Anyone used dual 2.5" to 3.5" RAID adapter - Startech, Enermax, ICY DOCK?

[Claytron]

Curious if anyone has experience with any of these dual 2.5" to 3.5" RAID Adapters. Thinking about trying one but curious if anyone had done speed tests in RAID 0.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01IR04MYE
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00N3R47T2
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017RX3JCI/

 

[Pentaxer]

Very interesting device.

I was going to buy it some time ago. But ask himself a question: for what? And there is no answer.

 

[Claytron]

Very interesting device.

I was going to buy it some time ago. But ask himself a question: for what? And there is no answer.

Hoping 2x 2.5" 2TB drives in RAID would be faster than a 3.5" 4TB and provide the same amount of storage.

 

[bsbeamer]

Hoping 2x 2.5" 2TB drives in RAID would be faster than a 3.5" 4TB and provide the same amount of storage.

You will be limited by the overall bandwidth available in the one SATA sled/port this will utilize. It's fine to increase capacity in one sled/bay but you're likely going to be in the standard SATA SSD speed range at maximum, even if in hardware RAID0. Only real way to increase speed via direct SATA sleds is to put multiple ports/bays into a RAID0. There are still bandwidth/throughput limitations, but makes less of a real world difference for most work.

NVMe via PCIe is the fastest storage available currently. Some adapter/controller cards support 4x blades in RAID0.

 

[Claytron]

You will be limited by the overall bandwidth available in the one SATA sled/port this will utilize. It's fine to increase capacity in one sled/bay but you're likely going to be in the standard SATA SSD speed range at maximum, even if in hardware RAID0. Only real way to increase speed via direct SATA sleds is to put multiple ports/bays into a RAID0. There are still bandwidth/throughput limitations, but makes less of a real world difference for most work.

NVMe via PCIe is the fastest storage available currently. Some adapter/controller cards support 4x blades in RAID0.

I understand what you are saying about SSDs, but to clarifying I was planning on using 2x 2TB HDD, specificially Seagate Barracuda

 

[bsbeamer]

I understand what you are saying about SSDs, but to clarifying I was planning on using 2x 2TB HDD, specificially Seagate Barracuda

Performance-wise, in hardware RAID0 via adapter to single SATA bay/sled you will likely be limited to around 245-260 MB/s write and 260-270 MB/s read. These are around the same speeds you will get with a single SATA SSD in the same bay/sled without the adapter.

I would be cautious about heat dissipation with two HDDs within the single adapter within Mac Pro. Using a warm/hot GPU with 8-pin or more power would increase those concerns. I know these 2.5" HDDs technically do not require much power, but also would look into that. The recent reports of some failing Mac Pro 4,1>5,1 and 5,1 machines may be related to power draw issues.