Perfect
This little module is perfect for making an economical server, two identical disks in a raid and you are safe.
RAID 0 & RAID 1RAID0 is a process of chaining multiple hard drives into one storage unit. It is an automated write process across multiple hard drives. Interleaving is used to increase the performance of disk reading. The multiple hard drives will display data in columns. If a hard drive fails in the interleaved set, all data will be lost.
RAID1 is an automated data writing process for multiple hard drives. RAID 1 is used to provide redundancy. If one hard drive fails, the redundant hard drive will continue to store data and provide access. The failed hard drive can then be replaced and the entire drive can be rebuilt. |
Large & SingleLARGE links multiple hard drives as a single large volume; resulting in a homogeneous expansion of virtual volumes beyond the physical limits of the separately connected hard drives. Data is written from hard disk 1 to hard disk 2.
SINGLE, the hard drives are treated independently as logical volumes where files are stored. |
General information |
Product name |
ICY BOX IB-RD2253-U31 |
Brand |
ICY BOX | |
Model |
IB-RD2253-U31 | |
Main characteristics |
Enclosure type |
External |
Interface with the computer |
USB 3.1 | |
Hard drive informations |
Hard drive format |
2" 1/2 |
Internal interface |
Serial ATA 6Gb/s (SATA Revision 3) | |
Max number of discs |
2 | |
Supported RAID Modes |
0 | |
1 | ||
Design |
Extractable drawer |
No |
Material(s) |
Aluminum | |
Plastic | ||
Color |
Black | |
Luminous |
Yes | |
Physical characteristics |
Width |
132 mm |
Height |
32 mm | |
Depth |
92 mm | |
Weight |
178 g | |
Warranties |
Commercial warranty |
Seller 3 years |
Legal warranty |
See terms & conditions |
See all ICY BOX products
Product referenced on 11 May 2016
This little module is perfect for making an economical server, two identical disks in a raid and you are safe.
Very easy to use, no equivalent on the market, third one bought in several years, works in Raid 1, 7 days a week and H24, no failure in 3 years. Reliable usb3 connectors.
Only one drawback :) The blue LEDs are dimming :) for the first ones.
For archiving. Pity that the WD red 2.5p hard drives are only 1TB.
Does the job it's built for.
Currently running in SINGLE mode with a Crucial 2 TB SSD. Will soon accommodate a second drive (2TB HDD, 9.5mm).
Not possible to use a 4Tb HDD, as this format is too thick.
Good point: the usb-c cable is provided in addition to the usb-a cable.
Small black point: the paint covering the aluminium case is not pleasant to the touch. Hyper-dry, one would think it was toxic. And it easily picks up traces of dust. I guess it is to better evacuate the possible heat.
In the packaging you will find: a classic USB cable and a USB C cable, a screwdriver (of poor quality, but any Phillips screwdriver can replace it), an external power supply (optional depending on the PC used) and of course the case which seems to be quite solid (and the documentation, but who reads it?).
Once the 2 disks are in place, you can choose the operating mode of the case, after a change you have to press the reset button for 5 seconds (which erases the content of the disks but activates the mode).
As a reproach :
- The indicator leds of the disks are only blue, a bi-color to signal a disk pb would be a big plus.
- You can't hot swap a hard drive.
- You can't see the SMART information of both disks (except in single mode).
On the operation 4 modes are available:
In Single/JBOD: the disks are visible on the PC, you can do what you want on them, if the box fails you can recover the disks and what's on them without any problem.
In RAID0: only one disk is visible, which will be twice the size of the smaller disk, in return the enclosure manages to write data to both disks, which greatly improves performance, but if the enclosure or one of the disks fails you lose everything.
In LARGE mode the enclosure presents a single disk of the total size of the two disks, in case of failure of the enclosure it is technically possible to recover the data by concatenating disk 1 with disk 2 (it requires technical skills but it is feasible).
And finally the RAID1 mode, only one disk seen on the PC side and the box writes on both disks, in case of box failure you can take any disk and read back the data,
Works very well in RAID1 mode for me (identical info on 2 x 1TB HDDs).
To be noted:
- USB C connection included in addition to the classic USB connection.
- I don't need to use the charger as it is not necessary for the PC.
- Some difficulties encountered when setting up... but not related to the product... Once I unplugged my wireless mouse (after 2 hours) everything started working at once. I'm not sure if this is a good idea, but I'm sure it will be, so my advice is to unplug all the accessories connected to the USB for the configuration of the box.
Good product, allows easy addition of high speed storage extensions and easy to connect to different computers as needed.
I am using one in which I have placed two 1TB SSDs in RAID0 to get a single external volume of 2TB.
I use another one with a single 1TB SSD.
Both are well recognised and work perfectly without an external power source in my case due to the low power consumption of the SSDs, everything is powered by the USB connected to the PC even for RAID0.
light and very practical case since it can embark of 1To that I transformed into single....
The 2TB units are a little bit thicker than the 1TB units and cannot be inserted in this case.
The instructions are simple, a screwdriver is provided with a screw kit. The RAID system works very well and is very easy to use.
An external power supply is provided, but it is only used if the USB plug is not powerful enough to power the 2 disks.
So far I haven't needed it!
The finish is clean and everything works the first time.
A small, light and very practical box that can hold two storage units. For my part, I was able to put two 720Gb RAID0 HDDs back into operation, which I transformed into a single. The edges of the case are quite sharp. I'm very pleased with the service and the fast delivery and a very nice mouse mat. I'm very pleased with the quality of the product and the service.
Small case ideal for "retrieving" various 2.5" disks. Allows raid and especially JBOD and wide. Very little noise. The transformer is not a behemoth and the configuration is easy. Beware, 5TB disks are too high to fit in the transformer. (9.5 mm maximum) .