Skilled’s Score
Execs
- As much as 48TB of capability
- Helps JBOD and RAID 0 striping/RAID 1 mirroring
- Quicker sustained HDD transfers than you would possibly guess
- Professional-Blade Transport port can hit 900MBps
Cons
- Mirroring cuts marketed capability in half
- Professional-Blade SSDs restricted to 10Gbps
- Dear per TB in lower-capacity fashions
Our Verdict
If you happen to want a variety of storage in a single field, the Thunderbolt 3 G-RAID Mirror dual-HDD delivers at speeds which may shock you. The field additionally accepts SanDisk’s Professional-Blade SSD modules for on/offloading and backup.
Worth When Reviewed
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Greatest Pricing Right now
WD’s G-RAID Mirror is an exterior enclosure housing two 3.5-inch exhausting drives. It offers as much as 48TB of storage with the drives in striped (RAID 0) mode, or half that in mirror mode RAID 1. It additionally offers a Professional Blade SSD port for SanDisk’s modular NVMe SSDs.
What you could not understand if you happen to haven’t been round a 3.5-inch HDD shortly: They’re a complete lot sooner than they was. In RAID 0, the G-RAID Mirror can ship knowledge at over 400MBps. This isn’t your father’s RAID field.
Additional studying: See our roundup of the very best exterior drives to find out about competing merchandise.
G-RAID Mirror options
The G-RAID Mirror is a good-looking, darkish grey, Thunderbolt 3, two-drive exterior enclosure out there in capacities as much as 48TB/24TB (striped/mirrored). The unit measures 5.24 x 8.27 x 4.06 inches (13.30 x 21.00 x 10.21 centimeters). It might probably weigh as much as 7 kilos (3.17 kilograms) relying on the drives inside. Standing on non-skid toes, there’s little likelihood of this drive dancing across the desktop. The 4 hex bolts on all sides disguise anchor factors for attaching the unit to a Digital Imaging Technician cart or including different {hardware}.
The again of the G-RAID Mirror is house to 2 Thunderbolt 3 ports (1 pc, 1 pass-through, see beneath) in addition to the RAID configuration double dip swap (JBOD, RAID 0/1). Which means the RAID is onboard, which I desire over the software program selection because it’s transportable throughout working techniques with out putting in mentioned software program. There’s additionally a button to regulate the entrance LED mild.
The entrance of the drive is house to solely the aforementioned LED mild, and the detachable entrance grate that enables entry to the exhausting drives for improve or alternative. Notice that due to the implausible quantity of capability, rebuilding a RAID 1 array can take a really very long time — two hours per terabyte.
By far essentially the most uncommon function of the G-RAID Mirror is its Professional-Blade Transport slot. The considerably expensive Professional-Blade Transport modules are NVMe SSDs in proprietary enclosures that slide into the slot. They’re tremendous helpful for importing, offloading, and backup, and are quick sufficient that you would boot from them. Nonetheless, the Professional Blade system is 20Gbps USB 3.2×2, and present Thunderbolt (Mac and Home windows) implementations don’t assist USB 3.2×2 at 20Gbps, dropping it to 10Gbps. Nonetheless quick, however not optimum. Thunderbolt 3/4 does assist 20Gbps USB 4, although, so I’m confused as to why SanDisk didn’t select USB 4 for the Professional-Blade Transport, and even Thunderbolt 3. Particularly as Mac customers appear to be the supposed viewers.
As this drive is basically aimed on the Apple/video manufacturing crowd, the G-RAID Mirror ships formatted to APFS. A single 24TB RAID 1 quantity was in our check unit’s case. There isn’t a software program on the drive as you’ll discover with most 2.5-inch exhausting drives.
The high-capacity HDD conundrum
Whereas exterior 3.5-inch exhausting drives might be extremely capacious (belief me, it’s a hoot to see a 48TB drive in your desktop), holding a lot extra knowledge than different media additionally makes them troublesome to again up. The one media of acceptable pace able to holding the identical quantity of knowledge is, yup, one other exhausting drive. Consequently, the simplest strategy to keep away from knowledge loss from exhausting drive failure is mirroring it to a different exhausting drive (RAID 1), or break up it amongst a number of exhausting drives in one other sort of fault tolerant RAID.
The way you set the G-RAID Mirror will rely upon whether or not it’s a main or secondary repository. If it’s only one element in a bigger storage scheme, and backed up (macOS RAID for example), then operating it at full-capacity striped RAID 0 is ok. Nonetheless, if it’s a solo repository, you’ll wish to run it at half-capacity, mirrored RAID 1.
Alas, mirroring tends to kill a tough drive’s value benefit over the far sooner, much more bodily strong, and extra dependable SSDs. Not totally, however the distinction is drastically lowered. A helpful segue into…
How a lot does the G-RAID Mirror value?
The G-RAID Mirror is accessible in (striped/mirrored) 12TB/6TB, 16TB/8TB, 24TB/12TB, 36TB/18TB, 44TB/22TB, 48TB/24TB capacities for $660, $750, $1,000, $1,200, $1,400, and $1,600, respectively, within the U.S. A part of the rationale for the higher-than-normal pricing is the Thunderbolt 3 connectivity.
