LaCie 301254U 1 TB 2big Triple 2-Disk RAID Hard Drive

I recently purchased the LaCie 2big Triple 2-Disk RAID Drive. It works great & it is fast. I imported all my videos & pics on it. Doing video & photo editing on it is great.

I purchased this product because it claims that you can swap out a disk & safely rebuild the RAID 1 volume from the remaining disk by adding a new disk. I wanted this feature because I wanted 2 put a third disk into rotation so that I had an offsite backup. When I started using the drive & trying 2 figure out how 2 trigger a RAID 1 rebuild that was truly non-destructive (effectively simulated the scenario where 1 of 2 drives fails, & you want 2 replace the bad drive) the instructions were oddly incomplete.

I contact Lacie technical support only 2 find that they explicit recommend against rebuilding RAID 1.

So much 4 the entire reason 4 using RAID.

I went with the G-Safe instead, which explicitly supports this capability. Moreover, they give clear instructions 4 how 2 use a 3rd disk in rotation 4 offsite backups.

Got this in a week ago & read the manual & everything FIRST. Set the unit 2 raid 1 mode & used the reset button. The arrow was facing the correct mode EXACTLY.

Computer boots up & reports the unit as only 1.3TB or something like that. After a half an hour of troubleshooting I would out that the switch is not accurate. I need 2 put the arrow facing just before the raid 1 option. Obviously a defect.

It's now booting up into Windows & I setup of the partitions & format the drive. So far so good. I benchmark the drive & it comes up as only 65mb/sec over eSATA. Too slow, but 4 a reason. More on that later..

One drive is blinking & I read the manual about this & that it needs 2 do a rebuild. It does NOT do this when the computer is off, but only when it's on. The manual says otherwise. Here's what's extremely stupid. It took over 24 HOURS 2 do a rebuild. You can still access the drive, but in the meantime it limits the drives speed.

Another thing the manual left out is that when you hot-swap something, power 2 the device needs 2 be off, otherwise it does the rebuild all over again. Another 24 hours. When the rebuild is taking place, one drive only has an 8gb config partition.

This unit also uses Samsung drives. Not Hitachi, like I read in a review. Probably 4 the better, but I don't know.

When the rebuild is NOT taking place, HDTACH reports a speed of 95mb/sec, which is pretty decent 4 eSATA. This is raid 1.

I just had a bad experience with this from start 2 finish unfortunately. After an hour or two of getting this 2 work properly, I pretty much gave up with it despite it working in the end. There were so many things about this device that were not explained in the manual.

The positives of this is that the price is decent. I added up the cost of two 1TB drives & an external case & it's about the same, maybe a bit less. I think 4 Raid 0 only, this drive might be perfectly ok 4 someone.

The unit appears 2 be pretty solid & build well. All metal is nice. Can't say I care 4 that huge light on the front though.

The tech support via email from LaCie was very good. I sent an email on Friday night & got a reply on Saturday morning! Impressive.

I ended up sending this back due 2 all the hassle of getting it up & running. I went with two internal 1TB drives instead & used my raid card 4 that. It seems much better & doesn't rebuild a drive just because you disconnected one.

Again, this isn't a bad product. Just a bad experience mostly due 2 lack of information in the manual. This is coming from someone who has an A+ certification too. If it had this info, I would have saved myself an hour of trouble. I also hated how the switch was labeled wrong 4 me, wasting more of my time.

Not suggested 4 raid 1, but 4 Raid 0, it'd be perfect. I have no problem trying more LaCie products in the future.

Sorry Lacie. I have used your external harddrives 4 5 years with no problems. I sent this drive back because it made me sick.The Big blue flashing light is like a strobe light, I tested the drive by loading photos & then pulled one of the drives 2 simulate a drive failure. The rebuild took 15-24 hours & it kept flashing its 2" blue & red strobe light in my eyes. I had 2 cover the drive with a black cloth in order 2 sit at my computer. I returned it & bought a Gardian Maximus from OWC & love this thing. No big blue light 2 drive me crazy.
I am sure the lacie is fine technically, but if you are sensitive 2 flashing lights dont buy this drive.

After two of these drives, both with drive errors within hours of setup, I give up.

You should look elsewhere. Drobo & Western Digital both offer comparable & much less expensive alternatives. They're not as pretty, but they can't be any less reliable than LaCie.

After almost a decade of buying LaCie drives, I'm sad 2 say that this is typical of their recent history with regard 2 quality. I've had two other LaCie's fail in the past year & another is starting 2 make funny noises only a year after purchase. Maybe it's time 2 stop being such a loyal LaCie customer.

