Question 1

How many drives can this enclosure hold and what is the maximum total capacity?

Accepted Answer

It supports up to 4 drives (2.5/3.5" HDD or SSD) with a maximum capacity of 80TB, which is 20TB per drive.

Question 2

Is the fan noisy?

Accepted Answer

The manufacturer states fan noise is around 40-50 decibels and does not recommend it if you are very sensitive to noise, though some reviewers found it quiet enough for a home theater room while others noted it is a little loud.

Question 3

How do I switch between RAID modes?

Accepted Answer

Disconnect the power, use a screwdriver to toggle the paddle to the corresponding mode, press and hold the reset button, turn on the power, and hold reset for ten seconds; note that when replacing RAID you must go back to NORMAL first, and designing RAID may result in data loss.

Question 4

Is it easy to set up and is it compatible with my drives?

Accepted Answer

Reviewers report it is easy to set up and plug and play, with one noting it worked immediately after moving drives from another enclosure and setting the dip switches to RAID 10, and another confirming compatibility with shucked 20TB WD Easystore drives.

Question 5

Does the eSATA port support hot-swapping or a SATA-to-eSATA adapter?

Accepted Answer

No, the eSATA port does not support a computer's SATA-to-eSATA adapter and hot-swapping is not supported; the computer's eSATA port must support RAID functionality to access multiple drive bays, otherwise only one bay can be accessed.

CENMATE Aluminum 4 Bay Hard Drive RAID Enclosure with Cooling Fan for 2.5/3.5" SATA HDD/SSD with USB A/C 3.0＋eSATA Cable, 3.5 Hard Drive Reader Supports 80TB Capacity, 8 RAID Modes, DAS(NO NAS)

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