Lab tested: Thunderbolt RAID dramatically faster than FireWire 800

#1 Macworld

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Posted 29 June 2011 - 11:01 AM

Post your comments for Lab tested: Thunderbolt RAID dramatically faster than FireWire 800 here

#2 megatrick

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Posted 29 June 2011 - 11:12 AM

Great work. Can we get a comparison with a Fast eSATA RAID?

#3 megatrick

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Posted 29 June 2011 - 11:19 AM

Also, think of the possibilities of someone building one these RAIDS with 8 SSD drives.

#4 NaOH

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Posted 29 June 2011 - 11:20 AM

Even in a RAID 5 configuration, I doubt 7200rpm SATA hard drives will be able to saturate a Thunderbolt interface.

It would be interesting to see what kind of performance 15,000rpm SAS hard drives in a RAID 5 configuration can provide. Or better still, SSD drives.

#5 venividivici

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Posted 29 June 2011 - 11:22 AM

And then a quick comparison with Firewire3200. I am really interested with the SATA RAIDS!

#6 Expobill

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Posted 29 June 2011 - 11:25 AM

i will try to remember this in 5 years

#7 flybynight

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Posted 29 June 2011 - 11:48 AM

Holy crap! That's quite a difference. For people who need it, this will be worth the price tag, which honestly isn't really that bad.
People need to remember that there isn't really a way to directly compare the Thunderbolt to eSATA, because none of the TB-equipped Macs they tested have the option of (easily) adding an eSATA interface. And Firewire3200? Really? Did anything close to mainstream ever ship with that?

#8 DVA_Airwolf

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Posted 29 June 2011 - 12:06 PM

More like think of the possibilities of putting WD's awesome 10k rpm Velociraptors in RAID5 decks like these.

Roll on MacPros with the little hole on the back and front.

#9 rob53

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Posted 29 June 2011 - 12:19 PM

I downloaded the AJA system test and never could get it to do anything. There were several settings so it would be helpful to know which ones were used.

What these tests show is the internal disk isn't that fast when copying to the R6 is only 30% faster than copying to a FW RAID. I'd like to see some AJA results on the internal disk. How does it compare to the connected R6? Would it be faster to boot and run off the R6 and never use an internal disk? Add the internal SSD to these tests to compare speeds as well. With laptops it doesn't make sense to boot off a RAID but if I was heavy into video, booting off an R6 from an iMac (no comments about using an iMac for video) wouldn't be a bad idea, especially if it was faster than using an internal disk ($1K for a very fast 3TB (RAID 5 uses one disk) of data might be acceptable).

#10 BenjaminRoethig

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Posted 29 June 2011 - 12:25 PM

NaOH, on 29 June 2011 - 11:20 AM, said:

Not even close. That little thunderbolt port can drive a large dual port fibre channel enclosure with an adapter. We consumers won't be scratching the surface for a few years on the storage front.

#11 deemery

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Posted 29 June 2011 - 12:30 PM

How about comparing to OWC Qx2 in RAID 5 and RAID 10 configurations. That's a pretty fast multi-drive RAID enclosure (faster than a DROBO, I believe) and a reasonable competitor in high-end home and professional situations.

#12 EddieLopez

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Posted 29 June 2011 - 01:42 PM

Will they sell the R4 and R6 models diskless as well? I have 2TB X 4 hard drives I am currently using on a Diskstation DS410, don't need any more.

#13 JohnDavidson

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Posted 29 June 2011 - 02:35 PM

What about a comparison with Mini-Sas? It seems to me comparing thunderbolt to FW800 is like a jet vs a fast horse. It doesn't look to be that much faster than Mini-Sas. Maybe I don't need to upgrade our mac pros when Thunderbolt versions come out in July/August.

#14 justamacguy

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Posted 29 June 2011 - 04:14 PM

Think of, think of, think of the price too. I'll be a troll and predict the USB 3.0, which is gaining traction now, will make Thunderbolt a specialty item just at USB 2.0 out paced Firewire... not because of the performance, but the price.