MP 7,1 OWC Thunderbay Flex 8 vs. Pegasus32 8 Bay - Editing, storage, back-up

[moab1]

I need advice on next Editing / storage solution and back-up plan

• I'm a single owner/user doing video and photo production
• 2019 Mac Pro 3.2Ghz 16-core, 192gb ddr4, Pro VegaII 32gb
• Currently have 3 x Pegasus2 R4 units running in Raid 5 configuration from 30-36TB of data per unit. I'd like to move to one unit for my main editing/storage solution and considering the following. Back-up is done on single 3.5" drives per project (one on-site and one off-site using a RS dual dock)
• Looking for a rock solid editing and back-up plan. I'm not concerned about the price (within reason) as much as a solution that is bullet proof don't have to think about it.
• Would like 80-100TB+ of online storage (need 20-40TB of storage for live editing projects). Other data will be accessed on occasion for Stock pulls, building treatments, reels, etc.
• WIth OWC or Pegasus solution I'll be running the new Corning 15 or 30 meter fiber cable to a closet. I had the thunderbolt2 version that died after a year or two and am aware of the issues, hoping that the new version is better.

Considering:

1. OWC Thunderbay Flex 8 w/ 8 x 14tb 3.5" drives in RAID 5 for
   1. BENEFITS:
      1. 98TB USEABLE. as main editing/storage bay.
      2. Cheapest solution: Total cost: $4,200 (Unit $1200 + Drives $3000 - purchased drives on amazon deal day - WD RED Pro 14tb)
   2. CONCERNS:
      1. T2 Chip issue
      2. RAID 5 SoftRAID - I don't want to deal with openZFS or anything else. Can't plug in another computer easily without software
      3. No RAID6 Option - RAID5 with 8 drives scares me
2. Promise Pegasus32 8 bay drive (only sold by Apple with 8x4tb drives). I'd replace these with 14TB drives I own above.
   1. BENEFITS:
      1. RAID6 with 84TB USEABLE. as main editing/storage bay.
      2. ease of use with software I'm familiar with already from my R4 units
      3. No T2 chip issues and access it from other machine
   2. CONCERNS:
      1. More costly than OWC: Total cost: $6,000 (Unit $2900 + Drives $3000)
      2. RAID 5 SoftRAID - I don't want to deal with openZFS or anything else. Can't plug in another computer easily without software
      3. No RAID6 Option - RAID5 with 8 drives scares me
   3. NAS System - SYNOLOGY DS3617xs or something similar - 12 bay
      1. BENEFITS:
         1. Huge storage - 12bay in RAD6 - 140TB useable
         2. Other users could access/edit from if needed
      2. CONCERNS:
         1. More costly than OWC: Total cost: $7,000 (Unit $2900 + 12 Drives $4500-5000)
         2. Editing off of NAS - is that risky? I have room in Mac Pro to utilize a Pegasus sled or 30TB of U.2 storage or something for live projects but could see having all of my photography work on the NAS and editing that from there. But is that too risky?
         3. Too slow - My house isn't wired for 10Gbe (Cat5e not 6) so would need to run directly into Mac Pro or run it at 1Gbe speeds if located in a 'server room'. is 1GB speed to slow for editing?
         4. Synology quality/service concerns??

Would also love to hear how people are backing up their data - onsite and offsite in the 30TB - 100TB+ range (Small business owners). What's your system for working edits, back-ups, etc.

If you are using the new OWC Thunderbay Flex 8 or Pegasus32 - real world experience/headaches, etc.?

Thanks!

 

[cobra521]

Moab,

I first bought a Thunderbay 8 for external storage and as one of two backups. It had some quirks (see the thread titled "Free reboots" elsewhere) when I upgraded the drives, but it connected using Thunderbolt 3, so it was nice and fast.

After a few months, it blew up! Not rhetorically, but actually - it sounded like an M-80 or Silver King firecracker exploding. It was totally dead. I sent it back for a refund after the usual 99 e-mails with OWC (well it seemed as if we exchanged 99 e-mails...) Never got any explanation as to what may have happened. My guess would be that a defective power supply capacitor exploded, but I didn't look inside so who knows.

The drives seemed OK - I reused them in the next NAS from Synology and seem to be functional.

I then bought a Synology NAS model DS 1817, loaded in the HDDs and it has been fine so far for about 3 months. I like it better but that may just be subjective. Its software seems very good once it trains you!

The Synology connects differently - it uses 10KMbps ethernet to connect directly to the 2019 Mac Pro, and I connected it to my LAN using its 1KMbps capability. A 10K cable is needed for the 10K connection.

