Owc 8Tb Thunderbolt 3 Dock Raid Station 2X4Tb

Owc 8tb Thunderbolt 3 Dock Raid Station 2x4tb

Product Code: eq71649
Availability: In Stock

$1,619.97 $1,960.16

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Description
Reviews (41)

Boost the storage capacity of your laptop with the OWC 8TB Thunderbolt 3 Dock RAID Station 2x4TBfrom OWC. Equipped with a pair of 4TB hard drives, the Gemini comes with two Thunderbolt 3 ports, ideal for connecting to your computers as well as daisy chaining up to five Thunderbolt 3 devices. The storage system also features two USB 3.0/3.1 Gen 1 Type-A ports, a Gigabit Ethernet port, a DisplayPort, and an SD card reader. With its hardware RAID controller, the Gemini Thunderbolt 3 RAID Station supports RAID modes 0 and 1, as well as SPAN and JBOD modes. A fan ensures components stay cool.

2 x 4TB Hard Drives 2 x Thunderbolt 3 Ports 2 x USB 3.0/3.1 Gen 1 Type-A Ports 1 x 10/100/1000 Mb/s Ethernet Port 1 x DisplayPort 1.2 SD Card Reader Hardware RAID Controller RAID Modes 0, 1, SPAN, & JBOD Cooling Fan

Key Specs
Number of Bays	2x 2.5"/3.5"
Inputs/Outputs	1x RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet 2x USB-C Thunderbolt 3 (40 Gb/s) 2x USB-A 3.0 / 3.1/3.2 Gen 1 1x DisplayPort 1.2
General
Number of Bays	2x 2.5"/3.5"
Inputs/Outputs	1x RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet 2x USB-C Thunderbolt 3 (40 Gb/s) 2x USB-A 3.0 / 3.1/3.2 Gen 1 1x DisplayPort 1.2
Media Card Slots	SD
Form Factor	Desktop
Software
OS Compatibility	Windows 7 or Later macOS 10.12.4 or Later
Security
Security Features	Kensington Security Slot
Physical
Certifications	BSMI, CE, FCC, RCM, TUV, UL, VCCI, cUL
Cooling	1x Fan
Material of Construction	Aluminum
Dimensions	9.37 x 5.79 x 3.35" / 238 x 147 x 85 mm
Packaging Info
Package Weight	8.75 lb
Box Dimensions (LxWxH)	13 x 10.2 x 4.8"

With the built-in hardware RAID controller, you can mirror the drives with RAID 1 as a reliable backup for your important data, you can stripe the drives with RAID 0 for optimal performance and maximum speed, or you can select SPAN to combine the drives for extra-large storage capacities.

An advantage of the built-in hardware RAID controller is that the RAID set is OS-independent, meaning the storage drive can be moved from one system to another with ease. Because the RAID set is managed inside the Gemini, no additional setup is required on your computer.

The PCIe-to-SATA controller makes use of two PCIe lanes. When using a non-RAID configuration, this allows for a single SSD to run at full SATA 6Gb/s speeds and deliver read transfer rates over 500 MB/s.

The Gemini Thunderbolt 3 Dock and RAID Station supports USB Power Delivery (PD), providing 27W of power to laptops that support charging from a 9V/3A power source, such as the late-2016 MacBook Pro. This allows you to recharge your laptop's battery even when it is not plugged into any other power source.

For added convenience and flexibility, the Gemini can accommodate both 2.5 and 3.5" SATA drives. The assembly is completely toolless so drives can be easily installed or uninstalled.

The LED lights on the front indicate the device's power status and disk activity while the LED lights on the back show the network speed and status when an Ethernet cable is connected.

Related Questions and Answers

Q: 1. The product specifications say the speed is 2800MB/s, but I know that the individual speed of the SSD in NVME format is over 2800MB/s. Why is the speed of Thunder Blade using RAID method only 2800MB/s?

A: To accommodate the 4 blades a switch must be used, this is what limits the speed.

Q: 2. Will the tb3 port act as Usbc if plugged into usb3 a port?

A: No it will only function when connected to a Thunderbolt 3 port

Q: 3. Does it provide enough power to daisy chain a bus-powered TB3 external drive like an OWC Envoy Pro EX?

A: Yes, you can connect the OWC Envoy Pro EX to the OWC ThunderBlade.

Q: 4. Would this product work well for editing 4K DCI lossless RAW with smooth playback in a NLE such as DaVinci Resolve?

A: This is not the best option for what you are looking to do. A unit with SSD drives and with 4 bays or more set in a RAID 5 would be the best option for you in terms of speed and reliability.

Q: 5. Can I use this drive on 2015 MacBook Pro, which predates Thunderbolt 3 ?

A: You can get a Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 adapter (https://bhpho.to/2VdXuZP), and plug THAT into the drive. Then use Thunderbolt 2 to connect to your computer.

Q: 6. Does the AkiTio unit have a power switch for the fan as in the description (even though the photo on B&H shows none)?

A: No, the OWC 4TB AKiTiO Thunder3 RAID Station (2 x 2TB) BH #OWTB3RSDK04T does not offer fan control.

Q: 7. Is this unit compatible with Windows 11? If so, do the drives have to be reformatted to NTFS for Windows connectivity?

