CalDigit T4 Thunderbolt 2 RAID Array Review (Mac only) - 4 bay thunderbolt external hard disk array

Author: Lon.TV
10039 View
5m 43s Lenght
97 Rating

Buy it on Amazon - http://lon.tv/iqmhh (affiliate link) CalDigit makes some speedy drive arrays and this one is their newest and fastest. It combines four SATA hard drives (or SSD's) into a single device that can deliver over 500 megabytes per second in RAID 5 mode with spinning drives, and about a gigabyte per second with SSDs. "Scary" RAID 0 is even faster, clocking in at approximately 740 megabytes per second on the spinning drives, and about 1.3 gigs per second on SSDs. The drive is pretty simple to operate, connecting to a Thunderbolt compatible Mac or Windows computer with a single cable. There's a pass through connector on the back for connecting other Thunderbolt devices. The only fault I can find with it is software related, as its utility is memory resident and doesn't go away even if the drive is ejected (it sits on the upper menu bar of the Mac). Offering an option to quit the utility would be a nice addition. Other than that this is a wicked fast drive array for video editors and others who need a lot of disk throughput. Subscribe to my email list to get a weekly digest of upcoming videos! - http://lon.tv/email Visit the Lon.TV store to purchase some of my previously reviewed items! http://lon.tv/store Want to help the channel? Start a Patreon subscription! http://lon.tv/patreon Follow me on Facebook! http://facebook.com/lonreviewstech Follow me on Twitter! http://twitter.com/lonseidman Follow me on Google+ http://lonseidman.com DISCLOSURE - CalDigit loaned this device to the show for the purposes of this review

Comments

  1. What kind of sata drive you used in each bay ? is it standard 7200 rpm sata drive ? also, have you ever tried to daisy chain (via thunderbolt2) let say 2 unit T4 and raid them as a single drive. I'm curious if i can do this on T4 and get even much faster speed. As the reference , i watched some videos where they put multiple raid unit together then chain and raid them together and get much faster speed :
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVlgw_zORIs&t=1s
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UMgpF2u_Vk
  2. Is it easy to replace a hard disk for a 2,5 inch ssd in the CalDigit T4?
  3. Cain I use as my external boot drive for mac?
  4. Hi Lon,
    Thanks for all your amazing reviews! Do you know if the CalDigit4t allows you to configure all four drives into a Raid 1, like your review of the 3t ?? Thanks..
  5. Does this drive enclosure come in a disk-less option so one could add their own hard drives??
  6. Kudos on cramming in all the important info in under 6 minutes! I wish more youtubers would follow your lead on that.
  7. I used to like CalDigit. I have a CalDigit SuperSpeed PCI Express Card for my Mac Pro 4,1. They were slow to release driver updates. Told users not to update until the new driver is released. And do a combo update. An update from the .0 OS X. Not from 8.2 to 8.3, but an update that is cumulative from 8.0 to 8.3. There will be no Yosemite CalDigit update. Time to get a Mac Pro of 2013. Leave the Mac Pro 4,1 running the last supported OS X, Mavericks.

    I'll research Thunderbolt 2 Docks before getting hardware that is left unsupported with the next upgrade. Data Robotics made legacy devices out of Drobo S. 2 TB maximum hard drive size. Also in the End of Life Announcement is Drobo 4 Bay Gen 2.
  8. where can i find 2.5" form factor version ?
  9. we're short of 5-bay thunderbolts at the minute (empty enclosure). Drobo is probably the only 5-bay you can get as an enclosure only.
  10. Lon, can you go through what people need to do to set this up as a bootable OS X RAID 5 drive?  I'm interested in using this product as OS X bootable RAID 5.  Thanks!
  11. Great vid.  btw i'm looking for an external thunderbolt enclosure anyway. the T4 is out of my price range though... have found this ..."AKiTiO NEU2-TU3IAS - Neutrino Thunder D3 Enclosure Thunderbolt" and this ... "StarTech Dual Bay External Hard Drive Enclosure with Thunderbolt Cable"  ... I already 2x Samsung 1tb 850 pro ssd ready to go in it... what are your views on those enclosures? would love to know your expert opinion... I would be using them in Raid 0, mainly for 4k and 5k editing.  I use my iMac 5k a lot for all kinds of editing.  I have a My Book Duo 8tb (usb3) as a backup anyway, but need more speed, hence the ssds.  
  12. Software raid , no thanks . Might aswell use a normal REAL computer (PC) with linux freenas and use XFS if you want to go that method
  13. Yes mac can do that on disk utility, i have that with usb drives... lol
  14. Can you try SSD's in this would like to see the speed step :)
  15. Thank you for the review
  16. The throughput in RAID-0 is kind of interesting, but what kind of madman (madperson?) would run FOUR drives in RAID-0?!