LaCie Introduces 4TB 4-disk RAID Enclosure

[malware]

LaCie today announced the "Biggest Quadra", a 4-disk RAID enclosure with up to 4TB of storage space. The device is designed for professionals and supports RAID 0, 0+1, 5 or 5+hot spare with automatic background rebuilding. The four SATA II drives are removable, hot-swappable and even lockable. The Biggest Quadra comes with 1 eSATA port, 2 FireWire 800 ports (FireWire 400-compatible), and 1 USB 2.0 port for complete universality with any PC or Mac. The LaCie Biggest Quadra will be available in September for 2TB and October for the 3TB and 4TB versions. Suggested retail price will be $1099 for 2TB, $1599 for 3TB and $2199 for 4TB. Drives ship with 3 year limited warranty.



Source: LaCie

[DrunkenMafia]

bloody ell mate... 4tb. That is a whole lot of porn!!!

Looks pretty good though.

[FreedomEclipse]

For 4TB's worth of space I hope this comes in black with tonns of flashing LEDs on it like a mod case

[Wile E]

Originally Posted by FreedomEclipse

For 4TB's worth of space I hope this comes in black with tonns of flashing LEDs on it like a mod case

Not me, for that price I just hope it runs cool and reliable.



Does this do RAID on-board, or is it software?

[WarEagleAU]

4 TB of space. ZOMG I could so use that.

[Weer]

What a waste of money..

You can get 16 drives, 250GB each for less than 1000$.
That way you get 16MB of cache for EVERY 250GB, not for every 1000MB.
Not to mention 16-way RAID0 should give you bandwidth of 2048MB per second.. if it doesn't crash in 2 minutes.

EDIT: You can also get 8 drives, 500GB each for only 800$!

[error_f0rce]

Originally Posted by Weer

What a waste of money..

You can get 16 drives, 250GB each for less than 1000$.
That way you get 16MB of cache for EVERY 250GB, not for every 1000MB.
Not to mention 16-way RAID0 should give you bandwidth of 2048MB per second.. if it doesn't crash in 2 minutes.

EDIT: You can also get 8 drives, 500GB each for only 800$!

Lol, where are you gonna put 16 drives? how you gonna connect and power them all? you gonna stick them a backpack to carry them? This is for professional use, like it says, but probably not for the average gamer/enthusiast. Price wise, don't forget this obviously is a self contained unit with a power supply, hotswappable trays, built in RAID controller, multiple methods of connection, it's highly mobile, has an LCD display and has been engineered to provide the performance professionals need. I don't know if it's good product or not, I've never used it.... but what I'm trying to say is, you're missing the point here.

[Weer]

But still.. 3 times the price is crazy.

[Wile E]

Originally Posted by Weer

But still.. 3 times the price is crazy.

It's not 3 times the price. 4 1TB hard drives cost $1520 all on their own, and that's just the drives. No enclosures, power supplies, disk controllers, etc.

And you bring up the point of just using cheaper, lower capacity drives, but that ends up not being cost effective because you now have to buy an even bigger enclosure, bigger power supply, and a more capable controller card. So, in all likelihood, the smaller drives will cost almost as much to set up, not to mention the increased power consumption and heat.

[Weer]

Originally Posted by Wile E

It's not 3 times the price. 4 1TB hard drives cost $1520 all on their own, and that's just the drives. No enclosures, power supplies, disk controllers, etc.

And you bring up the point of just using cheaper, lower capacity drives, but that ends up not being cost effective because you now have to buy an even bigger enclosure, bigger power supply, and a more capable controller card. So, in all likelihood, the smaller drives will cost almost as much to set up, not to mention the increased power consumption and heat.

I don't agree.
The premium that you must pay for a 1TB drive is not worth it. Much like every new highest-end product.
You are better off with 8 drives of 500GBs each. That way you only pay HALF of what you would with the 1TB drives.
If you have the power/controller/enclosure for 4, 8 shouldn't be that much harder.

[Easy Rhino]

lacie makes incredibly reliable stuff. back in 1997 i was running that same product but scsi fast and wide interface with 4 20 gig drives. it was awesome.

[Wile E]

Originally Posted by Weer

I don't agree.
The premium that you must pay for a 1TB drive is not worth it. Much like every new highest-end product.
You are better off with 8 drives of 500GBs each. That way you only pay HALF of what you would with the 1TB drives.
If you have the power/controller/enclosure for 4, 8 shouldn't be that much harder.

Well, you also have to have an enclosure almost twice the size to house the 8 HDs, you also have to buy a better controller to run the 8 hard drives. You also have twice the chance of a drive failure.

Your argument that it's better to buy more smaller drives is moot, if space is a factor. 4 1TB drives may not be right for you, but what's right for you has little to do with what other people need, or maybe even simply want.