Owc Thunderbay Flex 8 96Tb Thunderbolt 3 Raid Array

Owc Thunderbay Flex 8 96tb Thunderbolt 3 Raid Array

Product Code: eq162697
Availability: In Stock

$25,949.97 $41,260.45

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Bring flexible storage to your setup with with the OWC ThunderBay Flex 8 96TB Thunderbolt 3 RAID Arrayfrom OWC. Designed to streamline production workflows, this RAID array features eight 2.5/3.5" drive bays preinstalled with four 8TB U.2 NVMe SSDs and four 16TB HDDs. Preconfigured in RAID 5, the ThunderBay Flex 8 also supports RAID 0, 1, 0+1 (10), 4, and JBOD modes, allowing you to choose between speed or data redundancy. Thunderbolt 3 and SATA III interfaces as well as 7200 rpm HDD speeds ensure fast data access to make short work of video editing, VFX, digital imaging, and more. The 120mm cooling fan prevents overheating, and a lockable bay door and Kensington Lock slot ensure security.

Use the CFexpress and UHS-II SD card reader slots to import 4K or 8K video or hi-res photos with ease. A USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 port, two USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 ports, and two Thunderbolt 3 ports accommodate a range of accessories and a host connection, with the Thunderbolt 3 ports delivering 15W and 85W of power. Connect a display with a resolution up to 8K using the DisplayPort 1.4 output. When you're ready to expand, a PCIe 3.0 x16/x4 slot can be used to host a hardware raid controller or other adapter card. The ThunderBay Flex 8 96TB 8-Bay Thunderbolt 3 RAID Array is compatible with macOS 10.15 and later.

96TB (4 x 8TB U.2 SSDs, 4 x 16TB HDDs) 8 x 2.5/3.5" Drive Bays NVMe and SATA III Drive Interfaces Supports RAID 0, 1, 0+1, 4, 5, and JBOD Software RAID Controller 1 x 120mm Cooling Fan CFexpress & UHS-II SD Card Reader Slots 2 x Thunderbolt 3, USB-C & A 3.2 Gen 2 DisplayPort 1.4 Output Compatible with macOS 10.15 or Later

Key Specs
Storage Capacity	96 TB
Included Drives	4x 8 TB SSD 4x 16 TB SATA III 3.5" HDD
RAID	Yes, Supported RAID Modes: 10 / 4 / 5 / 0 / JBOD / 1 (Preconfigured in RAID 5)
Number of Bays	8x 2.5"/3.5" SAS-3, SATA III, NVMe, U.2
Inputs/Outputs	2x USB-C Thunderbolt 3 (40 Gb/s) 1x USB-C 3.1/3.2 Gen 2 2x USB-A 3.1/3.2 Gen 2 1x DisplayPort 1.4
Computing
Bridge Chipset	ASMedia ASM-2824 Intel JHL7440
Drives
Storage Capacity	96 TB
Included Drives	4x 8 TB SSD 4x 16 TB SATA III 3.5" HDD
RAID	Yes, Supported RAID Modes: 10 / 4 / 5 / 0 / JBOD / 1 (Preconfigured in RAID 5)
Transfer Rates	2750 MB/s (Read/Write)
General
Number of Bays	8x 2.5"/3.5" SAS-3, SATA III, NVMe, U.2
Inputs/Outputs	2x USB-C Thunderbolt 3 (40 Gb/s) 1x USB-C 3.1/3.2 Gen 2 2x USB-A 3.1/3.2 Gen 2 1x DisplayPort 1.4
Media Card Slots	SD/SDHC/SDXC CFexpress
PCI Expansion	1x PCIe 3.0 x16 (x4 Electrical)
Software
OS Compatibility	macOS 10.15.1 or Later
Default OS Support	Requires Formatting Before Use
Security
Encryption	No
Security Features	Kensington Security Slot, Lockable Bay Door
Electrical
Input Power	100 to 240 VAC, 60 / 50 Hz at 3.5 to 7.0 A
PSU Wattage	1 x 450 W
Physical
Operating Conditions	50 to 95°F / 10 to 35°C at 8 to 90% Humidity
Storage Conditions	-40 to 149°F / -40 to 65°C at 5 to 95% Humidity
Certifications	BSMI, CE, FCC, RCM, VCCI
Cooling	1x 1600 rpm 120 mm Fan
Material of Construction	Aluminum
Cable Length	2.3' / 0.7 m
Dimensions	15.4 x 13.7 x 5.9" / 39 x 34.9 x 14.9 cm
Weight	20.3 lb / 9.2 kg