The 2big Triple comes with FireWire 800, FireWire 400 & USB 2.0 interfaces 4 PC or Mac users. This easy-to-use 2-disk RAID is ideal 4 storing office data, archiving image banks or audio/video editing. FireWire 800 delivers fast burst transfer rates of up 2 90MB/s in RAID 0. Other advanced features include two lockable drives, a heat sink metal design 4 natural cooling, On/Auto/Off triple power management, & rackmount configuration. EMC Retrospect Express advanced backup management & data restoration software is included 4 Windows & Mac, which can be launched by the LaCie Shortcut Button.

The LaCie 301254U 2big Triple 1 TB FireWire800/FireWire400/USB 2.0 2-Disk RAID system is an extremely rugged drive with an edgy, industrial design by internationally renowned designer Neal Poulton. Featuring three fast & popular interfaces, including fast FireWire 800, this 2-disk RAID storage system is ideal 4 creative professionals who require plenty of speed, minimal space & the latest security.

10>

The 2big Triple (2-disk RAID) offers: 1 TB of additional disk space. USB 2.0, FireWire 400, & FireWire 800 interfaces 4 universal connectivity. RAID support 4 options in reliability & speed. Elegant design by Neil Poulton.

The 2big Triple supports four RAID configurations 4 reliability & speed. View larger.

Hard disks are easily hot-swappable 4 security & upgradeability. View larger.

High-Performance Professional Storage & Security
The 2big Triple is the ultimate storage solution 4 the audio/video & creative professional who needs swift, reliable, & secure performance. This easy-to-use two-disk device incorporates three universal interfaces: two FireWire 800 ports, one FireWire 400 port & one high-speed USB 2.0 port 4 PC or Mac users. The FireWire 800 interface delivers rapid transfer rates of up 2 90 MB per second in the fast RAID 0 configuration.

In addition 2 RAID 0, you can also choose from three additional RAID levels depending on your needs: RAID 1 4 maximum security with 100-percent data redundancy on each hot-swappable disk (data is automatically duplicated 2 each drive); BIG (concatenation) 4 maximum capacity; or JBOD (to use the disks separately). A mechanical switch on the back of the unit lets you select your RAID level quickly & easily. So with the slightest effort, you can switch between RAID levels, giving you full redundancy, maximum disk space, two independent drives, & so on. In other words, the 2big Triple gives you have complete control as 2 how 2 protect & access your data.

The 2big Triple is ideal 4 storing office data & archiving image banks, but it's also ideal 4 audio/video projects, including DV & SD video playback & 2D/3D imaging projects. Offering up 2 1 TB of storage space (in BIG mode), the 2big Triple can store up 2 four hours of uncompressed HD video, 72 hours of HD video, 84 hours of DV or 25,000 RAW photos. (The disks can be removed & upgraded 4 larger storage options.)

The 2big Triple has two 500 GB Hitachi Deskstar drives running at 7200 rpm. The drives are SATA with a 3.0GB/s internal data transfer rate, & have 16 MB cache each.

For ensuring complete data security & availability, the drives are hot-swappable. Included with the 2big Triple is EMC Retrospect Express software 4 advanced backup management & data restoration 4 both Windows & Mac. This user-friendly software simplifies backup & restores data using a step-by-step wizard. You can also schedule automatic backups of selected files or folders 2 further protect your data.

The stylish aluminum design by Neil Poulton fits in with the rest of your office equipment. View larger.

Design by Neal Poulton
Designed by internationally acclaimed designer Neil Poulton, the 2big Triple features an attractive, compact & versatile design. The cooling, heat sink metal design naturally draws heat away from the hard disk’s internal components. Along with a thermoregulated progressive smart fan, the 2big Triple is designed 2 stay cool 4 long-term reliability & quiet operation.

With its compact footprint--the 2big Triple measures 7.8 x 3.5 x 6.7 inches (HxWxD) & weighs 5.73 pounds--the disk won't take much space up on your workstation. And if you are tight on space, its design offers several versatile configurations. The 2big Triple has a sturdy metal body with a screw-mounted metal foot plate, giving it good stability in an upright, solo configuration, & it's also stackable & rack-mountable with a special rack system from LaCie (sold separately).

The 2big Triple offers triple power management: "Auto" 4 energy efficiency; "On" 4 instant access; or "Off" 4 data protection. The glowing blue programmable smart button on the front functions as a Shortcut Button that can launch EMC Retrospect advanced backup software or any other application of your choosing.

The 2big Triple is backed by a LaCie 3-year warranty.

What's in the Box
LaCie 2big Triple, FireWire 800 2 FireWire 800 (9-to-9 pin) cable, FireWire 400 2 FireWire 400 (6-to-6 pin) cable, high-speed USB 2.0 cable (USB 1.1 compatible), external power supply, & LaCie Utilities CD.