CHF469.–
OWC Express 4M2
M.2 2280
Product ratings
Pros
Cons
6 reviews
Loud fan, 700MB/s limit per SINGLE SSD
If you do NOT want to use a RAID but all four SSD's individually,
you get 'only' 700MB/s speed per SSD.
I took 4 x 1TB WD Blues and created 2x RAID 0 in the hard disk utility.
So I get two 2TB volumes with about 1400MB/s speed each.
Have also tested the speed with four SSD's as RAID-0, maximum 2370MB/s achieved.
The loud fan I could tame with a low-noise adapter, unfortunately the fan is NOT temperature controlled.
I monitored the temperatures with a Python script, even on an almost inaudible fan level, the SSDs remain cool enough. Without a fan, however, they heat up quite quickly under load.
I can't necessarily recommend the SoftRAID software, it requires you to change the security settings in macOS (reboot into recovery mode, shut down, reboot again, install kext, reboot again), this is noted as a 'known issue', on the support for APFS doesn't exist yet.
The format used by SoftRAID could not be mounted on another Mac/PC (without SoftRAID).
I therefore decided to create an APFS software RAID via Disk Utility. Works without any problems so far.
Pro
- quality case
- standard fan connector
- usable without SoftRAID software
- good speed in RAID operation
Contra
- loud fan
- per single SSD "only" 700MB/s possible
- SoftRAID does not support APFS
- SoftRAID needs special macOS security settings
Catastrophic bad buy
Unfortunately not bought here, otherwise gladly offered as a cheap second-hand with 4x1TB. Despite all experiments with other fans (Pabst, Sunon) and temperature controllers, this thing is unbearable for my noise sensibilities in a quiet office. With Raid10 configs (halfway) adequate speeds with TB3 doable (approx. 2.5/1.2 GBytes/s with Kingston A1000); RAID5 weak, JBOD completely unusable, since USB2 faster. Important SSDs do not run properly (Samsung EVO, etc.), too bad. Those who want to edit videos/audio in noise-free environments might be well advised with this.
Pro
- DP port
- nice, practical, black aluminum case
- Softraid XT included in the price
Contra
- (much) too loud in quiet environments
- slow to a fault in "unfavorable" configs
- too expensive
- very bright, white power-on lights
- single SSD (much) too slow
Does what it should. And a little bit more.
I use this small, but unfortunately not quite quiet case with two SSDs from ADATA (https://www.digitec.ch/de/s1/product/adata-sx8200-pro-1000gb-m2-2280-ssd-10127209) in RAID 0 + 1 so far without any problems. Except for the fact that Carbon Copy Clone under Mac OS X Catalina was not able to create the APFS containers on the SSDs (which is due to Apple's questionable APFS handling) and I had to reinstall Catalina from scratch (so I could not clone my old system to the SSDs), everything worked fine. I was even able to equip one of the four slots with an original Apple SSD, but that doesn't work without an adapter and thus that solution can't be screwed tightly for space reasons, but that's not a problem either if you don't carry this small case around with you every day. Of course, this construct is also TB2 compatible. All in all, it's a solid affair that can give even newer systems a good boost under their digital asses.
Pro
- basic and free RAID software (SoftRAID XT Lite) for Mac OS X included
- depending on SSD and configuration very fast
- comparatively cheap upgrade to Pro version of RAID software possible
- low space requirement
- easy to configure (Plug & Play in OS X)
- fully Catalina compatible
- also accepts SSDs from other, rather unknown manufacturers without any problems
- can even handle Apple NVMe SSDs when using other adapters
Contra
- relatively loud fan
- short Thunderbolt 3 cable (but good quality)
fast uncomplicated plug-n-play case with low external mass.
The case is well made and everything is included, even CH power cable. First measurements in RAID0 (distributed, 4x 2TB = 8TB) have shown that a good 2500 MB/s continuous performance is possible, whereby (strangely) reading is marginally slower.
ATTENTION:
Apparently not all M.2 M Key/NVMe SSDs are compatible. The OEM version of Samsung's 980 Pro (Samsung PM9A1, item 14569226) will not go in this enclosure. The Samsung 980 Pro on the other hand run without problems!Pro
- very fast in RAID
- cleanly processed
- no drivers necessary (macOS BigSur + Monterey)
- runs on MacBook Pro M1 (Max)
- small, low mass for the capacity
Contra
- fan is relatively loud
- compatibility (see comment)
High quality, reliable, fast and somewhat noisy
small and very fast
easy to install but I used disk utility to put it in raid 0, the softraid software didn't work well. I made it a multimedia server for my appleTV
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