two drives in it so far. You should view this as four separate USB to SATA bridges. Any RAID function you want to use will have to be 100% software implemented.
1933449
It does not do anything when connected. The first time I connected it, it I could see the drive C but couldn't access any info off the drive. Then it got hot and now it won't do anything.
1944262
I would not buy this card, could not make it work and support is terrible. All most any external Raid will be faster than the Software raid on the motherboard. Plus if the board dies, you just move the card to anything that is working and you have your data back. If you have to move software raid to another MB and it is a different version or drivers, it can be an issue. So find a good card and you will have the best of both worlds. I do have some software raids in my office only to archive data to, not for working data. Hope this helps, Cheers
1541879
It depends how you want to use it. In Raid 0 it will work, but in Raid 1 it will not work.
1982101
Inside the enclosure there are two (2) independent hardisks. RAID 1 redundancy works just as expected, with one drive mirroring the other. It hasn't happened to me yet, but the literature says that in case of a crash. you simply replace the bad drive with a new one and the device will sync itself up, automatically. If the drive is under warranty, you call WD and they'll ship you a replacement drive. The case is designed so that the user can replace the drive easily. So, it's not marketing BS. It works as expected.