That works out to $55/$110, $46.88/$93.76, $41.67/$83.33, $33.33/$66.66, $31.82/$63.64, $33.33/$66.66 (striped/mirrored) per terabyte. As you’ll be able to see, the 44TB unit is the candy spot when it comes to value per terabyte.
Final we checked, 4TB and smaller SSDs have been all the way down to round $70 per terabyte, although the bigger 8TB fashions have been nonetheless over $100 per TB. Preserve that in thoughts when deciding in your storage plan of assault.
If you happen to’re not within the present Professional Blade system, then a less expensive USB 3.x RAID enclosure such because the WD (SanDisk’s proprietor) MyBook Duo is an choice.
How does theG-RAID Mirror carry out?
The 48TB G-RAID Mirror that SanDisk despatched me arrived configured in RAID 1 (mirroring) — as you’d count on given the title. I examined it in that mode, in addition to in RAID 0 to see simply what it’s able to. (Spoiler alert: much more.) I additionally examined the Professional Blade as I had two modules readily available, and put all three via PCWorld’s check suite for good measure.
The results of all these checks means there are a variety of captures and pictures to wade via beneath. If you wish to keep away from that, the abstract is that sequential throughput with the exhausting drives is between 175MBps and 210MBps in RAID 1, and 350MBps and 410MBps in RAID 0.
The Professional Blade reads and writes round 800MBps, nicely beneath the 1.8GBps it manages over USB 3.2×2 on a Home windows PC. In sensible phrases, nonetheless, even the HDDs in RAID 1 are quick sufficient for not less than an 8K video stream, and doubtless a number of. With the Professional Blade on board, which mounts as a separate drive, you’ll be able to accommodate even increased bandwidth eventualities.
Sustained throughput is a lot better than with exterior 2.5-inch exhausting drives, particularly in RAID 0. Nonetheless, as you’ll see, if you’d like quick search occasions, these aren’t the drives you search.
G-RAID Mirror RAID 0 outcomes
G-RAID Mirror RAID 1 outcomes
The RAID 1 outcomes are considerably slower, however you’ll nonetheless wish to use this RAID mode (1) if the G-RAID Mirror isn’t going to be in any other case backed up.
WD SanDisk Skilled Professional Blade outcomes for reference
Lastly, the Professional Blade check outcomes are about half as quick as what you’ll see on a USB 3.2×2 bus. See the charts beneath for proof of that.
As I mentioned, it’s at all times good to have a bit context, so we’ve included the outcomes from PCWorld’s Home windows check mattress for the exhausting disks in each RAID 0 and RAID 1, in addition to the Professional Blade SSD. They’re in comparison with the not too long ago reviewed Seagate Enlargement Desktop exhausting drive, and the Professional Blade Transport utilizing USB 3.2×2.
Sure, the numbers are a bit extra spectacular underneath Home windows. However once more, the Thunderbolt hindered the Professional Blade on the G-RAID by limiting it to 10Gbps.
The random numbers for the exhausting disks are minuscule in comparison with the Professional Blade’s. However CrystalDiskMark 8’s numbers are nonetheless legitimate, even when it’s not designed particularly for HDDs.
This chart exhibits simply how choked the Professional Blade is on the Thunderbolt bus. It’s nonetheless method sooner at random ops than the HDDs although.
Jon L. Jacobi / Foundry
Once more, the Professional Blade Transport’s outcomes are included to point out you what these modules can do at 20Gbps on an actual 3.2×2 bus, and simply how choked the Professional Blade on the G-RAID Mirror is by the Thunderbolt 3 bus.
The outcomes for the Transport on the Mac are an identical to these for the port embedded on the G-RAID Mirror.
Clearly, as soon as once more, the G-RAID Mirror in RAID 0 was method sooner writing 450GB than RAID 1.
The G-RAID Mirror took some time to write down 450GB, as all exhausting drives will.
Jon L. Jacobi
The G-RAID Mirror’s fan, when it kicks in at startup is quite loud. More often than not, nonetheless, my Mac Studio fan makes as a lot noise, and that’s hardly any. To be truthful, my workplace has check beds and NAS bins whirring away more often than not, so my tolerance for white noise may be very excessive. However there’s additionally noise due the learn/write heads transferring about. If you happen to haven’t been round exhausting drives for some time, it would bug you. One would possibly argue for extra sound-deadening materials inside, however that tends to lure warmth as nicely noise, and that might be dangerous.
Notice that the person information I downloaded says you solely have to show off the G-RAID Mirror twice when altering RAID modes, which one would possibly interpret as utilizing the ability button. This is able to be improper. Data on the web site and my expertise says you could pull the ability plug each occasions to modify RAID modes.
In complete, the G-RAID Mirror is so much sooner in RAID 0 than RAID 1, which implies you could be higher off with two much less capacious fashions utilizing RAID 0 and macOS’s personal RAID 1 mode. Then once more, you would make use of the Professional Blade if you want actual pace, and depart the HDDs safely mirrored.
Must you purchase the SanDisk Skilled G-RAID Mirror?
The G-RAID Mirror is an interesting storage product, particularly for videographers. It’s good-looking, speedy for a tough drive, and better of all, fantastically capacious. Throw within the Professional Blade port, even whether it is operating at half pace, and you’ve got an especially helpful, albeit expensive resolution for super-large knowledge units.
However come on SanDisk, USB 4, USB 4…