INTERACT FORUM
Devices => PC's and Other Hardware => Topic started by: glynor on November 21, 2005, 02:12:43 pm
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I just thought I'd post quickly a review of a great little piece of hardware I've been using for the past 8 months or so.
If you're looking for a robust, large, and extensible way to backup your media files and are having trouble finding one, or if you just can't fit another drive in that crammed computer case (but a regular external drive won't cut it)... Check out the WeibeTech RT5 (http://www.wiebetech.com/products/rt5.php) (or actually they now have a 10 disk version (http://www.wiebetech.com/products/rt5x2.php) too).
What it is basically is an external RAID5 box. You can buy it bare (as I did) and add your own drives, or already stocked. It supports all kinds of features, but briefly:
- RAID 0,1,3,5,JBOD (and 1+0 combos)
- Hot Swap and Hot Spare
- Great Connectivity Options (FireWire 400 and 800, USB2.0, SATA)
- Plug-and-Play supported under OSX, Windows, and Linux -- no drivers required
- Portable -- It has a handle (but does way a ton)
As I said, I've been using mine for about 8 months, so this isn't a "it worked for me for the 2 days I tested it" type review. I actually have two of them (one that I use for all my video editing work at my job and one for backup at home) and they've been extremely reliable. As mentioned on the web site, they are quite rugged (I wouldn't throw them on the ground, but still). Overall, I've been quite impressed!
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That takes some pretty deep pockets! $1700 with no drives is a bit steep for most home users (it certainly is for me :'()
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Yeah, true. It's still no where near the cost of some other comparable units out there, but you're right. They aren't cheap.
Luckily, my company got me mine (my pockets aren't that deep either).