0

Soon I plan on getting SSDs. However I would want a SSD enclosure with two slots and raid0/1 support. I cannot find one like this so do they exist?

I would use raid1 in case one of the SSD fails I will have a backup (I know its not a proper backup, it just safes me from SSD failure).

I would use this for my PC and laptop and possibly at work. This is why I would want it in a enclosure and portable. I would use USB3 to achieve the speeds the SSD go at.

Does a enclosure with this spec exist? Suggestions?

One alternative I wouldn't mind is have two SDDs on my PC however I remove one and use it on laptop/at-work and when I come home and plug it back into PC, it syncs back up with the other SSD in the raid config, however I assume raid doesn't work like that but main as well ask?

Improve this question

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
3

It sounds like you want to boot from the RAID1 array. Is that the goal?

There are external USB 3.0 dual drive enclosures like this one from Startech

Improve this answer
2
  • Exactly what I was looking for! Thanks :) Did 20min search and didn't find anything like that. lol.
    – klj613
    Jan 25, 2012 at 19:55
  • That Startech device is SATA 3gb/s which is 384mB/s and the SSDs I'm planning to get are 520-550mB/s write/read. I assume it would bottle neck the transfer speed? If so, do you know any other device like Startech's but with SATAIII 6gb/s? Thanks in advance
    – klj613
    Jan 26, 2012 at 1:53
1

Honestly, you'd be better off getting a NAS device that supports RAID1. (with a gigabit interface) rather than trying to setting up 2 devices in RAID 1 through USB3. I don't think you'll find a device that is capable of doing what you want. As far as a NAS goes... they're everywhere... and are better suited to what you need. For storing/accessing files, they tend to do better than block-level access devices (native SATA), as your computer doesn't need to ask for sector xxx block xxx etc... it just says gimme file named "blah"... and lets the NAS do the job.

One footnote... cheap (price and manufacturing) NAS devices (like cheap USB3 enclosures) will never perform very well. More often than not... they use the cheapest components that may be able to establish a connection at said speed... but the hardware is incapable of making full use of that connection. (under powered processors, insufficient memory, etc...)

Improve this answer
6
  • With that in mind... you can setup a RAID 1 mirror using external drives... (I've seen it done) and it will work... but I do not recommend frequently rebuilding raids. It is time-consuming... as well as unreliable.
    – TheCompWiz
    Jan 25, 2012 at 19:32
  • NAS? Ain't they kind of biggish. I want same OS (Dual Boot) across my PC and Laptop and when I get a job (eventually :P) I probably use my laptop for work as well. Just I've had many problems with HDDs failing or corrupting I don't want to have only one copy of something, even if its just for a few hours until I make a backup (I know backup won't prevent corruptness but it will prevent HDD failing).
    – klj613
    Jan 25, 2012 at 19:33
  • RAID1 external drives? Not sure what you mean. Have a internal SSD and a external one? however I would always need both connected if I were to not rebuild the raids. Which I use PC and Laptop.
    – klj613
    Jan 25, 2012 at 19:34
  • NASes come in all shapes & sizes... some small enough to tote around. One external drive is the same as all-external drives... as far as problems go. Doable, but not recommended nonetheless.
    – TheCompWiz
    Jan 25, 2012 at 19:38
  • Have you considered cloud-based storage options? If your files are sooooooooo important that you can't live without them... why not look at solutions like mozy or carbonite... or even dropbox.
    – TheCompWiz
    Jan 25, 2012 at 19:41

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .