Dual Bay NVMe RAID 1 Enclosure - any experiences ?

[tgw]

I will need at some moment to replace my aging laptop and also the external dual bay SDD RAID-1 enclosure that I use to hold my important operational data (yes, I do backups as well, RAID-1 is to ensure I won't experience downtime if a SSD fails).

It's currently a cheap thing made by DeLock, I don't like it at all, and it can only handle SATA.

 

I'm looking for a good quality dual bay NVMe enclosure that supports RAID. To my surprise, my internet searches only turned up some dodgy looking devices manufactured by firms I have heard about.

such as:
https://www.lazada.co.th/products/m-2-nvme-ssd-raid-array-mobile-external-hard-disk-2x2-586r-20g-i4831573689.html

 

So I'd like to know if anyone's experiences with such devices er even with this one.

 

Alternatively, I'd also be interested in other ways to achieve data redundancy with no downtime incase of disk failure.

 

[Roger That]

Don't think you'll get good answers here but when I looked into this it seemed that external RAID enclosures probably increase the chance of data loss / downtime rather than reduce it.

 

Do they make laptops with dual internal SSD (and RAID support)? I'd have thought so, but It's not something I've looked into. I suspect that might be a better option than any external enclosure.

 

Edit: From a quick Google it seems that several Lenovo Thinkpads may have dual NVMe SSD slots. Good luck!

Edited September 13, 2023 by Roger That

[RayWright]

Highly recommend QNAP TR-004.

USB 3.2 connected, multiple RAID options, 4 bays, 2.5 or 3.5 inch SATAs, HDD or SSD.

[tgw]

3 hours ago, Roger That said:

Don't think you'll get good answers here but when I looked into this it seemed that external RAID enclosures probably increase the chance of data loss / downtime rather than reduce it.

 

Do they make laptops with dual internal SSD (and RAID support)? I'd have thought so, but It's not something I've looked into. I suspect that might be a better option than any external enclosure.

 

Edit: From a quick Google it seems that several Lenovo Thinkpads may have dual NVMe SSD slots. Good luck!

I'm talking exclusively about RAID-1, so no data loss should occur, even if parity is lost.

 

the laptop is not the issue.

I'll use Clevo with built-in Intel software RAID. there are 4 internal bays.

(... and a RTX 3080 with 16GB VRAM !)

 

for the external enclosure, it seems nobody manufactures these, as apparently software RAID is the way to go.

 

so an NVMe enclosure with 2 NVMe slots - that will need 2x2 USB 3.2 to fully use the available bandwidth.

 

Edited September 13, 2023 by tgw

[ozimoron]

17 hours ago, tgw said:

I will need at some moment to replace my aging laptop and also the external dual bay SDD RAID-1 enclosure that I use to hold my important operational data (yes, I do backups as well, RAID-1 is to ensure I won't experience downtime if a SSD fails).

It's currently a cheap thing made by DeLock, I don't like it at all, and it can only handle SATA.

 

I'm looking for a good quality dual bay NVMe enclosure that supports RAID. To my surprise, my internet searches only turned up some dodgy looking devices manufactured by firms I have heard about.

such as:
https://www.lazada.co.th/products/m-2-nvme-ssd-raid-array-mobile-external-hard-disk-2x2-586r-20g-i4831573689.html

 

So I'd like to know if anyone's experiences with such devices er even with this one.

 

Alternatively, I'd also be interested in other ways to achieve data redundancy with no downtime incase of disk failure.

 

1. Checkout wasabi.com at $7 / Tb. You can add backups to data stored there. They have an s3 API if that's useful to you.

 

2. nVME and any solid state hard drives may not be the best backup medium. They may be more drop proof than a spinning disk but in general data recovery is easier from a spinning disk. Check WD Ultrastore.

[OneMoreFarang]

Check JIB, you should find something.

อุปกรณ์จัดเก็บข้อมูล (STORAGE & MEMORY CARD ) (jib.co.th)

 

Personally, I have all my important documents on OneDrive. This means I have a local copy on my PC and automatically a copy in the cloud. And if I use also my notebook then I can have another synchronized copy on that machine. 

I think the cloud solution is easy and reliable as long as you have a decent internet connection. 

 

I would never buy a Noname RAID device or SSDs. The whole idea is to prevent data loss. A reliable brand name product is the only way to go. 

 

[OneMoreFarang]

4 hours ago, Roger That said:

Do they make laptops with dual internal SSD (and RAID support)?

Windows supports software RAID1 since a long time. 

[Roger That]

44 minutes ago, tgw said:

I'm talking exclusively about RAID-1, so no data loss should occur, even if parity is lost.

 

the laptop is not the issue.

I'll use Clevo with built-in Intel software RAID. there are 4 internal bays.

(... and a RTX 3080 with 16GB VRAM !)

 

for the external enclosure, it seems nobody manufactures these, as apparently software RAID is the way to go.

 

so an NVMe enclosure with 2 NVMe slots - that will need 2x2 USB 3.2 to fully use the available bandwidth.

 

You talked about replacing the laptop, that was why I mentioned it. If there are 4 internal bays why do you want an external solution, out of interest?

 

If it's going to be accessed by more than one device then you might be better served by a NAS. Asustor make an all-flash one.

 

I understand the RAID1 concept, it just seems that these USB connected external enclosures seem to be flakey based on the reviews you see on Amazon etc. The problem is not so much the SSDs, rather the enclosure ????.

[tgw]

1 hour ago, ozimoron said:

1. Checkout wasabi.com at $7 / Tb. You can add backups to data stored there. They have an s3 API if that's useful to you.

 

2. nVME and any solid state hard drives may not be the best backup medium. They may be more drop proof than a spinning disk but in general data recovery is easier from a spinning disk. Check WD Ultrastore.

RAID-1 is not backup. it's for availability.

I have backup solutions.

 

[tgw]

1 hour ago, Roger That said:

You talked about replacing the laptop, that was why I mentioned it. If there are 4 internal bays why do you want an external solution, out of interest?

 

If it's going to be accessed by more than one device then you might be better served by a NAS. Asustor make an all-flash one.

 

I understand the RAID1 concept, it just seems that these USB connected external enclosures seem to be flakey based on the reviews you see on Amazon etc. The problem is not so much the SSDs, rather the enclosure ????.

to transport it in my pocket and connect it to another computer, be it out of home or onsite if my primary computer fails.

[tgw]

1 hour ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Windows supports software RAID1 since a long time. 

I use RAID-1 for the system disk. So the volume has to be setup before Windows installation.

 

But the system disk isn't the object of my question.

 

Edited September 13, 2023 by tgw

[OneMoreFarang]

6 minutes ago, tgw said:

I use RAID-1 for the system disk. So the volume has to be setup before Windows installation.

 

But the system disk isn't the object of my question.

 

As far as I remember you can use Software RAID in Windows on any disk. It should be no problem to add it later to an existing system disk. And it should be no problem to add additional "disks" with RAID.

The last time I did that was years ago, I don't remember the details anymore.