Use SATA/SAS and U.2/M.2 NVMe drives for up to 172TB of capacity and real-world speeds up to 2750 MB/s.

Please note that SAS drives are supported with a SAS drive controller card (available separately) and up to four U.2 drives are supported. M.2 drives are also supported with an M.2 to U.2 adapter (available separately).

The top four bays can utilize U.2 SSDs, the emerging M&E industry storage standard.

Create, manage, and monitor advanced RAID sets with SoftRAID, the advanced RAID management solution with easy setup, e-notifications, and drive integrity monitoring.

Related Questions and Answers

Q: 1. I have 8 separate external hard drives that I want to take apart and insert into this Thunderbay 8 enclosure. I want to see the drives as separate drives, NOT raid drives. In other words, JBOD. If I do NOT install SoftRAID, is JBOD the default? Will I see my 8 separate drives mounted on my Mac with no further effort required? Thanks.

A: It can be used as a JBOD with out SoftRAID.

Q: 2. Can this work as a network attached storage device?

A: No, the OWC ThunderBay 8 8-Bay Thunderbolt 3 Raid Array with SoftRAID XT is a DAS; it does not support a network connection.

Q: 3. Can OWC ThunderBay 8 RAID be divided in half? One half to be a RAID 5, the other half to be TimeMachine backup.

A: Yes, with the SoftRAID software, you can configure half your drive to be RAID 5 and the other half for Time Machine.

Q: 4. at raid 5 how much usable storage is there on this 32tb model?

A: This configuration of the OWC ThunderBay 8 32TB 8-Bay Thunderbolt 3 RAID 5 Array has 8 drives, that each hold 4 TB. There is 28 TB capacity for storage, with 4 TB dedicated to parity, in case of drive failure.

Q: 5. Does it work with USB-C if my computer doesn't have Thunderbolt?

A: Yes, the the connector also transmits data via USB 3.1 at up to 10 Gb/s.

Q: 6. The serial number on the bottom does not work as for SoftRAID license. How do I get the license?

A: The OWC ThunderBay 8 8-Bay Thunderbolt 3 RAID Enclosure, B&H # OWCTB38JBKIT, does not come with SoftRaid XT. Model OWC ThunderBay 8 8-Bay Thunderbolt 3 Raid Array with SoftRAID XT. B&H # OWTB38SRKIT0, does include SoftRAID XT.

Q: 7. Does anyone know if the Apple Silicon compatibility issues have been solved with these units?

A: Yes, OWC has fixed the communication issues with the OWC ThunderBay 8 128TB 8-Bay Thunderbolt 3 RAID 5 Array (8 x 16TB) as well as all other OWC Thunderbolt drives/docks.

Q: 8. is OWC Thunderbay 8 compatible with OS Ventura?

A: Yes, the OWC ThunderBay 8 8-Bay Thunderbolt 3 Raid Array with SoftRAID XT is compatible with MacOS Ventura.

Q: 9. Is it possible to use one bay for m.2 ssd with additional adapter like in some other owc models ?

A: The OWC ThunderBay 8 8-Bay Thunderbolt 3 RAID Enclosure supports 8 x 2.5"/3.5" SATA Drive Bays. If its a SATA M.2 it could be possible.

