Page 2: Testing, Conclusion
Testing And Use:
All testing was done on Linux, but the unit includes backup software for Windows and Mac if that is what you are running. Since the device can handle all the configuration itself, it is operating system independant. The unit was tested with two 80GB Maxtor SATA drives.
To test the MobileSTOR, I had setup some typical use scenarios. The first one is something everyone that will buy this unit should plan on doing. Attaching it to a computer and setting up RAID 1 for a backup device is the primary purpose of a device like this. Setting the unit to "SAFE" which is option #3 and hitting the reset button made the device start to rebuild the array. For the 80GB drives, it took a bit over an hour for a full rebuild. Interestingly enough, it doesn't erase the data on the primary drive (the top drive). It uses the top drive as a template for the mirror and copies the data to the second drive. It always does a full rebuild for safety even if there is no data.
Plugging in the drive using USB2 was easy. It was detected and usable by Ubuntu with no problem. The device managed to saturate the USB2 bandwidth so I moved on to using eSATA instead. This proved very interested since you can fully use the MobileSTOR as your primary hard drive. Think about the security of being able to carry your hard drive with your data and not let anyone else be able to get it. It is also redundant so if a drive fails, you're okay. Most people wouldn't be doing this, but it is an interesting option that I tried out.
With eSATA, the unit managed 52MB/s on reads under RAID 1 and 25MB/s on writes which is pretty good for external storage. Writes are always slower. It was within 15% of a single internal 300GB drive as well.
To really test how the unit operates, I removed the top drive while I copied a large file. The unit started to sound the alert, but the computer didn't notice any problem. Once I plugged the drive back in (the unit is hot swappable), the array rebuilt and all was fine. This is truly a great piece of hardware that works as its intended. RAID 1 is where it is at with this.
Testing Part 2:
The second test was done using the unit in a RAID 0 for speed capacity. This would be useful for video editing. You can put the scratch pad on the RAID 0 partition to get a good speed boost.
The problem with RAID 0 is that once a drive is removed, the unit fails and the data is gone. If you put the same drive back into the unit, you'll be greated with intact data. If a drive fails, your data is gone forever.
With RAID 0, the unit managed an impressive 89MB/s on reads and 35MB/s on writes which is a substantial improvement over RAID 1 at the cost of integrity. I wouldn't trust my data to RAID 0 and you shouldn't either. Stick with RAID 1!
The unit has status lights when the array is rebuilding or the drives are being accessed.
Other Features:
The MobileSTOR includes additional options for multiple arrays. If you are using USB2, they will show up with no problem. If you are using eSATA, your controller must support multiple devices per channel and my motherboard I was testing on didn't. If you go with a true RAID 0 or RAID 1 or a regular "BIG" spanning, this is not an issue. If you go with the SAFE33 or SAFE50 or JBOD configuration, you may run into some trouble. Only one logical drive will be shown on non supported systems. Not a big deal, but something to think about.
Conclusion:
Think about how you backup your data right now. I believe having a redundant backup device is one of the most wise pruchases that you can make. The MobileSTOR is a product that delivers on its promise. It is easy and intuitive to use and it works well. I truly recommend this device to everyone. Sans Digital has made a great redundant backup product in the form of the MS2UTN+. Having a good backup of your data is worth $150, isn't it?
I'd like to thank Katy from Sans Digital for making this review possible.
All testing was done on Linux, but the unit includes backup software for Windows and Mac if that is what you are running. Since the device can handle all the configuration itself, it is operating system independant. The unit was tested with two 80GB Maxtor SATA drives.
To test the MobileSTOR, I had setup some typical use scenarios. The first one is something everyone that will buy this unit should plan on doing. Attaching it to a computer and setting up RAID 1 for a backup device is the primary purpose of a device like this. Setting the unit to "SAFE" which is option #3 and hitting the reset button made the device start to rebuild the array. For the 80GB drives, it took a bit over an hour for a full rebuild. Interestingly enough, it doesn't erase the data on the primary drive (the top drive). It uses the top drive as a template for the mirror and copies the data to the second drive. It always does a full rebuild for safety even if there is no data.
Plugging in the drive using USB2 was easy. It was detected and usable by Ubuntu with no problem. The device managed to saturate the USB2 bandwidth so I moved on to using eSATA instead. This proved very interested since you can fully use the MobileSTOR as your primary hard drive. Think about the security of being able to carry your hard drive with your data and not let anyone else be able to get it. It is also redundant so if a drive fails, you're okay. Most people wouldn't be doing this, but it is an interesting option that I tried out.
With eSATA, the unit managed 52MB/s on reads under RAID 1 and 25MB/s on writes which is pretty good for external storage. Writes are always slower. It was within 15% of a single internal 300GB drive as well.
To really test how the unit operates, I removed the top drive while I copied a large file. The unit started to sound the alert, but the computer didn't notice any problem. Once I plugged the drive back in (the unit is hot swappable), the array rebuilt and all was fine. This is truly a great piece of hardware that works as its intended. RAID 1 is where it is at with this.
Testing Part 2:
The second test was done using the unit in a RAID 0 for speed capacity. This would be useful for video editing. You can put the scratch pad on the RAID 0 partition to get a good speed boost.
The problem with RAID 0 is that once a drive is removed, the unit fails and the data is gone. If you put the same drive back into the unit, you'll be greated with intact data. If a drive fails, your data is gone forever.
With RAID 0, the unit managed an impressive 89MB/s on reads and 35MB/s on writes which is a substantial improvement over RAID 1 at the cost of integrity. I wouldn't trust my data to RAID 0 and you shouldn't either. Stick with RAID 1!
The unit has status lights when the array is rebuilding or the drives are being accessed.
Other Features:
The MobileSTOR includes additional options for multiple arrays. If you are using USB2, they will show up with no problem. If you are using eSATA, your controller must support multiple devices per channel and my motherboard I was testing on didn't. If you go with a true RAID 0 or RAID 1 or a regular "BIG" spanning, this is not an issue. If you go with the SAFE33 or SAFE50 or JBOD configuration, you may run into some trouble. Only one logical drive will be shown on non supported systems. Not a big deal, but something to think about.
Conclusion:
Think about how you backup your data right now. I believe having a redundant backup device is one of the most wise pruchases that you can make. The MobileSTOR is a product that delivers on its promise. It is easy and intuitive to use and it works well. I truly recommend this device to everyone. Sans Digital has made a great redundant backup product in the form of the MS2UTN+. Having a good backup of your data is worth $150, isn't it?
I'd like to thank Katy from Sans Digital for making this review possible.