A: Yes, the OWC Gemini Thunderbolt 3 Dock and RAID Station is compatible with Windows 11. Hard drives should not be formatted before inserting into the enclosure, they will be formatted by the enclosure as part of first-time RAID setup.

Q: 8. I cannot seem to connect this drive to my computer. I have an iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015). I have tried to connect the USB-C on the AKiTiO to the USB port on the computer but I get the message , "Cannot Use Thunderbolt Accessory." I then bought an Apple Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 adapter and connected the AKiTiO using the supplied cable but there is no indication of any connection on the computer whatsoever, not even in Disk Utility. Can I use this drive with my computer? Thank you,

A: OWC Andy, I am happy to say that you are quite incorrect! In my experience, this computer does hot mount as my other drives do. But when I rebooted the computer, the drive showed up, even though it is connected using the Apple adapter. All is working fine!

Q: 9. Have the fixed the fan noise issue with the current model?

A: We do not currently have a spec from OWC regarding the Gemini Thunderbolt 3 Dock's fan noise.

Q: 10. What brand are the drives in this enclosure?

A: The OWC 8TB AKiTiO Thunder3 RAID Station (2 x 4TB) BH #OWTB3RSDK08T comes with 2 x 4TB Seagate Constellation ES.3 7,200RPM Enterprise Class Hard Disk Drives with 128 MB cache. *OWC reserves the right to replace or upgrade to equivalent or better components.

Alexandar	19/09/2024
[2x 2.5"/3.5"] Used this on a recent DIT job and I needed the speed and storage. I found that it's peak write/read speed using Silverstack was about 1.2GB/s Read and 1.5GB/s write. No problems recreating the volume into a RAID 0 using SoftRAID. I didn't test it at it's default setting in RAID 5. I'm using a MacBook Pro M1 Max and have offloaded 14TB over the last 2 days with no problems. 5

Jon	18/09/2024
[Aluminum] Bought this because I used a 2019 MBP Pro 16 for work all day and my other dock was UBC-C only and was limited on the HDMI port to low refresh even though it had USB-C passthrough. This one I was able to take full advantage of 144Hz for the monitor over HDMI and have more USB ports in the process. As well put away the power adapter and not have to go crawling under the desk to unplug it if I needed to go mobile and bring it with me. I have now a 2019 MBP Pro 16 I use for work, a 2021 M1 Max MBP 16 I use personally as well as a 2019 LG Gram 17 I use personally. This this works great for all three of them and all three are able to take advantage of the 1440p 144Hz display, even the low spec iGPU on the Gram 17. So much nicer to work with. My only complaint is it gets super hot to the touch when using the 2019 MBP 16, or I suppose at any point it would be supplying near max power over thunderbolt. I would imagine the case is made of metal to attempt to dissipate that heat more effectively, but it was still a little off putting how hot to the touch the case of the dock gets. I have it out of the way under a monitor stand so it's not a big deal, just consider that though if that would cause you some annoyance in your setup. 5

Jon	18/09/2024
[Aluminum] Bought this because I used a 2019 MBP Pro 16 for work all day and my other dock was UBC-C only and was limited on the HDMI port to low refresh even though it had USB-C passthrough. This one I was able to take full advantage of 144Hz for the monitor over HDMI and have more USB ports in the process. As well put away the power adapter and not have to go crawling under the desk to unplug it if I needed to go mobile and bring it with me. I have now a 2019 MBP Pro 16 I use for work, a 2021 M1 Max MBP 16 I use personally as well as a 2019 LG Gram 17 I use personally. This this works great for all three of them and all three are able to take advantage of the 1440p 144Hz display, even the low spec iGPU on the Gram 17. So much nicer to work with. My only complaint is it gets super hot to the touch when using the 2019 MBP 16, or I suppose at any point it would be supplying near max power over thunderbolt. I would imagine the case is made of metal to attempt to dissipate that heat more effectively, but it was still a little off putting how hot to the touch the case of the dock gets. I have it out of the way under a monitor stand so it's not a big deal, just consider that though if that would cause you some annoyance in your setup. 5

Colette	18/09/2024
[8.75 lb] This is essential when I'm working offsite on any laptop. 5

Colette	18/09/2024
[8.75 lb] This is essential when I'm working offsite on any laptop. 5

Colette	18/09/2024
[8.75 lb] This is essential when I'm working offsite on any laptop. 5

Martin	16/09/2024
[2x 2.5"/3.5"] We have several OWC ThunderBay units and they perform well. Both OWC and B&H provide excellent service to go with it. 5

Martin	16/09/2024
[2x 2.5"/3.5"] We have several OWC ThunderBay units and they perform well. Both OWC and B&H provide excellent service to go with it. 5

Stacy	06/09/2024
[2x 2.5"/3.5"] Only used this drive for one week having transferred all my files onto it. So far so good. Little noisy but is working fine Customer service is excellent if you need to talk to someone even if it's a minor issue. 5

Craig	26/08/2024
[SD] This is my third ThunderBay enclosure, and it's used as the fail-safe backup for all my files. With the Softraid software, it's the best solution I've found so far to store and maintain my many terabytes of photo & video data. The bonus is fairly quick phone and email support response from OWC. The TB8 units integrate particularly well with my Mac OS machines and operating system. 5