Q: 10. can I have a mix like 7 in RAID5 and one slot as JBOD and mount as a separate disk?

A: Depending on the RAID mode you choose you can use different amounts of drives for different data sets.

Cristofer Rafae	25/09/2024
[Aluminum] If you want the high speed that OWC claims ( up to 2,500 Mb/s ) you need to use the 8 disks. In my case just use 4 disks and just get 768Mb/s. In general OWC is an excellent option. If you use 5 disks of 14TB in Raid 5 option, you will get 42TB. 5

John	17/09/2024
[Aluminum] Have two of these OWC Thunderbay 8 raids and they are amazingly fast, not to mentioned, incredible tech support from OWC! 5

Gabriele	24/08/2024
[Aluminum] Im buying as soon as they become available a Mac Studio Ultra but I wanted to be ready with the storage. Today I still use a Mac Pro 11 years old with internal disks. It's a fast machine but after seeing what my Macbook Air can do with video compression I decided that is time to switch. My main concern was the noise, I do have an older SATA box from OWC that I use for backup but I shut it down when is not in use due to the noise. Well, this new Thunderbay 8 is just whispering. A very well designed product, the fan probably has variable speed and my WD HDD don't make too much noise even though they are enterprise specs. One of the RAID is 3 14TB in RAID zero configuration (soft ) and I get about 750/800 MB/s , faster than when I had them installed in my old Mac Pro since SATA there was just 3Gbps . Silent fast, not too expensive . Nothing beat this. Also, everything was plug & play. I just moved my HDD from my Mac Pro to this box and they appeared on my Mac Air when I plugged the TB cable in. My only complain is the black color, it's nice but why black? This should have been the same color like the Macs are. At least the mainstream silver. Second minor complain the cable in the box is very short. Buy a longer cable when you buy the box unless your connected device is really next to this box. 5

Bonfire	21/08/2024
[96 TB] Is working well so far 5

John	16/08/2024
[96 TB] Excellent storage solution for any application. Completely configurable however you want and easy to use with the Soft Raid software that comes with it. Operates as a hub as well with Display Port 1.4 fictionality. 5

Owen S	03/08/2024
[96 TB] I have a Thunderbay 4 and now a Thunderbay 8 and I find them simple to setup, quiet and easy to use (though I think the level of noise is somewhat dependent on the drives you purchase). I put 8 x 22TB Seagate Ironwolf HDs in a RAID 5 configuration and after spending some time certifying every drive through SoftRAID, it has worked without a hitch. I'm using this to replace a Drobo 8D and it is quieter and takes up less real estate. This is a solid purchase if you need a lot of storage space for photos and video, and at 600MB/s write and 1000MBs read, you can work directly with 4K video files. 5

Thomas	15/07/2024
[96 TB] Works great, incredibly fast supports ssd trim with no Linux or Windows modifications. Really great product all around. Only thing I can't figure out is that it says it'll provide 85W of charging power but I can't seem to get it to charge a 65W laptop at all. 5

Parker	06/07/2024
[96 TB] Stop looking, you found it. It's perfect: 5

Elliot	01/06/2024
[1 x 450 W] Using as a RAID 1+0 with SoftRaid as a backup for footage, and have no complaints. Fan isn't loud enough to even notice under my desk. Throughput with Thunderbolt allows me to attach other arrays, or even spindle drives, when my other ports are being used. You can also mount or eject drives that are in front of the chain, which allows me to keep this attached while removing edit or footage drives. 5

john	01/06/2024
[96 TB] I have used a Promise Pegasus for years on a succession of iMac, beginning 10 years ago. Though not as fast as I had hoped that solution worked for general backup and backing up my library of photography, over 20,000 frames. But when I moved to a higher resolution camera, and Mac Studio, I needed a new solution. After much research I chose a ThunderBay Mini with four SSD drives in RAID 4 configuration. So far, it is working great, with amazing speed for my entire Lightroom Classic photo library. It was the right choice! 5