The result is that I get a really quick interface with the Mac Pro and reasonable speed for the rest of the LAN. The Synology NAS has two 10K ports, so if I needed to connect it to another PC with that high speed I would have the ability to do that. Or if I upgrade my LAN in the future to 10K.

If you look at Synology (or QNAP which seems to be their chief competitor), be aware that it can be a learning experience to select the one that fits your needs and budget. There are many bells and whistles to choose among, almost to the point of confusion.

So far, I'm satisfied with this one.

Hope this helps,

Tom

 

[0279317]

Not a fan of OWC customer service. Numerous back and forth emails re my thunderbay unit. It was like pulling teeth to resolve the issue (which I won’t get into here) that they admitted was their fault.

 

[cobra521]

Benjamin,

You pretty much nailed it. OWC's support seems really good at verbiage, but not too good with actions or explanations and their "tech support" didn't express any technical expertise whatsoever. I had the feeling that they tried to ignore, or at least cover up the problems with words so they could get me to go away.

As a guess it's probable OWC's support is offshore and further, it may be in India because they never quite seemed to understand what went wrong with their(?) product, or how it could be fixed. They were excellent at ignoring, misunderstanding and ghosting. Most of their responses were almost content-free and most were quite lengthy.

I've experienced two hardware failures with OWC: the Thunderbay 8 and their Accelsior 4x SSD pcie card and it became marathons to get those problems resolved. Ultimately both were resolved - not entirely satisfactorily for me but at least resolved - only after I reopened each issue with them over and over.

I have a couple of other pieces of OWC hardware that work just fine; it would be nice if they kept going!

So no more OWC for me. On balance it's just too much hassle if anything goes awry.

Tom

 

[moab1]

Benjamin,

You pretty much nailed it. OWC's support seems really good at verbiage, but not too good with actions or explanations and their "tech support" didn't express any technical expertise whatsoever. I had the feeling that they tried to ignore, or at least cover up the problems with words so they could get me to go away.

As a guess it's probable OWC's support is offshore and further, it may be in India because they never quite seemed to understand what went wrong with their(?) product, or how it could be fixed. They were excellent at ignoring, misunderstanding and ghosting. Most of their responses were almost content-free and most were quite lengthy.

I've experienced two hardware failures with OWC: the Thunderbay 8 and their Accelsior 4x SSD pcie card and it became marathons to get those problems resolved. Ultimately both were resolved - not entirely satisfactorily for me but at least resolved - only after I reopened each issue with them over and over.

I have a couple of other pieces of OWC hardware that work just fine; it would be nice if they kept going!

So no more OWC for me. On balance it's just too much hassle if anything goes awry.

Tom

Moab,

I first bought a Thunderbay 8 for external storage and as one of two backups. It had some quirks (see the thread titled "Free reboots" elsewhere) when I upgraded the drives, but it connected using Thunderbolt 3, so it was nice and fast.

After a few months, it blew up! Not rhetorically, but actually - it sounded like an M-80 or Silver King firecracker exploding. It was totally dead. I sent it back for a refund after the usual 99 e-mails with OWC (well it seemed as if we exchanged 99 e-mails...) Never got any explanation as to what may have happened. My guess would be that a defective power supply capacitor exploded, but I didn't look inside so who knows.

The drives seemed OK - I reused them in the next NAS from Synology and seem to be functional.

I then bought a Synology NAS model DS 1817, loaded in the HDDs and it has been fine so far for about 3 months. I like it better but that may just be subjective. Its software seems very good once it trains you!

The Synology connects differently - it uses 10KMbps ethernet to connect directly to the 2019 Mac Pro, and I connected it to my LAN using its 1KMbps capability. A 10K cable is needed for the 10K connection.

The result is that I get a really quick interface with the Mac Pro and reasonable speed for the rest of the LAN. The Synology NAS has two 10K ports, so if I needed to connect it to another PC with that high speed I would have the ability to do that. Or if I upgrade my LAN in the future to 10K.

If you look at Synology (or QNAP which seems to be their chief competitor), be aware that it can be a learning experience to select the one that fits your needs and budget. There are many bells and whistles to choose among, almost to the point of confusion.

So far, I'm satisfied with this one.

Hope this helps,

Tom

Thanks Tom! Really helpful.
I'm leaning toward the Pegasus32 at this point as I know there software and have had good luck with their R4 products so far (3 of them). It seems they are off the radar though and can't find too many reviews. B&H doesn't carry their product anymore - just Apple and Adorama and they only sell a 32GB version which baffles me. I'm wondering why it seems like they are silent - is there a replacement product in the works, I wonder?
Thanks for the NAS info as well. I think that's a good back-up solution but I think I'll stick to Thunderbolt 3 as my main interface for editing.

Any other user experience out there?