#Softraid xt software
You might not be surprised to learn that OWC has its branded software RAID options that undoubtedly do work, and we explored what using that offered.Īnyone with direct experience of software RAID on the PC will probably shudder at the thought of using it.
#Softraid xt windows
That said, the software RAID in Windows isn’t great, doesn’t deliver the performance impact you might expect, and therefore this wasn’t a huge disappointment. We didn’t work out why, but it might be that the drives had been partitioned in a specific way that wouldn’t allow for the conversion to a dynamic structure needed for striping by the OS. One thing that we tried next was to tell Windows to stripe the two drives using the software RAID functionality built into the OS, and that failed.
#Softraid xt pro
Our review system had two Western Digital SN630 U.2 960GB drives, and once formatted, they appeared as any other external drives might.īecause of the possibility of having unflushed data in the system, it’s advisable to use the proper ejection methods when disconnecting the Mercury Pro rather than pulling the Thunderbolt or power cable out. On our test PC, Windows drive management was initially used to format both the 960GB drives included to NTFS for benchmarking. Once removed, the internal cradle on which the drives are mounted slides out, allowing drives to be installed or replaced.Īs with most Thunderbolt hardware, using the Mercury Pro is mostly a matter of connecting it to a suitable port and then sanctioning that connection on the computer. On the back is a Kensington security slot, so you can chain this hardware down, and there is also a grill behind which a 50mm fan blows air out to cool the drives and electronics.Īs we mentioned earlier, this drive can come ‘barebones’, or like our review hardware, they can come with two drives pre-installed.Īccess to the internal bays is via two screws on the back. The inclusion of two ports allows for the daisy-chaining of Thunderbolt devices, allowing a single port on the computer to be distributed to more than one device. Once the enclosure is connected to the provided 10A/120W PSU and a power cord, it’s on.Īs this is a Thunderbolt connected solution, two USB-C Thunderbolt ports are on the back, and a Type-C Thunderbolt cable is provided in the box to connect it to the computer. The few ports it has are all on the rear, and there is no power switch. This design exudes a minimalist aesthetic where the painted black aluminium tube has just some activity LEDs on the front, along with some grill vents to allow air to circulate. The Mercury Pro Dual uses an enclosure that is remarkably close to one OWC previously used for its Gemini SATA external drive solution.
External drive boxes aren’t an exercise in style these days.
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