Icybox External 4-Bay RAID Enclosure for 4 x 3.5 inch SATA l/ll/lll HDDs

I'm really happy with this box. RAID 5 and 10 capability is Ace. And it really is an Icy Box! Three fan speeds and at its lowest it is quieter than most desktop PC's (45dB at 2ft away) and not much more a full speed (55dB) which is still quieter than the typing from my keyboard. Adding the drives was a breeze though you do have to use a screwdriver (Phillips) and they are definitely not hot swappable (which is just fine for me as drive failures shouldn't be too often hopefully).Speed for transfer using USB3.0 from 4x 1GB Seagate Barracuda (10,000rpm) drives in both RAID5 and RAID0 comes out at 230MB/s Write and 250MB/s Read. That's 60fps of '4K 2160p60' footage or 225fps '2K DCI-25' or 240fps for '1080p25' footage in ProRes422HQ. 2 streams of 4K PR4444 work just fine I've found. With those sort of speeds I've not bothered trying eSATA via thunderbolt on my MacPro.

It is a black box and operates as such. No software, just plug in your drives, select RAID mode, plugin in usb (infact plug in usb first or it automatically turns off).Only way to tell what is going on is by the LED's on the front. Would like some admin software to find out status of drives/box. I have this connected using USB3 directly hanging off a NAS. The use of a NAS gives the ICY-BOX a recycle bin which is very useful.For the price a bargain. Long term use to be evaluatedFound some software which allows admin of box google "jmraidmgrversion0.09.69" for PC UseThis gives status of RAID, email (I cannot get this bit working though, resync etc.I find this a fit and forget item no issue with formatting mine is in NTFS

I read all the negative reviews and decided to ignore them. I thought people must surely be over-reacting.Yeah, no.It turned up. I opened it all up and plugged it in. It didn't turn on. It was dead on arrival.I've sent it back and bought a startech unit instead.DON'T BUY

Good compact product. Excellent where space comes at a premium. Simple to set up and use. If product is under high load or in a small enclosure the fans will increase speed adding to noise levels. You get use to it rather quickly.

Easy to set up. Simple HD caddies. Manual slightly confusing because it is quite basic, but could be set up by anyone with a modicum of Computing knowledge. Unobtrusive and stylish. It just works. Used WD red 4Gb drives in RAID 5 config.

I returned this and I must say the vendor was most obliging. This is not, as described by the manufacturer, a Network Attached Storage (NAS) device. It is rather a Direct Attached Storage (DAS) device since it attaches directly to a computer via USB and not to a router. As I say the vendor was great, its a nice device but not what I wanted.

I now have 3 of these. all with 4 x 8tb HDDs, and can honestly say i have never had an issue with any of them. Although i have had problems with poor quality USB 3 cables which may be the case for other reviewers.Also most people do not realize that plugging this into a hub will usually slow it down.I read one review that was concerned with back ups and data security, well these are RAID enclosures and so setting the correct RAID option means you can have numerous ways to backup data to another HDD in real time, so no data loss at all.So for me these enclosures are giving me 96TB with either 48TB free and backed up or 72TB free and backed up.

Around two years ago I purchased the Icy Box IB-RD3264-USE2: in theory the previous version of this model. It has been wonderful: quiet, robust, and problem-free so it was without any concern that I ordered this item - obstinately the latest 4-bag RAID enclosure Icy Box has to offer.Sadly this hasn't lived up to expectations to the extent that I've had to return it for replacement.The first thing I noticed on receiving it was that the boxing appeared to have been opened - the clear stickers over the opening had all been cut but then had a new factory seal stuck over them. On opening, it became clear that the item I had received wasn't new: the chassis was badly scratched (not a good look on a nice satin black finish), the black finish on the screws was chipped with the screw heads chewed from use, and the extraction fan had dust in it.Since it was an urgent order I used it anyway and Amazon was very gracious in sending out a replacement in the meantime. Set-up and use was easy and the transfer speeds obtainable from the USB3 connection are fantastic. The fan, however, is extremely noisy. It sounds like a bad bearing making a slight noise on every rotation. I chalked this down to it's obvious previous use but the replacement (which coincidentally also had the same cut-and-replaced factory seals on the boxing) unfortunately demonstrates the exact same annoying whine.it isn't loud but it is intrusive and when the fan moves into the higher speeds (automatic based on a thermostat - very clever!), it becomes extremely noticeable. This certainly isn't something you could have sitting quietly under your desk or television! In comparison, the IB-RD3264 (previous model) that I own also has a fan but is absolutely silent - even after more than two years of constant use.Perhaps Amazon just has a bad batch of these at the moment, or perhaps the quality of these items has genuinely decreased with time, but overall I'm disappointed.The enclosure works well but it's noisy and feels cheaper than previous Icy Box enclosures I've owned.