The OWC Mercury Pro 4TB U.2 SSD Thunderbolt 3 RAID Arrayfrom OWC Mercury Pro 4TB U.2 SSD Thunderbolt 3 RAID Arrayfeatures two bays that each sport a 480GB SSD to deliver a total raw capacity of 4TB for your Thunderbolt 3 system. The eight NVMe M.2 SSDs in each U.2 bay are preconfigured in a hardware RAID 0 array that strips the data across all the drives to provide speeds of up to 2800 MB/s. You can reconfigure the drives into RAID 1, JBOD, RAID 4, RAID 5, and RAID 0+1 depending on your storage needs with the included SoftRAID XT software.

4TB Total Storage Capacity    8 x 480GB NVMe M.2 SSDs    Dual Drive Bays    NVMe U.2 Drive Interface    RAID 0, 1, 4, 5, 0+1, and JBOD    2 x Thunderbolt 3 Ports    1 x 60mm Cooling Fan    Bootable in MacOS    Windows, Mac, Linux & Chrome OS Support

The Mercury Pro U.2 Dual Advanced X8 is powered by eight NVMe M.2 SSDs so you can edit high-resolution files on the fly, ingest and duplicate dailies without a hitch, rip through the tightest of timelines, and back up huge music and photo libraries in a flash. While it offers fast performance and large storage capacity, this compact solution is small enough to easily fit on a DIT cart, in a rack, or on your desktop.

NVMe SSD use began in the corporate and server market, where ROI is defined in nanoseconds and dependability is paramount. Now, the Mercury Pro U.2 Dual AdvancedX8 brings enterprise-level performance and reliability to your home or office. Its NVMe SSD array utilizes Thunderbolt's full 2800MB/s of data bandwidth capability, so it functions nearly 6x faster than your typical SSD.

The Mercury Pro U.2 AdvancedX8 easily handles any project backup and storage task you throw at it. Dual drive bays house two OWC U2 Shuttles, each with four M.2 SSDs for ultra-reliable RAID storage to tackle nearly any data need imaginable, from personal videos to major motion pictures, from photo shoots to file backups.

Need to change your drive configuration? There's no need to buy a costly new enclosure. The Mercury Pro U.2 Dual Advanced X8 is ready to change with you by enabling you to configure each bay with: A 2.5 or 3.5-inch NVMe U.2 SSD, or a single NVMe M.2 SSD with a U.2 adapter like the OWC U2 ShuttleOne (sold separately).

An extra Thunderbolt USB Type-C port lets you daisy-chain devices to your Mercury Pro U.2 Dual AdvancedX8 to expand your capabilities. Add up to five additional Thunderbolt solutions and merge them with SoftRAID for mind-blowing storage. Attach a 5K display or two 4K Thunderbolt displays. You can even place a USB device at the end of the chain. The Mercury Pro U.2 Dual AdvancedX8 gives you the freedom to use more of what you need.

Backing up and protecting your data is critically important. But all too often it's a task that falls to the bottom of the "to do" list, and you don't realize it until it is too late. That's why OWC has partnered with Acronis to give you one full year of personal backup and antivirus software to integrate into your workflow. Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office safeguards you from today's data threats — from accidents to failures to attacks. With an intuitive backup and AI-enhanced antimalware technology, your digital life is protected — photos, files, applications, systems, and the devices they are on.

Multiple RAID options let you select the RAID level that fits you or your project's needs best. If you need maximum volume capacity, optimum drive performance, data protection, or a combination of attributes, SoftRAID has you covered. Packed with features like drive validation, verification, and failure protection, SoftRAID includes features that are not commonly found with hardware RAID. 

The Mercury Pro U.2 Dual AdvancedX8 can be taken wherever you need a compact, yet super-fast, massive-capacity storage solution. Thanks to its compact form factor and weighing only 4 pounds, the Mercury Pro U.2 Dual AdvancedX8 can travel anywhere your workflow takes you. It connects to Thunderbolt Macs and Windows computers and can work cross-platform using OWC's MacDrive 10 Pro software (sold separately).

OWC understands the importance of your data and that is why every OWC solution receives comprehensive testing to deliver the reliability you expect. Your Mercury Pro U.2 Dual AdvancedX8 undergoes a complete burn-in and performance certification process to ensure it's ready for your most demanding workflow right out of the box.

Related Questions and Answers

Q: 1. Is this backward compatible to thunderbolt 2?

A: The OWC Mercury Pro U.2 Dual requires Thunderbolt 3 as a host connection for proper operation.

Q: 2. Is there no problem with performance and speed if I fill two "OWC U2 Shuttle" with only two or three "Nvme SSD" each?

A: The OWC Mercury Pro U.2 Dual 2-Bay Thunderbolt 3 RAID Array, (B&H # OWCTB3MPDU0), J only has 2 slots. There wouldn't be any performance issues if you only use a single U.2 SSD.

Q: 3. How long is the Thunderbolt cable supplied with this SSD?

A: The length of the Thunderbolt cable with the OWC Mercury Pro U.2 Dual 8TB 2-Bay Thunderbolt RAID Array (2 x 4TB) BH #OWTB3MPDUR08 • MFR #OWCTB3MPDUR08W will be about 6'.

Q: 4. can i use this with a U.2 shuttle (4 x nvme drives in Raid 0) on just ONE side, with the second side empty? Do both sides need to be in use / populated for the device to work?

A: Yes, you would need both sides populated on the OWC Mercury Pro U.2 Dual with SoftRAID. In order for this to work properly.

Q: 5. Do I need to buy 2 separate OWC U2 Shuttle if I want to use 8 Nvme M.2?

A: Yes, each OWC U2 Shuttle supports up to four M.2 NVMe SSDs, and the OWC Mercury Pro U.2 Dual 2-Bay Thunderbolt 3 RAID Array will support up to two OWC U2 Shuttles.

Q: 6. how loud is that fan?

A: The OWC Mercury Pro U.2 Dual with SoftRAID fan has a decibel rating of 32.4 dB.

Q: 7. Can I daisy chain this to lacie 2big drive?

A: Yes, the OWC Mercury Pro U.2 Dual with SoftRAID BH #OWTB3MPDU0S has dual Thunderbolt 3 ports so as long as your Lacie drive is Thunderbolt 3 or USB Type C, you can connect it to the second port on the unit.

Q: 8. Can both sides function with Dual U.2 Shuttles which are evenly and uniformly, but only partially populated with M.2 NVMEs (eg. 2 x1, 2 x2, 2 x3 or 2 x4)?

A: I would recommend using the OWC Mercury Pro U.2 Dual (OWTB3MPU000) for this purpose. It is specifically designed for use of 8 NVMe SSDs via U2 Adapters.

Q: 9. Can this support 8TB m.2 nvme (or 16TB in the future)?

A: Yes, the M.2 SSDs in the OWC Mercury Pro 32TB U.2 8-Drive SSD 2-Bay Thunderbolt 3 RAID Array can be swapped out for higher capacity SSDs.

Q: 10. WIll this work with a U2 SSD? The 4.0TB WESTERN DIGITAL ULTRASTAR DC SN630

A: Yes the OWC Mercury Pro U.2 Dual with SoftRAID is designed to work with U2 SSDs and is compatible with Western Digital's ULTRASTAR DC SN630 SSD.