Review of Vantec NexStar MX RAID enclosure as EHD
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The first RAID I tried, another brand, did not reliably shift into or out of RAID-1, nor did it appear to reliably write to both drives, nor to detect differences between the drives. I returned it.
This model is a bit different. The DIP switch is inside, as is the reset button. But you only need those once, so perhaps locating them inside a screwed together case is a good idea. There is no handle on top of it, so moving it means you'll be carrying a box from the bottom. No biggie, I just miss the carry handle. The thing is fairly heavy, as it is ruggedly built.
You open the case, set the DIP, press reset and slide in your two drives. The usual 4 screws per drive to hold them in place. Some RAID enclosures offer removable trays for the drives, this one does not. Well, it's not likely that you will ever need that feature in this application. The back has ports for power, USB & eSATA, and a power switch. And the fan. The front has a power light, and two blue lights for the drives. The fan is a bit noisy, and would be noticeable in quiet passages. Someone at Amazon recommended placing a resistor in line with the fan to slow it and quiet it down. I might do that later. Certainly, read all the comments at Amazon before purchase. Since I will only power this up when transferring programs, this is not a big deal.
Being the trusting soul that I'm not, I loaded a few sample programs onto the RAID. I then removed the drives and placed them, one at a time, in another enclosure. The other enclosure was a single drive (non-RAID) EHD unit. Both HDDs had identical content. That wasn't the case with the previous RAID EHD enclosure I tried.
Moving between my ViP722 units was no problem. I'm now going to consolidate two other EHDs onto this RAID, plus remove almost everything from the DVR's onboard HDD. I don't want to lose more programming from another failed internal HDD. I'm sure the quality of these HDDs that I bought, as well as the RAID feature, will be much more reliable than the Dish DVR itself.
Any questions?
This model is a bit different. The DIP switch is inside, as is the reset button. But you only need those once, so perhaps locating them inside a screwed together case is a good idea. There is no handle on top of it, so moving it means you'll be carrying a box from the bottom. No biggie, I just miss the carry handle. The thing is fairly heavy, as it is ruggedly built.
You open the case, set the DIP, press reset and slide in your two drives. The usual 4 screws per drive to hold them in place. Some RAID enclosures offer removable trays for the drives, this one does not. Well, it's not likely that you will ever need that feature in this application. The back has ports for power, USB & eSATA, and a power switch. And the fan. The front has a power light, and two blue lights for the drives. The fan is a bit noisy, and would be noticeable in quiet passages. Someone at Amazon recommended placing a resistor in line with the fan to slow it and quiet it down. I might do that later. Certainly, read all the comments at Amazon before purchase. Since I will only power this up when transferring programs, this is not a big deal.
Being the trusting soul that I'm not, I loaded a few sample programs onto the RAID. I then removed the drives and placed them, one at a time, in another enclosure. The other enclosure was a single drive (non-RAID) EHD unit. Both HDDs had identical content. That wasn't the case with the previous RAID EHD enclosure I tried.
Moving between my ViP722 units was no problem. I'm now going to consolidate two other EHDs onto this RAID, plus remove almost everything from the DVR's onboard HDD. I don't want to lose more programming from another failed internal HDD. I'm sure the quality of these HDDs that I bought, as well as the RAID feature, will be much more reliable than the Dish DVR itself.
Any questions?
I will add one more comment. It does seem to be a bit slower in being recognized when powered up, and seems noticeably slower in transferring from DVR to EHD RAID. I ascribe this to RAID overhead.
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